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I could not finish this article. I have read about and seen a lot of disturbing things, but this bothers me far more than any horror movie or shock film ever c

I could not finish this article. I have read about and seen a lot of disturbing things, but this bothers me far more than any horror movie or shock film ever could. The situation exposed in this article evidences something really fundamental about human nature: the banality of evil. That someone could run over a toddler and then reverse back and forth over them just so they only have to pay $50,000 instead of $400,000 — well, it's absolutely sickening. Time and again I'm reminded that most people are really only "good" because it benefits them personally in some way. But the ease with which so many people simply rationalize away all the horrors that mankind commits — I suppose that's part of the human genome. This really depresses me.

the_economist 11y ago
Humans are basically good: http://www.ted.com/talks/ben_dunlap_talks_about_a_passionate_life?language=en http://www.ted.com/talks/ben_dunlap_talks_about_a_passionate...
- bennesvig 11y ago
  I'd say not good or bad but flawed.
mistermann 11y ago
> Time and again I'm reminded that most people are really only "good" because it benefits them personally in some way. I don't know if that's the general nature of people though - I think when people have enough, but not too much, they're generally good. But if you're below or above that middle bound, things start to go bad. If you're below, natural hunger and base instincts for survival drive your behavior. But if you're above that "safe" level, it seems like a lot of people go a little wonky - lots of people who get to a significantly higher level, it's almost like it sets off a switch in their brain and it turns into a game, where they can't resist seeing how much they can get, damn the consequences.
modarts 11y ago
I'm seriously ill after reading this
guardiangod 11y ago
Yes it's sickening, and also broadly understood to be a logical thing to do in China. Let's play the devil's advocate and understand the motive behind it- The average annual wage of a Chinese citizen is $7,500 USD, whereas the average annual wage of an American is $45,000. Which means that $400,000 is worth 400,000 x 45,000 / 7,500 = $2,400,000 . And that's only over 23 years so far. You have to keep paying until the day the victim dies. That's the equivalent of $105,000 for Americans per year. If you refuse to pay, the victim will take you to court and confiscate all your belongings. If you still refuse to get a job to pay, the court will throw your ass in jail and (here is the important part) force your family to pay, indefinitely, until the victim dies. So are you going to have your family pays $105,000 per year while you sit in jail, or are you going to make sure the victim is dead? Trust me when I say no one wants to kill another human, but when the law is lay against you in such way, well don't be surprise that humans can override their natural instinct. (I am from Hong Kong that, while most people there do not share the same sentiment, but can understand the math behind this horrific logic.
- developer1 11y ago
  This. Frankly I don't understand these people who "don't get it". We're talking about the difference between moving on with your life with a guilty conscience, vs. having your entire life financially ruined due to injuring someone. I make $80k per year. If my country mandated > $100k per year for injuring someone, that's literally the rest of my life destroyed. I could not financially recover for the rest of my life. Ever. For what? An honest accident in which someone's leg is broken and they feign permanent disability? Imagine you broke someone's leg. Would you rather kill the person and pay $1000, or spend the rest of your life in prison? Letting the person live and paying them $1000 isn't an option. You either get away scott-free, or ruin your life. I can completely understand a culture in which the reality of the consequences makes people choose the lesser punishment. The solution isn't to increase the punishment for killing someone on the street. The solution is to abolish the ridiculous costs associated with merely injuring someone, especially if that injury comes from an accident. Of course what's absolutely a joke is people acting all aghast about another country's culture from behind their white picket fences. You do realize that if you were born in their country, you would have the exact same perspective? What the fuck is with this high and mighty bullshit? Your upbringing in a privileged society doesn't make you better than those from less privileged societies, it just makes you privileged. Be thankful your day-to-day routine doesn't involve having to worry about the possibility of having to kill someone in order to keep your pristine life intact.
VarunAgw 11y ago
Same here. I can't understand how people get guts to kill someone. Weren't their hand shaking when thinking of killing someone intentionally

the_economist 11y ago

Humans are basically good: http://www.ted.com/talks/ben_dunlap_talks_about_a_passionate_life?language=en http://www.ted.com/talks/ben_dunlap_talks_about_a_passionate...

bennesvig 11y ago
I'd say not good or bad but flawed.

mistermann 11y ago

> Time and again I'm reminded that most people are really only "good" because it benefits them personally in some way. I don't know if that's the general nature of people though - I think when people have enough, but not too much, they're generally good. But if you're below or above that middle bound, things start to go bad. If you're below, natural hunger and base instincts for survival drive your behavior. But if you're above that "safe" level, it seems like a lot of people go a little wonky - lots of people who get to a significantly higher level, it's almost like it sets off a switch in their brain and it turns into a game, where they can't resist seeing how much they can get, damn the consequences.

modarts 11y ago

I'm seriously ill after reading this

guardiangod 11y ago

Yes it's sickening, and also broadly understood to be a logical thing to do in China. Let's play the devil's advocate and understand the motive behind it- The average annual wage of a Chinese citizen is $7,500 USD, whereas the average annual wage of an American is $45,000. Which means that $400,000 is worth 400,000 x 45,000 / 7,500 = $2,400,000 . And that's only over 23 years so far. You have to keep paying until the day the victim dies. That's the equivalent of $105,000 for Americans per year. If you refuse to pay, the victim will take you to court and confiscate all your belongings. If you still refuse to get a job to pay, the court will throw your ass in jail and (here is the important part) force your family to pay, indefinitely, until the victim dies. So are you going to have your family pays $105,000 per year while you sit in jail, or are you going to make sure the victim is dead? Trust me when I say no one wants to kill another human, but when the law is lay against you in such way, well don't be surprise that humans can override their natural instinct. (I am from Hong Kong that, while most people there do not share the same sentiment, but can understand the math behind this horrific logic.

developer1 11y ago
This. Frankly I don't understand these people who "don't get it". We're talking about the difference between moving on with your life with a guilty conscience, vs. having your entire life financially ruined due to injuring someone. I make $80k per year. If my country mandated > $100k per year for injuring someone, that's literally the rest of my life destroyed. I could not financially recover for the rest of my life. Ever. For what? An honest accident in which someone's leg is broken and they feign permanent disability? Imagine you broke someone's leg. Would you rather kill the person and pay $1000, or spend the rest of your life in prison? Letting the person live and paying them $1000 isn't an option. You either get away scott-free, or ruin your life. I can completely understand a culture in which the reality of the consequences makes people choose the lesser punishment. The solution isn't to increase the punishment for killing someone on the street. The solution is to abolish the ridiculous costs associated with merely injuring someone, especially if that injury comes from an accident. Of course what's absolutely a joke is people acting all aghast about another country's culture from behind their white picket fences. You do realize that if you were born in their country, you would have the exact same perspective? What the fuck is with this high and mighty bullshit? Your upbringing in a privileged society doesn't make you better than those from less privileged societies, it just makes you privileged. Be thankful your day-to-day routine doesn't involve having to worry about the possibility of having to kill someone in order to keep your pristine life intact.

VarunAgw 11y ago

Same here. I can't understand how people get guts to kill someone. Weren't their hand shaking when thinking of killing someone intentionally