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Good and bad are relative. People are people, and most somewhere in between altruistic and egoistic. If faced with a similar situation I would like to think that I would have given him his money, but to be perfectly honest, I might not have if I was flat broke with no food in the house and 2 hungry kids.
No they are not. If you are very different from the rest of them, you see how fast they turn ugly and nasty. Most of them are nothing but 'fair weather friends' as well.
A million thanks for returning the money. Rest assured he won't forget you.
Thanks again for that moment of kindness you've shown and shared in this a dog eat dog world.
Indeed! Oleg Bach will probably never know the influence this had on the life of this young man. The young man will never forget and he will likely be strongly positively influenced for the rest of his life. I do not think this has any exaggeration in it.
Stepping into the street this morning, I noticed this kid walking towards me. He had this glazed over look- baseball cap on sideways and the baggy T-shirt..you know the look..a poor and disadvantaged white kid from the wrong side of town.
Thought to myself- What a creepy young man. I stepped into the store to buy cigarettes..I saw him to my left as he was leaving after a purchase. Stepped up up to the cashier and noticed that on the floor was a crumpled twenty dollar bill.
I stooped down and put it in my pocket- I thought great- the day has not even started and I am turning a profit. Then I stepped out - I noticed the young man had this look of panic and suffering. He was frantically going through his pockets as if he had lost something. Something went snap in me and I stepped up and handed him his money.
The kid was astounded that someone would do he right thing- I could tell by looking at him that he wouldn't...Later I saw the guy dash to catch the street car..I guess the twenty bucks in his pocket was his lunch money. I did learn something...It is easy to steal if the victim is faceless. Once I saw his face..and his suffering_ I just could not bare profiting by the suffer of another.
The one reassurance that I got from the young fellow was one statement "Thank you- you are a good man"- was that worth twenty bucks? YES it was worth 20 million bucks.
From an anthropological point of view, humans aren't basically good. We've evolved over millions of years from creatures that compete for resources, mating rights, territory -- we're biologically wired to be as competitive as possible to ensure our own survival.
As we've evolved, homo sapiens has discovered that cooperation is often better than competition; we're still competitive, but we will often seek out a compromise rather than risk losing what we already have.
human nature is the same as animal nature.
only when we reach for the spiritual does it get better.
Humans are social animals. Social animals are generally cooperative within their immediate social units, simply because social cooperation is beneficial on an individual basis.
The problem comes when someone tries to game the system, and when social units exceed pre-state tribal size.
human nature is the same as animal nature.
only when we reach for the spiritual does it get better.
I think that humans are basically about self-interest. Fortunately part of that self-interest is attempting live in cooperative coexistence with each other. It has little to do with spirituality but rather instinct. Without some innate sense of the group, humans would become extinct long ago.
How does that extend to returning a $20.00 bill? Without compassion, empathy, and a sense of fairness... see above.
Inherently, no. Every ounce of "moral"/"goodness" compulsion we feel is us feeling God's will.
So, in reality, no.
In the sense you mean, I guess, yeah. I would agree with this proposition: All men have some desire to do what is God's will. whether that has ANYTHING to do with being justified and saved, absolutely not. lol. The point of the will being made known to us is to know to submit to it. anything done outside the submission to God's will (whether you think of it as God's will or not) is irrelevent, since it's not what the boss asked.
But I would go back to your point on "it's easier to steal when the victim is faceless". very true. I think it illustrates perfectly how man's most natural state is "bad". we would rather be free from accountability than accept even punishmentless guilt. but because we sense punishment in some way, we then give in.
In your case, the punishment is feeling guilt and empty over ignoring the other kid.
It is not out of "goodness", but out of spiritual practicality...
What makes us good or evil? It's a simple but deeply unsettling question. One that scientists are now starting to answer.
Horizon meets the researchers who have studied some of the most terrifying people behind bars - psychopathic killers.
But there was a shock in store for one of these scientists, Professor Jim Fallon, when he discovered that he had the profile of a psychopath. And the reason he didn't turn out to be a killer holds important lessons for all of us.
We meet the scientist who believes he has found the moral molecule and the man who is using this new understanding to rewrite our ideas of crime and punishment
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