>>>>>>>Do you believe that humans are generally naturally good?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I believe that humans are neither naturally good, nor naturally bad.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Once upon a time, people did what was necessary to survive. That may have meant stealing from another tribe, or another group within one's own tribe. It would likely not have been seen as good or bad, but just the way things were. Eventually it was realised that this led to people killing each other and to the thinning out of the tribe - especially of the able bodied who'd have been the ones killing each other. When they figured out that this was decimating the tribe, and therefore becoming a detriment to the survival of the tribe as a whole, rules began to be introduced to regulate behaviour. Those who followed the rules were dubbed 'good' and those who did not were dubbed 'bad'.
>>>>>
>>>>>So they came to understanding/learn that killing people for greed was a bad thing. so they stopped.
>>>>
>>>>Sure, but not because God said so. It was a practical decision, not a spiritual one.
>>>
>>>
>>>Right. We're not talking about God. We're just talking about human nature.
>>
>>We're talking about nature. Human or otherwise.
>>
>>>>>>The rules are required if the human race is to survive (or at least if our little corner of the human race is to survive). Therefore we have created the concepts of 'good' and 'bad'.
>>>>>
>>>>>So if I say Hitler if my hero and he should be honored, what does that say about me.
>>>>>In my understanding of good and evil, Hitler maybe a good person.
>>>>
>>>>It says about you that you have no understanding of how humanity needs to behave in order to survive.
>>>
>>>Who are you to judge? :-)
>>
>>Who me? I'm not judging, I'm just applying the general concepts of how best to keep the human race surviving. And having a despot kill millions of people on a whim, is not it (imho).
>
>>>If I have the power, charisma and the means to take over a country or a continent... I should be allowed to.
>>
>>Only if doing so helps to further the survival and prosperity of the human race. I'm not aware of such a situation so far in history. Of course, you might argue that this is exactly what the Europeans did to the aboriginals in North America. Personally, I'm not entirely sure that it was for the better.
>
>
>Well Hitler was a lowly soldier. He was able to rise to power to lead a nation and almost a continent. I bet he thought he was doing good for his people.

I think he knew he wasn't doing good for humanity. If doing good for your people means creating a situation that could possibly wipe humanity, then after all, it's not really so good for your people.

Besides, as I said before, we'll always have aberrations. It's not fair to judge the race by its aberrations.

>
>
>>
>>>>Human nature has a self perservation instinct that overrides everything else unless taught differently. The entire focus of a baby is on self perservation. Once again, this is not evil. Do you consider a wolf evil when it kills a deer for food? That is also the instinct for self preservation. That is how a child is. Good and evil have nothing to do with it.
>>>
>>>
>>>Animals live on instinct to do what is necessary just to survive anothter day. They don't take more then they need. Otherwise they just waste energy and risk injury which will eventaully kill them.
>>
>>I have a sneaking suspicion that left to their own devices without rules, humans would behave much like animals. Since we have the advantage of intellect, we realised early on that we would have problems surviving that way as a tribe, so we invented rules.
>
>In rare ocassions, our intellect is our down fall. We will always try to figure out how to out do our fellow man. In trying to do so, human likely will commit horrible acts. And as the only ones in the animal kingdom with the self thought and self-conscieniousness, humans are the only ones that can be selfish and commit atrocity.
>
>Without humans, this world would be in perfect balance. Worms and insects help all the plants to grow. The antelopes eat the plants and the lions and the tigers eat the antelops. See perfect harmony.
>I learned this watching Lion King.:-)

Did the program show what happens when one pride's territory becomes too low in antelopes to sustain it properly, and the pride tries to move into a territory occupied by another pride?

There you have the human condition.

>
>Then came man with all his intellect. He eats way more then he needs. He's never satified so he steals from his fellow man. He kills out of greed.

You are still looking at the minority and insisting that this represents 'humanity'. Most people on this planet are just trying to get along. They want food, shelter, health. Unfortunately, you are right that there are some who want more than their share, but I don't believe you are discussing the majority. Donald Trump does not represent me, nor does he represent most of us.