The idea that ppl are good (especially summarily) is greatly exaggerated, just feel-good propaganda.
Looking at our history, and how nothing sustainable ever surfaced/lasted, how greed above everything else always prevailed, accumulates quite a bit of evidence.
People hate it when you say this. But it’s legit. If people actually were genuinely good and wanted to be good, then would we really have all the problems we do? If one person(sleezy billionaire) can completely wreck society, then was society that strong to begin with? People point out that there are more of us than them, yet the minority them manages to keep the rest of us in line pretty well… Yet we have the power? Well what are we doing with it then?
The biggest flaw of humanity is we think we are way better than we actually are. But the sad truth is we all are affected by biases, unconscious beliefs, flaws in our reasoning, flaws in our character, flaws in our perception, flaws in our memory, etc. This, in itself, is not a bad thing. It’s pretending like we’re above all of that and that it doesn’t affect us that leads to our downfall and is a bad thing.
Hubris, made popular in every societies storytelling going back millenia, is our greatest flaw. We think ourselves way better than we truly are.
You put it far more eloquently.
We all combine together to achieve/do what humanity does.
Additionally we also tend to romanticise horrible things (rich ppl, warmongering & wars, empires doing horrible things, even lapdogsprofessional middleman agents like CEOs and generals get fame during and long after their deaths). Which ofc tends to reward, or I should say, we reward ppl that behave as such.
The average person is actually good, but introduce severe trauma as well as game theory - prisoner’s dilemma and bystander effect - and people (plural) are suddenly a huge problem.
Do you mean to say good until a time to show said goodness comes?
What do you base that the average person is good?
I would say the average person would kill another person for 100k monies (in case of no other consequences & ease, like press of a button).
I’m not seeing much else unfortunately, just goodwashing stories of philanthropy & such.
Eg Romans didn’t have issues pillaging & then subjugating entire provinces to the empire, kill any opposition to the pillaging or trade. Except for scales, such this aspect of “goodness” before and after.
Do ppl really look at all the constant killing for power & think this has nothing to do with humanity, just a few bad apples?
I wonder how much of that is a result of what society imposes on the individual.
Some might come along and say capitalism forces this on us.
While others might then argue these similar influences and pressures existed before written language, and even in nature in protohumans, primates and other animals.
Idk, environment def has an affect - but then again “being good” should prob go for when it’s easy & for when it’s hard to do so. Otherwise it’s the environment who decides, not the individual. And what has been the environment of humanity but the few who ruled it throughout the ages?
The idea that ppl are good (especially summarily) is greatly exaggerated, just feel-good propaganda.
Looking at our history, and how nothing sustainable ever surfaced/lasted, how greed above everything else always prevailed, accumulates quite a bit of evidence.
People hate it when you say this. But it’s legit. If people actually were genuinely good and wanted to be good, then would we really have all the problems we do? If one person(sleezy billionaire) can completely wreck society, then was society that strong to begin with? People point out that there are more of us than them, yet the minority them manages to keep the rest of us in line pretty well… Yet we have the power? Well what are we doing with it then?
The biggest flaw of humanity is we think we are way better than we actually are. But the sad truth is we all are affected by biases, unconscious beliefs, flaws in our reasoning, flaws in our character, flaws in our perception, flaws in our memory, etc. This, in itself, is not a bad thing. It’s pretending like we’re above all of that and that it doesn’t affect us that leads to our downfall and is a bad thing.
Hubris, made popular in every societies storytelling going back millenia, is our greatest flaw. We think ourselves way better than we truly are.
Yeah, I knew that was gonna get downvotes.
You put it far more eloquently.
We all combine together to achieve/do what humanity does.
Additionally we also tend to romanticise horrible things (rich ppl, warmongering & wars, empires doing horrible things, even
lapdogsprofessional middlemanagents like CEOs and generals get fame during and long after their deaths). Which ofc tends to reward, or I should say, we reward ppl that behave as such.The average person is actually good, but introduce severe trauma as well as game theory - prisoner’s dilemma and bystander effect - and people (plural) are suddenly a huge problem.
Do you mean to say good until a time to show said goodness comes?
What do you base that the average person is good?
I would say the average person would kill another person for 100k monies (in case of no other consequences & ease, like press of a button).
I’m not seeing much else unfortunately, just goodwashing stories of philanthropy & such.
Eg Romans didn’t have issues pillaging & then subjugating entire provinces to the empire, kill any opposition to the pillaging or trade. Except for scales, such this aspect of “goodness” before and after.
Do ppl really look at all the constant killing for power & think this has nothing to do with humanity, just a few bad apples?
I wonder how much of that is a result of what society imposes on the individual.
Some might come along and say capitalism forces this on us.
While others might then argue these similar influences and pressures existed before written language, and even in nature in protohumans, primates and other animals.
Idk, environment def has an affect - but then again “being good” should prob go for when it’s easy & for when it’s hard to do so. Otherwise it’s the environment who decides, not the individual. And what has been the environment of humanity but the few who ruled it throughout the ages?