- Hey everybody, happy Thursday.
Today's question is an interesting one.
Are we inherently good or bad?
Good question.
Before I jump into that,
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Let's jump into that question.
This was a really interesting question to research,
and the truth is, what I found,
was that philosophers from way, way back in the day
did believe that we were born inherently bad.
They used to state that we were born as infants
as broken and selfish,
and the only way that we could be reborn to be good
was through divine intervention.
And as you can imagine,
most of these philosophers were Christian philosophers.
Even now, in TV, think Survivor and Ozark,
as well as movies like Hunger Games,
we still are watching content
that constantly puts to the test what we wanna do.
Are we gonna be selfish?
Is it all about us and our own personal gain?
Are we gonna do what's best
for the community or the group as a whole?
We watch a lot of content like that,
but just like everything on TV that we see,
what we've seen in those shows and those movies,
isn't necessarily true as to how we would really act.
Luckily, we don't have to rely on television,
nobody relies on television, let's be honest,
but even what philosophers used to say back in the day,
we don't have to rely on any of that information
because we have modern-day research that shows us,
do people on their instinct act out in a selfish way,
something that's only good for them?
Or do they consider the community
and what's good for the overall group?
There were three studies
that were conducted by a variety of researchers,
a very diverse group of people from Harvard and Yale
that tried to answer the question,
what is the instinct of people?
Is it to take care of themselves
and do what's best for them?
Or is it more community-driven,
and what's best for the group?
What these three studies showed
was not only that philosophers
are completely wrong when it comes to this,
but also that no matter what we did
to change how hard it was for people
to think about the community versus themselves,
or give them more money or more power,
if they put the group down
and did something completely selfish,
no matter what we did to try to change that,
people always instinctively thought
about the community and the group first,
proving that we as humans are inherently good.
Obviously these studies
don't take into consideration sociopaths.
I know a lot of people in the comments are gonna say,
what about those people?
But the three to five percent of the population
who find themselves in that realm
is not what we're talking about right now.
What we're talking about is the majority of people.
The N in their study
was anywhere from 850 people to 1200 people
and they were from a variety of walks of life
and a variety of areas of North America.
They tried to pick
as broad and diverse of a group as they could,
to showcase what people overall would do.
And if you want more information about what a sociopath is,
or what I'm even talking about when I use that term,
I'll link to my video on that in the description.
But let's get back to the research.
The thing I found the most interesting about the study
was that when people were asked to make a decision quickly,
they had 10 seconds or less
to decide what they wanted to do,
whether they would do something to better themselves
or they'd do something to better the group,
when they were not given much time to think about it,
almost 100% of the time they chose the group.
When they were given a long time to contemplate
and to pro and con, and weigh and measure,
that's when we saw a rise in the selfish act.
And what that shows us,
before you start thinking that's a bad statistic
or that shows that we are actually bad,
what that really means is that our instinct,
our knee-jerk reaction, our impulse
is to be good.
But when we're given more information
and we're supposed to start thinking about it
and they say, come back in 20 minutes,
you have to render your verdict,
only then do we start thinking about ourselves.
I really don't think that's a bad thing to know.
I think it's important to know that still,
if we're forced to make a decision,
we're gonna think about everybody.
And the researchers
found that information interesting as well,
so they went into further research
to understand why is it that people are inherently good
or they impulsively think about the community
and not themselves.
Why is that?
What they found is that our society as a whole
supports that kind of behavior.
As children, we're told to share.
We're rewarded for being nice to others
and helping other people out.
Therefore, we're built and grown in this society
where we're told acting like that is the right thing.
All of the things that we maybe don't notice
and we don't recognize happening,
thanks for opening that door for me,
that was really nice of you,
people doing nice, kind things to each other,
really just helps this continue
and helps us all make inherently good choices.
Let's say, cause I know a lot of you are gonna say,
well, what if I wasn't raised in a positive environment?
Or what if I was rewarded for doing bad things to others?
We all come from different walks of life.
What they found is that while that can change
the way that we interact with others
for a short period of time,
if we spend a significant amount of time,
let's say in school, where we're rewarded
for being positive and being supportive,
that all of that nasty stuff from home life, potentially,
will be outweighed by the positive affirmations
from positive people in our lives.
And if we're removed completely from that,
let's say we grow up, we move away,
we go to college or we get a job,
and we move out of our house,
then we'll slowly be conditioned
in the same way other people were
to positively interact with others
and to consider the group over our own personal gain.
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I know this doesn't answer your question
in a real cut-and-dried manner.
I can't say yes, we're all inherently good,
or yes, we're all inherently bad.
But what the research taught me,
and what I learned from reading about this,
which was fascinating,
is that we like being nice to one another.
We feel rewarded when we do so.
Even if something bad happens to us,
we can change and be around different people
and be loving again.
But I want to pass the question off to you.
What do you think?
What's been your experience?
Do you feel that being positive and supportive to others
is something that's been rewarded in your life?
Do you think that we're inherently good or bad?
Because I would, in conclusion,
believe that we all are inherently good,
and that's why our society supports it.
Let me know, and if you want more information
about different topics on mental health,
check out those playlists,
and I will see you next time.
Bye.