4 ms·
Ask HN: What is the source of Evil?
What are the main causes of all the evil (suffering) we see around?
Some ideas floating my head:
- we have not been smart enough to engineer a functional social system yet
- a few people are exceptionally cruel
- lots poorly educated || unthinking people doing dumb & harmful things as a result of their worldview
- ...
- dragonbonheur 9y agoRead "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins.
- muzani 9y agoA synopsis would be nice.
- muzani 9y agoI'd say it's people being selfish and having a narrower scope of mind. Nobody admits to being evil. Whenever someone acts evil, they justify it with things like "I gotta eat," or "Everyone else does the same thing; it's normal." Saddam Hussein was a family man. He abused his kids to give them a way to survive in the harsh world. They may have ruled with an iron fist, but it's arguable that it was effective - the region has gone chaotic since the iron fist was removed. I don't think Saddam and family were simply "exceptionally cruel". A big part of it is nature, but there has to be an environment that rewards that kind of cruelty, or punishes kindness. If someone like Saddam was born into a rich American family, he'd probably be just another manipulative capitalist, but not a straight out mass murderer. So a big part of it is also an environment that brings out the worst in people.
- inphovore 9y agoSuffering isn't evil. Wide spread misconception of fools, to think morality is a designation of personal appeal. Evil is the corruption of innocence, the perversion of Truth and integrity. That which is good is not what makes you feel great about yourself, but the resilient thread that capacitates life and living systems. That which devastates and mutilates this ephemeral line is "Evil." Human carelessness on the scale of mass extinction is evil. When you say "we", you mean you and yours. You and yours ignore what has been excellent of humanity in the last thousands of years, focusing instead on what passes for your modernity. It is a lie to your self that you represent the forefront of human understanding. The few who are exceptionally cruel devastate and hold in check those who would prevail in any acceptable sense of good. You are poorly educated, your thoughts are hobbled, ignorance is a substantial root of evil, yet human malevolence for out paces.