Its really a classic nature vs nurture debate. How do you determine (or is it possible to determine) how much influence someones personality/genetics/inborn characteristics have on their actions as opposed to the environment in which they were raised. It seems like you lean more towards the John Locke/Ibn Tufail school of thought, which would make sense for someone interested in a decentralized (and essentially libertarian) currency. I would think that most of those on this forum with a philosophical bent would agree with you. But I digress...
Its hard to argue that society has 0 impact on a persons actions (just like its hard to argue that society is the only determining factor). I think that our society and global culture definitely leads to more "bad" people but that some people would be "bad" even in an idealistic utopia (an impossible point to prove but an interesting thought experiment). Some people. despite being given all the love and support in the world still hurt others or seek to impose their thought systems forcibly on society. Are greed, envy, lust, and hate natural human emotions or are they something we have created because of the royally messed up way that we live our lives as a species? Personally I think all of these things exist as part of human nature, we just exacerbate them through the eviornment we create for ourselves.
But that's just my 2 cents...a pretty interesting conversation while I wait in purgatory for my 4 hours to be up...And one deserving of several hugs!
Its hard to argue that society has 0 impact on a persons actions (just like its hard to argue that society is the only determining factor). I think that our society and global culture definitely leads to more "bad" people but that some people would be "bad" even in an idealistic utopia (an impossible point to prove but an interesting thought experiment). Some people. despite being given all the love and support in the world still hurt others or seek to impose their thought systems forcibly on society. Are greed, envy, lust, and hate natural human emotions or are they something we have created because of the royally messed up way that we live our lives as a species? Personally I think all of these things exist as part of human nature, we just exacerbate them through the eviornment we create for ourselves.
But that's just my 2 cents...a pretty interesting conversation while I wait in purgatory for my 4 hours to be up...And one deserving of several hugs!
But when you observe other species that are very similar to humans such as gorillas for example you realize that they are all peaceful and not violent collectively, no phenomena such as rape, stealing etc exist, so if that was the case wouldn't some gorillas be naturally violent as well?
By not violent in this context I mean that they show the bare minimum amount of violence which is needed for survival.
Quote from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence
Violence, however, is preventable. Evidence shows strong relationships between levels of violence and potentially modifiable factors such as concentrated poverty, income and gender inequality, the harmful use of alcohol, and the absence of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships between children and parents. Scientific research shows that strategies addressing the underlying causes of violence can be effective in preventing violence. Examples of scientifically credible strategies to prevent violence include nurse home-visiting and parenting education to prevent child maltreatment; life skills training for children ages 618 years; school-based programmes to address gender norms and attitudes; reducing alcohol availability and misuse through enactment and enforcement of liquor licensing laws, taxation and pricing; reducing access to guns and knives; and promoting gender equality by, for instance, supporting the economic empowerment of women.
(Not that I necessarily agree with everything in that quote, seems biased to cram some agenda)
Hugs to Alani!
