Are Humans Inherently Good Or Evil

In the living world, immoral can influence one’s point-of-view of the world depending on the community they are in. Immoraltality may sometimes not be shown by one’s actions but can show if needed for power. This is shown in a story named “Lord of the Flies”, by William Golding and he shows how kids have crash landed on to a deserted island. They were the only ones on the island and didn’t have any adults around to protect them.

Ralph finds a conch while swimming in the beach, and piggy recognizes it as a special conch that can be blown into like a horn. The leaders of the group were Jack and Ralph, but once they had their differences jack left to start his own tribe and make his own rules. Humans are inherently savage and are shown they are in need of protecting themselves.

One’s act of savagery can be a trait or genetics passed down from relatives who may have been in a savage tribe.

Get quality help now

Marrie pro writer

Verified writer

Proficient in: Free Essays

5 (204)

“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

The article, Approaching Socialism informed that over the decades' many societies were developed and most were based on hunting and gathering. These genetics and traits sometimes help us in the modern world. Human nature cannot be changed which is an often heard abstain. The basic human reactions are the urge to find food than to rest, reproduce, search for shelter and make or wear clothing for protection. When social systems change many of the human's behavioral habits also did the same as they adjust to the new social system.

Magdoff says “Over the tens of thousands of years since many different kind’s of social organizations and societies have developed. Initially, most were based on hunting and gathering, while for the last 7,000 years many have been based on agriculture”. They were organized as clans, villages, tribes, and etc. Another claim from an article called, Are Humans inherently Good or Evil? Said that human is eagerly inherited in what others are doing and why they did it. They do this so they can see who to avoid and who to allow in their life. Humans don’t have a choice but to share the joy and pain around them. Biology causes humans to avoid pain but normally avoids these actions. Paul Zak the one who wrote this article says “All of us recognize virtue and vice when we see it, with virtues generally being actions that benefit others and vices entailing selfish acts”. When humans cause others pain, they also feel guilt and pain. Humans enjoy pleasure and vicariously experience pleasure when they bring joy to others which in other words we call empathy. Briefly, these are some of many ways humans are inherently savage.

Savagery can be caused by the environment we are in and the society around us can also influence you. Another way you can describe this may be tribalism, which is the feeling of belonging to something. Humans need a sense of belonging instead of being lonely with no sense of protection. People lived through developed certain mental molecules which were passed down through genes. But some traits have helped us in the modern age. The author provides many other story examples on how they argued about the process of sexual selection such as men like women with a skinny waist and women like tall men who are bit older. In the article Human Nature Today, Psychologists says “99 percent of human history, they observe, our species lived in small hunter-gatherer bands.Different circumstances can selectively activate different genetic potentials”. Humans have learned to adapt to diverse environments. People have kaleidoscopic thinking ways and use different cognitive strategies to solve the same sorts of problems. Individuals are created by social interaction. Human identities are formed by the particular rhythms of maternal attunement, by the shared webs of ideas, symbols, and actions that vibrate through us second by second. Brooks showed imagery when he said, “our species lived in small hunter-gatherer bands”. But also in Lord of the Flies, the teens are stranded on an island with no adults and they are in need of surviving. For them to survive on the island, they will need to hunt animal and this shows that the environment around them can turn them into a savage. Their plane crashed onto this random island. They’ll need to work together in order of surviving. The teens are separated into different groups. “This is an island. At least I think it’s an island. That’s a reef out in the sea. Perhaps there aren’t any grownups anywhere”. When the teens said “Perhaps there aren’t any grownups anywhere” the fat boy startled and they assumed this before checking if the pilot was still alive. This quote showed symbolism when the teens saw a reef out in the sea which implied that they were on an island. Overall humans are inherently savage may be the environment or society around them that may cause them to act.

Last of all, an evil society can make one think differently and see in a whole different pov. This is shown in an article called, Part I: “Fix Society. Please!” which provided a story about a transgender girl and her struggle. She was kicked out of school because of this and was referred to a Christian therapist. Leon Pomeroy the one who wrote this article says “As habitual self-evaluators, we never escape having to deal with how we choose to “see” ourselves in ways that result in what is commonly called “conditional self-esteem’”. The transgender issue is where psychology meets biology which can make sexuality and identity turn the opposite way and this leads to consequences such as anxiety, depression, or even suicide. This shows that it’s important for people to value a human being. The article shows how a bad society can make one do things that will end their misery. In addition, The teens from Lord of the Flies wanted to hunt at a young age and this may be because they were on an island with animals in need of food also this shows savagery. This happened when the teens were ordered to keep the fire going in case a ship passes by and sees it but instead they chose to rather hunt a pig for food. They chanted “Kill the pig. Cut her throat. Spill her blood”. A ship passed by after the smoke from the fire went out. “You let the fire go out.We can light the fire again. You should have been with us, Ralph. We had a smashing time. The twins got knocked over-’ We hit the pig-’ I fell on top. Jack cutted the pig’s throat, and he said this proudly but twitched at the same time. The repetition in the quote is “You let the fire go out”. The fire was out for about an hour or two during this so they could have lighted the fire up again. The other teens had to follow the hunt so the ring can be filled. Ralph was very disappointed in the hunters for letting the fire go out when a ship just passed by. In the end, the teens were rescued but they still turned savage because of the society or environment around them.

Humans are inherently savage and are shown when they are in an evil society or to protect themselves. Firstly, one’s act of savagery can be because of genetics or traits passed down by relatives and this is shown in an article called Approaching Socialism by Harry and Fred Magdoff. Next, savagery can be from the environment around yourself and this was informed in an article called Human Nature Today by David Brooks. Lastly, a bad society can change one’s point-of-view on something completely and this was shown in an article called “ Fix Society, Please!” by Leon Pomeroy. Overall these are some of many claims on how humans are inherently savage.