Society is something that hugely impacts our behaviour and what we consider to be good or bad. Family and Society provide a foundation for our individual moralities. We essentially get taught the majority of our morality and this shapes us a person. Our personalities are moulded to fit the society we live in and different societies have different moralities. Something that is normal in one part of the world, may be regarded as something completely abominable somewhere else, showing huge variations in our perspective of whats good and bad. Religion is a major influence on this type of morality. Different religions and belief systems create a lot of controversy because of the contrasting interpretations of good and bad. Wars have been started over these differences in opinion. Wars however cause mass casualties and deaths, which a lot of people would consider very bad. Crowd and Group mentality have the same impressions on people and influence their behaviour. Family and the people we grow up with are highly important factors that direct our values and actions. They are our initial introduction to the world after all. We develop characteristics as a result of the people who look after us and raise us.
Sociopaths and Psychopaths murder people sometimes for no reason. This could be because they were born without the ability to empathise, their upbringing warped their values, or sometimes they have the best of backgrounds and have no definitive reason for doing what they do. In that case, you could say they were just born bad, but is it really that simple?
So overall, it’s a question with many different interpretations. Humanity is born with the ability for compassion, for violence, for cruelty, for good and for bad. External and Internal factors have a huge impact on how we use each of these abilities, and what we perceive ourselves, as good and bad. It is within our power to be both good and bad and for that I am glad. If we were born completely good or absolutely bad there would be no such thing as free will. Free will which allows us to make our own mistakes and choices and ultimately allows us to become the person we want to be.
A.F