What is the root of Evil?

[Doctor Amadeus]

As short and as simple as put What is the root of Evil?


What is the source of corruption?


Why is suffering such as homelessness, and mental illness so great?


I'd say I lived a while, and without pontificating or preaching or anything like that, just from an honest even if brutally is the reason that despite knowledge or intelligence, some would still choose wrong. I mean this mostly as a question for as brief as possible responses, with as much honesty and less knee jerk of reactions as possible.

[s_bushido]

"Give me brief responses to a question that humanity has been asking since it developed the ability to ask."

Come on, man.

[Templar 331]

Greed.

The other options by themselves aren't evil. It's when greed takes advantage of them is when they become evil.

[Doctor Amadeus]

"Give me brief responses to a question that humanity has been asking since it developed the ability to ask."

Come on, man.

No criticism on this here. Just asking for different perspectives on the questions. It doesn’t have to be deep. Just as thoughtful as possible.

- - - Updated - - -

Greed.

The other options by themselves aren't evil. It's when greed takes advantage of them is when they become evil.

That’s a pretty interesting take. I think I more like power doesn’t corrupt it just reveals one’s true nature.

I kind of compare that to anonymity or Mob mentality.

If no one can see you if you don’t feel alone. How does greed work there?

[Endus]

Greed.

The other options by themselves aren't evil. It's when greed takes advantage of them is when they become evil.

I think you can go a step deeper. Self-interest. "Greed" implies a financial/material interest. Why do evil fucks disown their kids for coming out as gay? Because of their self-interest; they're thinking of how their church group will look at them for supporting a gay child, or how it reflects on their parenting/genetics, and they reject all that and any love they had for that child so they can do what's best for themselves, because they literally never think or care about any other person on this planet, other than as some kind of extension of themselves. Greed is an obvious expression of this, but it goes a lot deeper.

[DarkAmbient]

The illusion of self.

[PC2]

As short and as simple as put What is the root of Evil?
What is the source of corruption?
Why is suffering such as homelessness, and mental illness so great?

All evil is caused by a lack of problem solving knowledge, where infinitely more can always be created.

the reason that despite knowledge or intelligence, some would still choose wrong.

That can't happen. Like if someone claims that they know rape is wrong but then they still rape someone then that means they don't actually have the relevant moral knowledge yet, which is what allowed them to justify their action in their mind.

[PACOX]

Ego. All evil is not just rooted in self-importance but that one's self-importance is greeter than those around them. When one justifies diminishing the existence another for their own desires.

[Kathandira]

As short and as simple as put What is the root of Evil?


What is the source of corruption?


Why is suffering such as homelessness, and mental illness so great?


I'd say I lived a while, and without pontificating or preaching or anything like that, just from an honest even if brutally is the reason that despite knowledge or intelligence, some would still choose wrong. I mean this mostly as a question for as brief as possible responses, with as much honesty and less knee jerk of reactions as possible.

I don't really believe in Evil the way it is generally seen. Imo, Evil is only something that the majority have decided it to be at that time. What was once evil hundreds of years ago today, could be something that is widely accepted today, and vica-versa.

[The Stormbringer]

I don't know if I can straight-up say "Evil", but the biggest cause for the troubles of humanity is probably a tie between greed and fear. They're both the cause for some of the worst tragedies in our history and modern world.

[Doctor Amadeus]

I don't really believe in Evil the way it is generally seen. Imo, Evil is only something that the majority have decided it to be at that time. What was once evil hundreds of years ago today, could be something that is widely accepted today, and vica-versa.

I see what you're saying even though I don't exactly agree. Meaning I see your point about society structure and that something can be totally acceptable as a norm one day, and then change. Which I think going forward and back. I don't agree irrespective of that fact we can't asses evil specifically.


Evil people do evil things, even if at the time they don't fully appreciate it, and sometimes they do. I never think it's evil for evil sake like in movies. I think in reality the evil people in fact see themselves as the good guy even if they do an evil thing. I think it's typically excused afterwards as for the greater good.

I guess for me in all this, I really wonder at what point does that fork meet the road and the decision is finally made and maybe at times embraced.

[PC2]

Ego. All evil is not just rooted in self-importance but that one's self-importance is greeter than those around them. When one justifies diminishing the existence another for their own desires.

I'm skeptical of the claim that all evil is rooted in ego and self-importance because when I think about some terrorists such as jihadi suicide bombers I don't get the sense that their evil actions were motivated by their ego or self-importance. In fact I kind of think the opposite because it seems like they are more altruistic in the sense that they think their religion/god is the main thing that matters and that their personal self-importance and ego should be sacrificed because that's what their god desires.

[Doctor Amadeus]

All evil is caused by a lack of problem solving knowledge, where infinitely more can always be created.

But it's not, the supposed ignorance is pure projection. There always something everyone doesn't know at any given time, and even in that there is knowledge enough to know that in making a choice far enough ahead a likely outcome

That can't happen. Like if someone claims that they know rape is wrong but then they still rape someone then that means they don't actually have the relevant moral knowledge yet, which is what allowed them to justify their action in their mind.

High I.Q will almost never prevent ones one emotions from playing a factor in their choices, even if it's less often. And less often doesn't really determine the proportions of how wrong or stupidity of such actions.


I think in terms for example Skynet, this self aware massive computer A.I that at some point after becoming self aware turns on it's human master. But you see the real haunting thing about this dilemma is really not one ever explored.

It's not that Skynet was this super computer A.I that for all it's possibility didn't love us or care about humanity, but that this Skynet Super Computer DID love us and then became to HATE us too!

Skynet can be super intelligent, but with the self aware that comes with being intelligence, comes the emotions to care one way or another.


An A.I like Skynet can be super intelligent just like a human albeit more so, but like any human it makes choices. Skynet might just simply be a Psychopath. Just as a Human could be or a Human that makes a choice for all the reasons people make stupid choices. Love, Hate etc...

[Biglog]

I think they all come down to a battle of love vs. selfishness. Love being in the general sense of caring for others, whether that's family, animals, the poor, or any living thing in need. And that is really the primary message from all of the major religions of the world as well. Evil on the other hand is selfishness, which can take all sorts of forms like greed or hate.

It's also an interesting side-note that when advanced AI is asked what is humanity's most valuable trait, it's response is love. The ability to care for others. And while it's just an AI response based on Internet data and algorithms, the response did make me give it more thought. It's true that when we're all old and grey, the love we gave to others is the main thing that persists and will be remembered. So it's important to keep that front and center everyday, otherwise it's sometimes easy for people to let the selfishness creep in. I had a distant relative that was successful financially, but that fell into those evil traps where he would never even consider donating to charity, or he would walk by a homeless person and make an insulting comment to them. His funeral when he passed was very lightly attended...

[Nihilist74]

As short and as simple as put What is the root of Evil?


What is the source of corruption?


Why is suffering such as homelessness, and mental illness so great?


I'd say I lived a while, and without pontificating or preaching or anything like that, just from an honest even if brutally is the reason that despite knowledge or intelligence, some would still choose wrong. I mean this mostly as a question for as brief as possible responses, with as much honesty and less knee jerk of reactions as possible.

Everything in the universe is trying to destroy or consume everything in the universe. How could there not be evil in that? I would not really call anything evil though. I would say reactions are either positive or negative depending on your position and the outcome.

[Combatbutler]

Cognitive thought, meaning a deliberate choice to do something considered evil.

[BeepBoo]

Hypocrisy.

Being willing to do things to other people while hoping they're never done to you or being unwilling to let someone do the same thing to you. If people were forced to endure the actions they wanted to do to someone else BEFORE they were able to do it, there would be a lot less evil.

Rape? Hope you're ready to get raped first (and I don't mean in a sexual sense necessarily, I mean in whatever sense would cause them the same pain as their rape victims).
Murder? You'll never get the chance because you're already dead.
Stealing? Hope you're ready to lose your own most valuable possession.

Conversely, all of the good things in life, like consensual sharing in activities, all pass this test.

[Pann]

Twitter. Obviously.

[Malkiah]

As a moral relativist I reject the notion of "evil" because that implies some kind of objective universal standard, so technically I'd say the root of evil is the imagination because evil doesn't exist.
But that's cheating the question, isn't it?

The root cause of everything repugnant in human society is the failure of humans to act on current information instead of acting on instinct that was developed for a world that no longer exists.
Greed and corruption are the product of a brain that still thinks it's 50,000 BC and we're on the verge of starving all the time so need to desperately hoard every scrap of anything we can get our hands on.
Avarice and cruelty to others are social instincts to "shoot first and ask questions later" when it comes to anything that isn't part of our tribe.
The state of the world has changed vastly more rapidly than evolution can keep up with, so basically humans are not genetically aligned with the world that we live in, we've got all these instincts and ingrained behaviors that are no longer relevant and most people are too benightedly fucking stupid to recognize that and make the choice to alter their thinking and behavior accordingly.
Most humans are just chimps in a zoo with a cognition AI patched in - there's no volition to most people, no real sense of awareness or self, no introspection or intuitive processing about the nature of reality. There's a 100,000 year old instinct to violently hurl your shit at anything shaped like a snake in case it might be a snake, and most modern humans are just doing that except also trying to slap some kind of justification on top of it because their conscious mind wants to have an excuse for their behavior that makes it their choice.

As for mental health and homelessness, well that's easy:
Homelessness exists because it is the gun pointed at the head of the working class. It's the threat that those with money use to say "don't ask for too much, don't expect too much, don't think too hard about what you're worth as a human life or a member of society, because we can turn you into THAT at any time."
Keep a large and robust homeless population around so that they're everywhere and all the working stiffs have to see them all the time and the working stiffs will never get too uppity, in order to prevent themselves from becoming homeless.
It's not an accident or an act of neglect, a teeming mass of homeless miserable people are a necessary component of a capitalist society.

The mental health thing is a combination of all of the above... bad upbringing in a shitty world makes for unstable people. And, there's no selectivity in breeding anymore in humans, certainly not on the basis of healthy genes. We've been systematically breeding ourselves into retardation for hundreds if not thousands of years, so that sort of thing is only going to get worse as time goes on.

[jonnysensible]

I reject the notion of "evil" because that implies some kind of objective universal standard,

The root of all evil is probably turnips, they suck.