Mind of a Lunatic

[Monoriu]

I am arguing with no one. Have you read this, Raz?

But, why did he turn out so evil? What were the markers that turned the lunatic that way and sway millions to inaction to stop him?

Unless your a religious zealot, he certainly wasn't born evil, nobody is.

There is no need to sway anyone to inaction.  Inaction is the natural state. 

[crazy canuck]

Unless your a religious zealot, he certainly wasn't born evil, nobody is.

I don't consider myself a religious zealot, but aren't we all born in sin?  That is, aren't we all born evil?

In my limited experience the answer is an unequivocal NO.  Why would you think that?

Because in my one man's experience the answer is an unequivocal YES.

Better put your kids in gaol ASAP.

[The Brain]

B4 drunk threads are worse than Siege drunk threads.

I don't drink.

Are you having a stroke now?

No just reading.

You should go to Reading Gaol.

[Barrister]

Unless your a religious zealot, he certainly wasn't born evil, nobody is.

I don't consider myself a religious zealot, but aren't we all born in sin?  That is, aren't we all born evil?

In my limited experience the answer is an unequivocal NO.  Why would you think that?

Because in my one man's experience the answer is an unequivocal YES.

Better put your kids in gaol ASAP.

Or I could just teach them proper manners and morality so they don't have to go to gaol.

[crazy canuck]

Unless your a religious zealot, he certainly wasn't born evil, nobody is.

I don't consider myself a religious zealot, but aren't we all born in sin?  That is, aren't we all born evil?

In my limited experience the answer is an unequivocal NO.  Why would you think that?

Because in my one man's experience the answer is an unequivocal YES.

Better put your kids in gaol ASAP.

Or I could just teach them proper manners and morality so they don't have to go to gaol.

But if you believe we are born evil then surely most children will commit atrocities by default.  I find your claim of personal experience hard to believe.  The stories you tell about your kids make me think they were born as adorable living beings.  If they turn bad I think we will know who to blame.

[Barrister]

But if you believe we are born evil then surely most children will commit atrocities by default.  I find your claim of personal experience hard to believe.  The stories you tell about your kids make me think they were born as adorable living beings.  If they turn bad I think we will know who to blame.

I think you forget what living with young children is like.

They do indeed commit atrocities on a daily basis against each other.

[crazy canuck]

You may have to look up the word atrocity...

[Valmy]

The point here is that people are not naturally good. Whatever that may mean. The second our brains individualize we are naturally quite selfish, if not actually malicious.

[The Minsky Moment]

Or I could just teach them proper manners and morality so they don't have to go to gaol.

Such things could not exist, since inherently evil creatures could not and would not invent them.  Unless you assume their source is otherworldly.  In which case you are committing yourself to a religious position (or a tinfoily Sci-Fi scenario).

[mongers]

I think evil is a pretty steep word to use and then applying it to small pre-school children and babies.

Best to leave it as an epithet for true monsters like the subject of the OP.


My own two cents, children are very advance learning machines, you have to be very careful about what they see around themselves and what you teach them, both explicitly and inadvertently.

[Valmy]

My own two cents, children are very advance learning machines, you have to be very careful about what they see around themselves and what you teach them, both explicitly and inadvertently.

I sort of agree. But they are very willfully individuals. Everything they learn will be put into their own context, so you cannot really control what they see and what they learn no matter how hard you try. What seems like the message to you might not be what they decide it was. I just give of myself as much as I can and don't worry about it too much.

[Barrister]

Or I could just teach them proper manners and morality so they don't have to go to gaol.

Such things could not exist, since inherently evil creatures could not and would not invent them.  Unless you assume their source is otherworldly.  In which case you are committing yourself to a religious position (or a tinfoily Sci-Fi scenario).

I didn't think I was being particularly subtle about arguing a pretty standard version of Christian morality. 

[Malthus]

Children are naturally selfish little animals, but capable of empathy as well. I'm often surprised by how naturally 'good' my kid is (when he's not annoying the hell out of me  ). Training helps with social graces, but you can't really train for basic personality traits - they are who they are.

[Valmy]

Children are naturally selfish little animals, but capable of empathy as well. I'm often surprised by how naturally 'good' my kid is (when he's not annoying the hell out of me  ). Training helps with social graces, but you can't really train for basic personality traits - they are who they are.

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[grumbler]

Such things could not exist, since inherently evil creatures could not and would not invent them.  Unless you assume their source is otherworldly.  In which case you are committing yourself to a religious position (or a tinfoily Sci-Fi scenario).

Even if you go with a religious view, the gods who made men inherently evil must themselves be evil, since they could have made men inherently good.  So, what some people worship as "God" or gods  must be either evil or aliens.