The Most Asked Question by Humans All Around the World
Author Sarah Aguirre December 19, 2019
In a world where mankind has always been at war with evil, fighting to stop those who premeditated acts that cause intentional suffering, destruction, and animosity—we may fail to fully recognize the present-day goodness and morality in people. Despite there having been countless acts of evil and dehumanization conducted by empty-hearted individuals throughout history, it would be highly inaccurate to say that human nature is innate of evil rather than good.
For some it may be hard to believe that humans are instinctively good because of the evident destruction and bloodshed caused by humans all around the world, however, the goodness of humanity outweighs any evil evident in the world. It is extremely important to understand that as humans, it is not in our hearts to want to do evil but to do good onto others.
Growing up with family members who are in the line of duty—police officers, it can get quite emotional when hearing about their personal experiences out there in the real world. On behalf of stories told by my Uncles who are police officers, they have to see people at their worst: violently causing harm to others, defying the laws that serve to protect, having to withstand stereotypical misconceptions, as well as receiving physical abuse from wrongdoers. Essentially, police officers such as my uncles, have to see a lot of evil on a day to day basis, whether the evil they encounter is a small crime or an extremely serious crime—at the end of the day, those are crimes committed by humans with premeditated wrongful intentions. Since my uncle, unfortunately, has to experience a great extent of crimes out in the real world, I thought of him as an ideal candidate to interview—asking him questions about my topic: Are humans innately good or evil?...
As I interviewed him, asking a pretty straightforward question: “Do you think humans are born good or evil,” he answered, “I think humans are good by nature.” I was quite startled by the irony in his answer— in fact, I was so surprised my jaw-dropped! Despite the fact that as a police officer my uncle has to deal with people who are at their worst, he still chooses to believe people are innately good. As I continued to interview him, I then asked the question: If you had one word to describe humanity, what would it be? He then answered, “I would say mentally and emotionally complex human beings.” At this point, I stopped interviewing him and I took a moment to reflect upon his responses. Primarily, I anticipated my uncle to consider humans cruel by nature because of the fact that he has to see it quite often, however, in that moment I stood corrected and was relieved that we shared a similar perspective upon the human nature of people.
Eventually, I thought about the next individual to interview—this time I decided I would interview a fire-fighter! Most significantly, I recognized that if I were to interview certain individuals upon the profound philosophical question of whether humans are innately good or evil, I would want them to be individuals whose jobs are to serve not only our communities by rescuing and protecting, but who are frequently exposed to dangers that are caused by bad people today. Sooner or later, I walked up to a group of fire-fighters and respectfully asked if I was able to interview them, in which they agreed. (Keep in mind, I interviewed them in a British accent which no one was expecting…) I directed my questions towards one single fire-fighter to get the clearest responses.
As I asked the anonymous fire-fighter whose name I failed to get: “do you believe humans are innately good or evil,” he answered, “People are good. But a bad apple spoils the bunch.” It was at this moment that I was left completely mesmerized by the analogy he made. He made the connection to the idea that one bad influence can affect others into engaging in that same bad behavior—ultimately referring to the idea that human beings are initially born good—not knowing evil but when exposed to it, are tempted to do wrong. Not long after, as I asked the Anonymous fire-fighter the following question: “If you had one word to describe humans, what would it be,” he said, “I don’t know. It’s a tough question. I can’t find a single word for that…What’s a word for always improving.” At this moment, I understood that not only do I believe humans at their core are kind, loving, compassionate, and good people—but there are plenty of others in the world that believe this too. The question is what do you believe?
For some it may be hard to believe that humans are instinctively good because of the evident destruction and bloodshed caused by humans all around the world, however, the goodness of humanity outweighs any evil evident in the world. It is extremely important to understand that as humans, it is not in our hearts to want to do evil but to do good onto others.
Growing up with family members who are in the line of duty—police officers, it can get quite emotional when hearing about their personal experiences out there in the real world. On behalf of stories told by my Uncles who are police officers, they have to see people at their worst: violently causing harm to others, defying the laws that serve to protect, having to withstand stereotypical misconceptions, as well as receiving physical abuse from wrongdoers. Essentially, police officers such as my uncles, have to see a lot of evil on a day to day basis, whether the evil they encounter is a small crime or an extremely serious crime—at the end of the day, those are crimes committed by humans with premeditated wrongful intentions. Since my uncle, unfortunately, has to experience a great extent of crimes out in the real world, I thought of him as an ideal candidate to interview—asking him questions about my topic: Are humans innately good or evil?...
As I interviewed him, asking a pretty straightforward question: “Do you think humans are born good or evil,” he answered, “I think humans are good by nature.” I was quite startled by the irony in his answer— in fact, I was so surprised my jaw-dropped! Despite the fact that as a police officer my uncle has to deal with people who are at their worst, he still chooses to believe people are innately good. As I continued to interview him, I then asked the question: If you had one word to describe humanity, what would it be? He then answered, “I would say mentally and emotionally complex human beings.” At this point, I stopped interviewing him and I took a moment to reflect upon his responses. Primarily, I anticipated my uncle to consider humans cruel by nature because of the fact that he has to see it quite often, however, in that moment I stood corrected and was relieved that we shared a similar perspective upon the human nature of people.
Eventually, I thought about the next individual to interview—this time I decided I would interview a fire-fighter! Most significantly, I recognized that if I were to interview certain individuals upon the profound philosophical question of whether humans are innately good or evil, I would want them to be individuals whose jobs are to serve not only our communities by rescuing and protecting, but who are frequently exposed to dangers that are caused by bad people today. Sooner or later, I walked up to a group of fire-fighters and respectfully asked if I was able to interview them, in which they agreed. (Keep in mind, I interviewed them in a British accent which no one was expecting…) I directed my questions towards one single fire-fighter to get the clearest responses.
As I asked the anonymous fire-fighter whose name I failed to get: “do you believe humans are innately good or evil,” he answered, “People are good. But a bad apple spoils the bunch.” It was at this moment that I was left completely mesmerized by the analogy he made. He made the connection to the idea that one bad influence can affect others into engaging in that same bad behavior—ultimately referring to the idea that human beings are initially born good—not knowing evil but when exposed to it, are tempted to do wrong. Not long after, as I asked the Anonymous fire-fighter the following question: “If you had one word to describe humans, what would it be,” he said, “I don’t know. It’s a tough question. I can’t find a single word for that…What’s a word for always improving.” At this moment, I understood that not only do I believe humans at their core are kind, loving, compassionate, and good people—but there are plenty of others in the world that believe this too. The question is what do you believe?