RE: Are Humans Good By Nature? Or is This Something That Has to be Taught?
Humans first and foremost want to survive and they have done a good job at that in the last few thousand years. The key for our survival is adaptation. Our brains and hands allowed us to adapt to all climates and environments and to protect ourselves against competing animals.
Now when we feel that our survival might be threatened, we want to defend ourselves. This is where "bad" actions come from basically.
That's why we need to build a society where everybody is treated fairly, feels accepted, worthy and safe. Of course that's impossible. A little neglect at home and a bully at school are enough to turn a human being into a "bad" person...
The people who did the most horrible things in history usually suffered injustices, humiliation and failure themselves. Later in life they want to make it "right"
I'm definitely with you on the aspects of survival instincts and adaption. Even though there is some social component there, such as the small groups early humans were a part of, there was still great concern from both other humans and other dangers such as predators.
Would you say that fear is a driving factor in the neglect and 'horrible historical figure' cases you mentioned? I.e. trying to make sure those traumatizing experiences don't happen again, or maybe more of a getting back at those who 'wronged them?' This isn't meant as an argument to you points, just looking at 'how it made sense to the person' side of things. I tend to believe we all do things for some (subjectively logical) reason, even if purely on a subconscious level.
I feel that fear is a driving factor on so many levels, even without experiencing something necessary bad. Fear is just stronger power than human-beings are, and it only takes one "horrible historical figure" to get all the shitstorm going :D
Check out this movie "Experimenter" to see how people choose to act under authority. It was a real experiment, and it explains a lot how those horrible acts against humananty were done. I would not call those people who are following bad or good. They are just acting on their programms in the brains (we are like robots on so many levels lol). Of course, there are always exceptions, but we are talking about general behavior here I believe.
https://steemit.com/movies/@writingamigo/perfect-reviews-of-perfect-movies-experimenter-should-we-actually-follow-the-orders
Are you talking about the German film "Das Experiment"? Because I do not think have to do so much with fear but with when you give power to someone, even in one experiment like in the film(real life) and instantly the values and moralities of that person start to change. The original experiment was trying to explain why the soldiers follow orders and kill in wars but they are good people in there towns or with there own families.
There was also a experiment with people playing Monopoly game. Some people had more money than the others and after a while the people with more money start to make fun of the others and start to play more aggressively. Just because they had more power (money in this case)
But my question for you is, what do you call bad?
This happens to everybody in life. I do not know anybody who had not have any of this experience in life, and many all of them, but they did not turned into a "bad?" person.
Still, what is bad for you? This is so relative.
Surviving instincts can not be "bad" and they come from fear, in this case to die, and all the animals have it. It is a natural instinct. But there is something else, the fear to loose something and normally have to do with power, money or greed and then I could be agree with you that the "bad"(or what I personally think it is bad) part of the persons come out.
Sorry for my no so good English, hope you can understand well what I wrote :)
It is different movie. I talk about movie "Experimenter", where people are told to do things by authorities and they just follow, because... they just do :D
Ah! ok will need to look for the film :) did not knew about it. I find very interesting this kind of behavior... Thanks a lot for sharing