Do you believe most people are good?

Yes, I do. It is something that I came to believe in middle age.

I think so, yes.

I think that 5% of people are truly good, 5% of people are truly evil, and 90% of people are easily influenced.

no. i think most people don’t make a conscious decision to be good or bad.

Yeah. I do. Most people are good. But the bad ones are soooo bad…

If you have low standards for “good”, then yes.

I think the majority of the people out there are good people….and what I mean by that is that they are happy to help someone who needs it. I traveled to Paris, France a few years back and to be honest I can only stumble a few words of French and anytime I had a question for someone whether it be directions or even asking what a good bottle of wine is to bring home the people there were more than helpful and willing to speak english to me whenever possible… There was even one couple when my friend and I got lost who called a relative to talk to us on the phone in english because they didn’t speak english and wanted to help get us back to our hotel. They were so nice I can’t say enough good thing about the people there and thats all I ever heard when I was going to Paris to be prepared that the French don’t like Americans and I had the complete opposite experience and couldn’t wait to tell everyone that was saying it. I could go on and on about my stories of the good that I experienced there, like the cute little old lady who assisted me in picking out wine to bring home and was that so much fun. I will remember her always, I swear she had tried every bottle in the place at one time or another.

I think of it this way it only takes 1 bad apple to spoil a whole bushel of apples, so if you think about that in the sense of people it works in the similar fashion.

yes I do. I think that there are more good people in the world than bad people. But I think what there is most of, is indifferent people.

Beneath personality and culture and the grease that is manners, Man is basically evil.

@Nullo agreed. after all, humans are made in god’s image :P

I think there is good in all of us, bad in all of us…to varying degrees.

I’ve always found that Christians think the worst of people.

I believe people have the potential to be both good and bad.

There is good and bad in everyone.

It use to be that 75% of the people were good people. That percentage has dropped to 70% and holding.

The loss of 5% is due mainly to the influx of immigrants into America.

Still, 70% is not a bad figure.

@john65pennington “The loss of 5% is due mainly to the influx of immigrants into America.”

What does that mean?

Everyone has reasons for the things they do. In real life there are none that are truly evil or truly good.

@tranquilsea
Maybe the awakening of paranoid xenophobia in many americans and the resulting discrimination and hateful rants against immigrants?

(unless of course he wants to wrongly imply that immigrants are not good people. but that would be bad, would it not?)

Personally, no. But that may just be me reflecting my own self on everyone else. I’m not a good a person, and I’m also a coward, so I’m bound to do that. However, things like good and evil are too complicated to merely be defined as such and then have it end there. Crazy people do evil things, we’re all terrorists in the eyes of other terrorists, and all that. I guess using simplified versions of stuff we don’t understand or that confuse and frighten us is sort of a way to make to understand stuff how we can, and solidify, at least seemingly, our sense of independence. Still, all that doesn’t seem to matter when you like at stuff like pedophiles, murderers or tyrants.

But even without such monsters, it seems to me that most people are out for themselves, non caring of how their actions affect others. I get the impression that most are aware of this, so while that may not make them completely evil, it isn’t a good thing, either. Then again, as humans, that’s probably what we are, at least if Darwin and Maslow were partially right.

Yes I believe the majority are good. A small minority are the bad ones and they tend to have more of an bad effect on those who are good. It’s why we can’t have nice things

@john65pennington: wtf, dude?

Most people do not even know exactly what good is. Until that confusion is settled, most people will simply be influenced by the political church, or the political state.
But it is in the general nature of man to do good. Otherwise the species would not have flourished so quickly in it’s relatively short history. Otherwise, Osama Bin Laden would still be alive.

@ragingloli The basic evil is a post-Fall phenomenon.

@ragingloli here’s hoping…

@john65pennington “The loss of 5% is due mainly to the influx of immigrants into America.”
What??

Define good first.

What makes a person good or evil ? his deeds ? then remember that everyone fails here.

Oh and you are good according to who ? yourself ? others ? what makes them suitable to judge these things ?

I wish people were good but it’s not true .. we are not good , not even us christians [ who need to show some good in our lives ] We fail miserably a lot. Whoever tries to say different… well doesn’t really matter.

@Hibernate

“Good” meaning.. generally not intending evil on anyone innocent. Generally wanting the best for everyone. Generally interested in playing along if it will really help everyone to be happy.. “Good” in general.

I’m the only person who can judge good and evil. No one else can. Your opinion isn’t worth squat as you’ve already mentioned. The only opinion that truly matters is my own. And I happen to judge harshly as well as accurately that most people are good, including yourself.

I think probably most people are neutral, neither bad nor especially good, which can be considered “good” to my mind (since they’re not actively bad). A few people are very good, and a few are very bad.

Everyone is born “good.” It’s the circumstances & experiences encountered throughout life that determine whether an individual is bound for the path of evil. Fairly routine, no brainer stuff, but hey, it’s done now.

Of course. Our social brain capable of empathy keeps the reptile inside us in check. That’s why we got Fluther and crocodiles don’t.

@ucme I think everyone is born completely neutral. Whether they turn good or bad depends on their upbringing and early life experiences.

@downtide Well maybe I see the good in people too easily. I’m a sucker for a friendly face!

@ninjacolin thanks for your thoughts.

Thanks man, I’m a bit of a nutcase but I get by somehow.

All is good when it ends good.

No elucidation from @john65pennington?