What proportion of people are good, decent people, and are you a good person?

[BomboChipolata]

Based on threads we see here, a lot of people seem to be surrounded by awful people. I’d be interested in how people view their circle and how they see themselves.

My own view is that 90% of people are fundamentally good people, but they can be bitter or selfish from time to time. I’d put myself in that category.

how do you view people?

Are you a decent person?
What proportion of people are good people?

Who gets to say what counts as good? I was struck by this watching members of the public drag anti-oil protestors off the street yesterday- both parties presumably thought they were the ones doing good. And do we judge by people's intentions or by the outcome of their actions, and if the latter how can we ever say fully what that outcome is?

The best you can do is do your best to do good as you see it, and keep asking yourself whether the way you see it is actually right. After all, plenty of "good" Germans did their civic duty by reporting Jews in hiding during the war. Be open to the possibility that you've got everything absolutely and disastrously wrong.

Because they do not feel ok to do it, ethically, was what I understood (was explained to me on a course about unethical behaviour).

My experience though is most people don't steal/cheat etc.

I can categorically say I'm good, if bad is equal to the PP suggesting they would kill another person for money.

Depends what you mean by good, as it largely seems to be in the eye of the beholder.

Some people consider me to be a good person, others will consider me to be a bad one. I don’t consider myself to be good or bad, I’m just a person, and one that is happy with who she is.

This. We are all capable of extreme good and extreme bad depending.

I try to be good (work for a non-profit, homelessness etc.) but I know given the right circumstances I'd be as bad as the worst.

Which is why it's so important to create an environment which nurtures and supports goodness don't vote Tory. And recognises trauma, addiction and pain.

If my child was dying of starvation and I was in a place where that was caused by corrupt rich people and you were a corrupt rich person...

Context is everything.

I understand that I am supposed to reply no to that question.

I understand that I am supposed to reply no to that question.

Since there are more wind up merchants than psychopaths in the world, I suspect you're the former.

No. That was not a joke.
My point is, or I thought it was, clear.

People are selfish. Primarily concerned with our personal survival. Kept in line by fear of consequences and understanding of social rules and the need for cooperation in order to benefit. Give a little to get a little and hope you get more than you give.

Remove all consequences, penalties, judgement and dangle a big enough carrot and you don't want to know how many people would take a bite and not lose too much sleep over it.

You don't want that to be the fundamental nature of the human race. I get that. I just think that's exactly what we are. 🤷

I could only say what percentage of people are good to me, there’s only the things I know about, a very small percentage of people I know I would class as our and our dicks.

*out and out

No.

I'm unsure what is hard to accept.

We are selfish, self serving animals and we pretend to be more than that.

Since absolutely nobody is going to knock on my door with a gun and a van full of cash I think we all understand this is theoretical and an examination of the human mind and behaviour.

Ok, would I actually shoot a child for ten million? Of course you'd say no.
How go back in time and shoot Hitler in his crib?
What if I had to shoot that child in order to save mine?

My point is people are not 'good'. We do what we have to do, need to do or want to do and we use consequences as part of our decision making.

People just don't generally want to face that reality. We tell ourselves we are nice and kind but pick up a paper. Read online news. Research any time period in history. The reality is clearly observable. We are not good.

We are selfish, self serving animals and we pretend to be more than that.

That's actually not true. Our evolution is as much about cooperation as competition. Google reciprocal altruism. It is self-serving but involves bone-deep programming of helping each other. Particularly closely related but not exclusively.

Or indeed authorize killing within certain parameters, justify it as motivated for noble reasons, and it can become a job description.

is it somehow less bad when it’s for political benefit, rather than personal enrichment?

Programming to help each other in order to benefit.

The fact it's been done for so long it's hardwired into people doesn't mean it's not entirely selfish and self serving in nature.

If our ancestors didn't need each other to survive we'd be like tigers or the many many other species that don't live in groups.

The fact it can also be considered a win-win doesn't mean it's not 100% evolved that way because it increases the chances of personal survival

My mum always told me "everybody's nice really, you just have to get off on the right foot" and I believe that's mostly true.
I don't have a lot of time for jobs worths or back stabbing but if people have honest intentions and seem genuine I am quite tolerant.

😄

We are a social species, but we are also a selfish one. One of the few that is observed to kill for pleasure rather than necessity, in fact.

Both things can be true at the same time. It is more beneficial for most, on an individual level, to participate in society and follow the customs of said society, rather than to eschew it.

The universe doesn’t care what we do so there is no good and bad.

But while we’re here we can be happy or miserable and other peoples’ actions can contribute to our happiness or to our misery (or be neutral). The question is, are you a net happiness or misery contributor in the world?

Depends who you ask.

Most of my family see me as a sinner. Apparently I will go to hell.

People are a mix of ape and angel (isn’t that the saying?)

A good functional society and personal life will encourage you to nurture the angel and manage the ape.

@speakout It’ll be a lot more fun than heaven 😁

Like most people, I am a mixture of the good and the not so good. I am frequently impatient, sometimes grumpy and occasionally selfish, particularly in the way I guard my precious free time. My tolerance level for idiocy and idiots is not as high as it might be. I am not a saint, nor do so aspire to be.

But, I am also honest, loving, loyal, reliable and I pride myself on my personal integrity.

@IncompleteSenten I think your points about human evolution and the inherently selfish nature of morality would have been better made had you not stated you would possibly kill some random for 10 million and "mourn them from your mansion". Truthfully, lots of people wouldn't do that.

I believe all of us are capable of killing. For some, it would take their child's life being at stake, where the only option is to kill the one who will kill them, for others it looks suspiciously like fun (or lots of money) In the middle of that is a great mass of people who have different tipping points and some of them will also be capable of enormous self sacrifice with no thought of reward. It really isn't as simple as "humans= bad". Most societies have evolved to rely on cooperation and a basic respect for the rights of others. It's when that breaks down or is ignored things go wrong, as we know they do.

I don't think it's black and white. I think I'm mostly good, I'm polite to waiters and receptionists, I'm a reliable friend, a firm but fair boss, I volunteer and make decent charitable contributions, I know on the neighbours' door when it snows, but sometimes I lose my temper and I had an affair a long time ago