Journal #1

2/14/2019

Do you think that human nature is either good or bad? Is a human being born with this nature or is it developed?

Erick Valenzuela

2/14/2019 12:52:50 pm

Based on the responses given today I agree with the last person who spoke. human nature is both good and bad. two opposites that complement each other. It is safe to say that humans are born with a series of characteristics that are passed down through genes. Therefore there are some traits that are inevitable for some people. both nature and nurture are responsible for the behavior of a human. A study was practiced on identical twin siblings, that were given in adoption and went to different families each. The study showed that both twins had many similar characteristics and thinking patterns even though they grew up on different places. This tells us that the genes are dominant when it comes to the forming of someones personality. But we also have to take into consideration the place and time in which the individual develops. if one grows up in a hostile family then one will tent to form a family and have similar or the same characteristics. nevertheless there are people who manage to change their lives and be different than what they used to be. Bad people who turn to good or vise versa. good and evil exist within all of us, it is just a matter of the situation we find ourselves in.

Michelle Lopez

2/14/2019 04:15:27 pm

As my classmate Silvia presented Is human nature good or bad ? Is a human being born with this nature or is it developed? she stated that were born with instincts and that they develop along the way and believes that there is no such thing as good or bad is what you make out of it . I say I agree with her because I think that human nature along the way is develop and as we continue to grow it becomes a habit and even when were born we are given instincts that will guide us along the way . For example in an article "Are We Fundamentally Good or Evil" it emphasizes "One theory is that as we age we build up the capabilities of the higher areas of the brain , areas that are responsible for rational thinking , planning and impulse control" . Therefore I believe that we are in control of it and we continue to grow and develop stronger ideas . I believe some of us are taught from right or wrong and at the end of the day its what we make out of it even thought we develop and grow every single day .

April Luevano

2/15/2019 10:14:43 am

While listening to the presentations, I agreed with mostly all of them because babies do have the sense of right and wrong even when their brains are barley developed. Babies minds are a perfect example of human nature, and also their minds are as innocent as a human brain can get. Babies cant say their opinion or say what they want, but in reality we don’t need language to get what we want. Babies will reach for toys they want or even cry for food and eventually end up getting what they want. I do think we are born with natural instincts and they continue to improve as we grown.

Damian Ladino

2/15/2019 07:53:38 pm

As some of the responses said, i agree that human nature is all the above. What makes us human isn't if we are good or bad, its the amount of feeling we produce. Baby's are too young to really be given a nature, but they are pure, with no sin, no lie. When born we are given from our parents a part of them and our ancestors, but are to young and undeveloped to show much of the feeling, nature and emotions. From how, or with who, or even where we grow up impacts us so much. Big events or even little things can change they way we see a certain topic or the way we act with people or family. I believe we are born with the nature our parents give us, but what makes us good or bad is how we grow up living our life, and what impacts us through it.

Iliana Cifuentes

2/16/2019 05:02:58 pm

I agree with some of my fellow peers above. I believe that human nature is developed through time. When a baby is born they have no sense of good or bad. Although they do have a sense of surviving. They cry when they are in pain or in need of something, but they develop the rest as they grow up. While they are growing up they get to make their own choices based on their instincts and their environment. Parents have nothing to do with this because a parent can only teach so much to a child of what is good or bad. Even then the parent was a child once; therefore, the parent had to make their own choices of good and bad. The child is the person who ends up making their choices. Therefore, human nature is extended through the lifetime of the child.

leslie soto

2/18/2019 03:08:48 am

I do agree with the different perspective you talked about in your comment but I also believe that parents play a huge roll in the development of good or bad.

Andrew Velasco

2/16/2019 06:50:28 pm

As I heard my classmates presentations, one said that human nature is developed over time and can be both good and bad. She stated that a person can be born and raised into a good family and can turn out to be a serial killer later in life. I agree with her and many of my peers above. Human nature is developed during the course of life, whether it be good or bad. It all depends on how one is raised and what one goes through in life.

Erika Hernandez

2/16/2019 08:22:51 pm

Based on the topic I would have to agree with Silvia who stated that you grow into being good or bad. I believe Human nature is good when one is born and then turns either bad or better. To a certain point everyone is born with a good and bad part but it is their environment that tailors their personality and existence. There are cases where individuals are properly raised but still do wrong. For instance the famous serial killer, Ted Bundy. He grew up in a good family, was never abused, was taken to church every Sunday, was smart and also very handsome. He had good upbringing but he was socially awkward in high school which caused him to have trouble talking to females. Which makes you believe that because of that situation, he committed these murders towards women. Going back to my belief, you can be born and raised to be good however certain circumstances can alter your sense of thinking and feeling.

Ruby Esquivel

2/16/2019 09:25:19 pm

I agree with my classmate who stated that they think life is neutral it’s both good and bad. I think that all people have both good and bad traits during different situations. I believe the environment you live in also plays a huge role. If you are surrounded by negative influences you might either fall into it or see it as a lesson and grow from it.
Many people adapt their behaviors from the ones who raised them. They can pick up the good traits along with the bad ones. People also have the ability of noticing their errors and correcting them or working towards becoming a better version of themselves. Every situation is different and takes the place of offering different emotions.

Stephen Pearson

2/17/2019 11:47:04 am

On Thursday, February 14th I was given the opportunity to hear from classmates on their response to a simple yet deeply entangled, philosophical question that surpasses many others in terms of subjectivity and complexity.

The question was simply “Are Human Beings Born Good or Bad?”

After deliberating my thoughts and subsequent reasoning and rationalizing what issues, topics, rebuttals, and reposes could be made on the subject, I came to a lengthy but detailed opinion on the matter.

I disagree strongly with one key aspect of argument responses I heard in class, there was so much emphasis on the idea of infancy and childhood innocence, that it distracts and derails any real, authentic, and legitimate recourse on the topic question. People grow older, we progress physically, emotionally, and mentally, to label the entire ethical nature of humans on infants and toddlers and their own innocence of youth is a disturbing betrayal of life in the real world.

Human beings are born neither Good nor Bad, because human beings are individuals with our own experiences and subsequent consequences and outcomes of what we have lived through and went against in the greater course of our lives.

On top of this, I have come to an ever more inclusive direction of thought: Realistically, there is truly no way for us to universally describe what is good and what is bad, as society, our own morals and ethics, our faith, our political ideologies, and our own thought process is made up of what we are as people, not what others make out of us.

To substantially state: “Humans are born good” is to deny and displace any authentic reality in our world today.

Would you describe humans as naturally good while genocides, rape, war crimes, molestation, robbery, and murder unfold every day in someplace, committed by someone, somewhere, at some time in the present, as well as the fact that such events have been tragically unfolding for the entire existence of our species, with documentation of these types of atrocities occurring even thousands of years ago in the times of civilization developing from its cradles, and continue believing the rhetoric of pure, unadulterated goodness in humanity while we know for certain that a utopia is unrealistic and that such sickening acts will sadly continue to unfold in the future of our world?

Would those who believe the sentiment: “Humans are born evil” blatantly deny and critique the directive nature of good in many, if not most, human beings?

Would you say someone who donates their money to feed the poor, acts as an organ donor to save friends, family, and even total strangers, or someone who nurtures animals back to health or raises adopted children with equal love as if they were their own, as evil?

Is it evil for a religious institute or a school club to donate and volunteer for those who need assistance? Is it evil that people work tirelessly to cure diseases such as AIDS, Cancer, Alzheimer’s, MS, and ALS?

What about those who die saving others such as Police officers who give their life to help someone, soldiers who take a bullet in urban firefights to let a civilian live, or a firefighter that is lost trying to protect homes from a wildfire?

How evil is such a person who does this? And in consequential action, how are we as a species and a society to let such events unfold out of spontaneous generosity and lifelong dreams and devotion to others?

Such is this kind of nature evil that these acts, in some fashion or form, have transpired throughout our existence, and will continue to do so for as long as we human beings continue existing.

In the essential conclusion of my opinion, it is important to make a primary point of distinction, good and evil is often subjective to varying moralities.

What is just and fair to others is cruel and barbaric to a differing group of individuals. Morality is a complex and tricky thing to discuss and dissect without erupting passions and fury rhetoric, it matters in no capacity to who, or what, issue is debated; in the real world, real individuals make their own reasoning.

For example: take note of a controversial career like an abortion clinic doctor or a gun store owner, some people might believe them to be an outrageously evil and demented human being, while others standby to gladly condone and support their line of work and those who they help with their services.

Some people might justify a gun store owner and not an abortion doctor, others may support abortion doctors but vilify gun store owners, some people might view both as evil or, in an opposite effect, support the legality of services provided by these two individuals.

On a similar note, we must understand that not all people are alike, some experiences shape people in drastically different ways than their peers. It isn’t fair to go about labeling people as truly good or evil, when, we see actions that unfold rather than the personal being

Janet Yan

2/17/2019 12:39:55 pm

I agree with my classmate who expressed that human nature is neutral. I believe that people can have both good and bad characteristics developed throughout their life. The environment plays a huge part in influencing their actions. If you adopt a bad behavior from an adult thinking it is normal, it may result in having difficulties communicating with those around you.
However, some situations can create bad traits even if they were brought up in a good environment. In some cultures, having a boy was better than a girl. This resulted in the development of older generations adoring boys regardless of the age gaps between siblings. This visible difference in treatments from elders can create negative feelings and actions towards male siblings. Overall, both good and bad traits are developed through one's environment and situations in life.

Robert De Loza

2/17/2019 12:57:36 pm

After hearing all presentations, I have to say I believe human nature is both good and bad. While there are many disgusting and evil people in this world, I firmly believe there are just as many good well meaning people. Though sometimes it can be the evil part of humanity's nature that sticks out more. But this evilness is not born within humans. Nor is the goodness either. I agree with the statement that humans are not born good or bad but it is through our upbringing and general life experiences that will shape who we become. If one is born and raised into a home of love and acceptance, it may lead down a path for them being a good person. On the other hand if a person were to born into hate and or abuse, that could lead to some kind of mental trauma. Trauma that could decide which side of humanities moral coin they fall on.

Hector Jimenez

2/17/2019 04:05:51 pm

The three presenters all had their own opinion on weather or not human nature is good or bad or born with or developed. One presenter felt as if human nature developed as one grows up and learns from others around them. The other Said you are born with human nature and as a child you don’t know right from wrong, so you can end up hurting others around you. The Last presenter said human nature is a balance of good and bad like the ying yang circle.
Human nature isn’t something that’s developed over time. Human nature is something you are born with. The learning of good or bad is developed through morals. To see a human in their truest form is really rare, due to the all the blocks that are put up by society. Human nature isn’t to be confused with instinct, which is the primate side of humans. The side of a human that tells them to survive, the basics of eating, sleeping, mating, and retaining shelter. Human nature today I feel is based how think or feel. As everyone around you is some sort of sociopath or psychopath. It comes down to our morals, to see if we will act on those thoughts. Because of one’s morals, someone’s human nature may be bad or good to each individual.
Human nature is neither good or bad, it just depends on one’s perception. As one person’s human nature to another, are all vastly unique, it’s really just caged up and built up to break out one day, and then you can see the true side of someone.

Natalie Diaz

2/17/2019 06:29:17 pm

From hearing the thoughts of my classmates, I also agree that Human Nature can be both good and bad, it all really defines by the way you grow up or how you become as person. We aren’t born good or bad, it’s all based on what happens in our life. A person is a good person because of the way they lived their life, who raised them and how they want to be. A bad person is that way due to their living conditions like their neighborhood or who raised them and what they saw and experienced growing up. It also can be the other way around, you can have such a great life, great parents and wonder school but be a horrible person, live in the worst neighborhood with unloving family but want so much for yourself you live to be a good person. It’s really all on how you want to live your life and what kind of person you become, you can’t just be created good or bad.

Edwin Garcia

2/17/2019 07:12:16 pm

As all 3 presenters gave there own opinion I agree with the last person when she said that human nature is good and bad.I could say that people are born with the same traits that their parents had growing up and passed through generations.It also depends on how you were raised and if you have a background on how you lived that could also affect the way you act or speak.There always gonna be a good and bad side of you.When a baby is born they really don't have a developed brain so they don't really are a nature.New born just do what they want to do watching other people do what they want and wanting to copy them.It's not always gonna be good do to if something bad happens to you your gonna see the world or the topic differently and change who you are.We are born the way we are raised an how are family treated us..

Samantha Martinez

2/17/2019 07:25:26 pm

The three presenters all had similar yet different opinions on whether or not they believed human nature was a good or bad thing. The responses varied from them saying that human nature was something learned through childhood, something developed regardless of the environment they were raised in, and another said human nature was a mix of both good and bad things. I believe human nature is a mixture of both developing habits that you learned through your childhood and already having a certain mindset/behavior that will dictate your life. For example, if you grow up having a loving family and a reliable support system, you are most likely to develop moral values and follow a path most would consider good/ethical. However, this is where the mindset comes into play because it has been shown that despite having all of these positive childhood elements, a person can still turn out to have a human nature that is considered immoral/bad. It all depends on the individual, but personally I believe there is a mixture of the both that leads to the development of a person and their characteristics. There isn't only one side that rules how a person will turn out to be because even throughout the rest of their lives people will encounter situations and changes that will change them constantly, but again it is up to them and their mindset to decide how they deal with those problems. All of these factors will in the end help determine a person's human nature, whether it is good or bad will depend on the person and those around them.

Jair Diaz

2/17/2019 07:50:42 pm

I believe that human nature can be both good or bad it just depends the way you are raised because it can be good when you are born but can turn bad in the future through out your life. Another big factor would be the way you are raised over time and the culture you are born with.

vanessa arellano

2/17/2019 08:31:37 pm

my classmates both Brandon and Jesus made good points in the prompt and I agree with both because I also believe that human nature is not god or evil were not born evil our human nature is developed with time mostly in our environment if you live in a negative environment that will be your human nature to do crime lill and end up in jail but if your environment is positive your human nature will be positive educated good job family house cars. so human nature is developed.

leslie soto

2/18/2019 03:12:46 am

I also agree that the environment they are raised in plays a huge roll.

Duy dao

2/17/2019 10:18:13 pm

A human being born as a blank paper and his or her nature is developed over time. How many time does our opinion change a day ? We are influenced by the surrounding, the people we meet, the standard, the norm, the expectation, the need, the desire, believe, religions, , the decisions we made

Ricardo Valenzuela

2/17/2019 10:24:51 pm

Last class, two classmates presented their opinions on if human nature is good or bad. They both said that it could be both good and bad. I say that I would agree with them because human nature is something that human being carries like the way we live, think and act. The reason it's good is because it's our way of life and only if a person is raised right and if they are not complicated to deal with, then that will prove that human nature can be good. Human nature is also bad because there are people who are born to grow up with the personality of hatred and misery and there were times when humans have gone against each other and will eventually destroy each other. Just like how my classmates have talked about, I agree that human nature is both good and bad.

Jingyun li

2/17/2019 11:35:51 pm

I agree with the classmate said that human nature is both good and bad. People are born good nature of the individual. Good human nature is a person do something good and happy, likes to help friends and relatives. In contrast to retaliate others and physical injury is bad of human nature. Because of the influence of various factors like family environment, school life and social human nature also in gradual change, so the human nature is developed.

leslie soto

2/18/2019 03:04:31 am

One of my classmates stated that human nature is being born good and that evil is taught over time. a child is born without knowing the hate that comes with the world, while raising this child they are taught what is natural behavior for the household. I also believe that the environment that child is raised in plays a big roll; school, community, etc. Many adults such as teachers, coaches, and other parents have a huge influence with this as well. with all that said, i believe that evil natural is developed over time.

Andrea

2/18/2019 06:17:18 pm

During class one of my fellow classmates stated that no matter how someone is raised, there is still a possibility for them to result into a bad person. For example, if a father is an alcoholic and his two sons see him drink all of their lives, one of them could choose to be the same as his dad but the other could also choose to be the opposite and never drink the way the dad did. It all relies on every individuals point of view because we could all be looking at the same thing physically but we all view different things mentally. There is never a right path in this world because we all have different prospectives but we are taught from a young age to differentiate the right from wrong and as long and we try our best to do the right and avoid the wrong then we could all be good people. But no matter how nice you think you are, there is someone who will always disagree. Overall, we are all born good people unfortunately sometimes our environment may influence our bad behavior, but we all have the choice to do the good in every decision that we make.

Kevin Cordero

2/18/2019 11:01:21 pm

I like the example you gave on the effects a child's home environment may have on the human nature they inherit. Although some people are unfortunate enough to be born into a bad environment, it does not mean they themselves will turn out bad.

Gerardo Ramirez

2/18/2019 07:43:09 pm

Upon hearing the question, my first thought was that humans are not born with nature that is good or bad. I believe that human nature is affected by the environment that someone is exposed to at a young age. My classmates that presented also had the same ideas that i had they also believed that humans are not born with good or bad human nature. One of their main points was that our nature is determined by the choices they make. I agree with them that human nature is nature determined when we are born, we are born with different abilities to solve our problems but that is not directly linked to a good or bad nature.

Samuel Lobos

2/18/2019 10:36:19 pm

One of the presenters said human nature is both good and bad because that is the way are born. I agree with her because as humans we do what is in our best interests. We do anything we can possibly do to advance our interests and achieve want we want. Nonetheless we also look to help each other out, so how we are raised factors into our human nature. Our nature as human allows to be blessings, but nuisance whenever inconvenient to our personal beliefs.

Kevin Cordero

2/18/2019 10:45:03 pm

I have to agree with my classmate who said a person's environment may dictate whether their human nature is good or bad. If a child is raised in a loving home with a family who cares for them and treats them right, it is more likely for the child to develop a human nature that would be considered "good." On the other hand, a child who is raised by a family who is neglectful or abusive to them might be more prone to develop a human nature that would be considered "bad." While the environment a child is raised in may determine what human nature they develop, it does it not mean that child will remain that way when they become an adult. The thing about humans is that we are all unique and capable of change. Just because a child is raised in an environment full of hatred and they themselves inherit some of these hateful traits, it does not eliminate the possibility of the child finding the fault in their ways and making the changes necessary to change their nature from "bad" to "good."

Kevin Garcia

2/18/2019 11:46:10 pm

When I think of human nature I think of society being unrestrained and free from government. in the state of nature there are certain rights that are granted to individuals from god. The right to bear arms, own property, free speech and to defend yourself from any invaders. With this said I think human nature is the epitome of freedom. The end result of human nature is a system that ultimately goes through many cycles which puts individuals freedoms to use. For example, because each individual is different, their beliefs, actions, and goals are different it is basically a given that individuals will have problems with one another. People would solve their problems with each other directly without any external intervention. Much like my peers I think that human nature is ultimately good because it grants freedom to become someone unique depending on how you grow up and the experiences one goes through. The scary part is that sometimes people will use the freedom of human nature to do harm and try to hinder other people from enjoying their own freedom. In the end I think Human Nature is good.

Erick Flores

2/20/2019 04:33:53 pm

I think that human nature is determined by how the person is raised, no one comes into this world bad, no one comes in good its a matter of what values are taught to them at an early age that they cling onto throughout life, as they get older some will question those views therefore making them change their view but even that is because they were exposed to a different view and that caused them to think more about it and possibly change it. We are all capable of change and we adapt to whatever benefits us at the end.

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