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Cass and I were talking in bed last night. I asked, "Is man born good or evil?" Cass had written a paper for his ethics class during the course of his master's program. He said, "Man is born evil." Instantly, I felt defensive. What evil can a baby do? Cass explained that during the early and formative years of a child's life, adults are constantly helping her learn "No", "Don't hit", "Share", "Wait your turn", "Don't pull hair", "Don't grab." A child instinctively lashes out at another child if play turned sour. A child takes whatever he wants in sincere belief that it becomes his. A child doesn't understand that hitting hurts the other. At an early age, we are conditioned to contain our instincts; play fair, share, be nice, be quiet. Often we were also told, don't cry. "I don't believe that is what evil means." I said. "What you explained is instinct. Evil is deriving pleasure for the self by inflicting pain and suffering in another being." After all, animals go by instinct but I don't know if they necessarily feel pleasure when they rupture the prey's jugular vein. "Maybe it's just human nature." Cass said. "In the screwed-up society we live in, with violence becoming the norm and backstabbing a frequent game of success, I'm glad that I believe man is still good at heart." I said. "That's because we have learned to be good. Goodness is learned." Cass said. Without rules and structure that advocate goodness and common preservation over self preservation, everyone would be stealing, raping, and destroying. Perhaps he is right. Perhaps when I deemed myself as a good person, it simply meant that I have learned to be good. What I struggle with, what I think many of us struggle with, is maintaining the delicate balance in this rate of attrition - this gradual tearing down of our basic nature - basic instincts, in order to maintain structure and order within society. Where do we stop adhering to rules and start honoring our instincts? Where do we stop containing our instincts and start respecting rights of other's self preservation? We had learned to be very good. We had learned to think in a selfless way because we were told being selfish is bad. We had become conditioned to wish that we could take away the sickness of our loved ones so they didn't have to suffer. Have we demonstrated what being good really means, or have we lost the instinct of self preservation ensuring our survival? I'm puzzled by who we are and why we are who we are. How it is that we become. "So what did you get on your paper?" I asked Cass. He got an A. |