We is evil!
Yet to be reconciled with the reality of the dark for a moment, I go on wandering from dream to dream.
Speak for yourself, Sake! 
Fortunately, I’m dyslexic. Therefore, I read this question as asking
Is good and evil inherently human?
The answer, of course, is “yes.”
It’s like getting a scalp massage from Lucifer.
I forgot to tack on Neither to the original question.
Anyway, I agree with you polycarb, but I think I’ll extend your argument just a slight bit.
Sometimes one must go into the future to understand the past. The dawn of mankind showed this parent-infant relationship that polycarb described in the above post. This nuclear family relationship soon grew into society as we know it today. One that is basically moralistically good.
Now onto the Deoxyribonucleic Acid/Darwin part of my argument. Let us single out the neutral gene. Let us assume the first few humans were neutral. 50% of the people with this neutral gene would follow polycarb’s situation while the other 50% would either do the same or simply allow their children to die. Eventually this neutral gene would mutate and become a good or evil gene. People with the good gene would follow the circle of life, while people with the evil gene would slowly become extinct. Therefore, according to the laws of the bell curve concept of evolution all that would live would be the “good gened” people.
Inherently good? =)
~bored2001
Yes, I was bored, so I came up with this BS argument. Have fun picking it apart.
But all are agreed that to join the stampede, you should never take more than you give? 
There’s no such thing as evil anymore. In these PC times, you have “good” and “differently good.”
And people are good, if only to themselves.
Hi upstatic, my name’s Beeruser, not Einstein. You should learn to read correctly.
Alright, I looked in my dictionary. (Merriam-Webster)
good: Of a favorable character or tendency.
favorable: Approving.
approve: To have or express a favorable opinion.
evil: Wicked.
wicked: Evil.
Well, your advice has not enlightened me much.
By the way, I looked up genius.
genius: extraordinary intellectual power.
So you’re right, getting technical isn’t the definition of genius.
There’s always another beer.
Well, I am evil.
I have a hobby. I have the world’s largest collection of seashells. I keep it scattered on beaches all over the world. Maybe you’ve seen some of it.
Good…evil…I don’t like to confine myself to labels.
I do not believe in capital ‘E’ Evilm i.e. an independant, supernatural force whose sole purpose is to cause trouble or to induce people to cause trouble. I also think that people are too quick to hurl accusations of evil and that real evil isn’t quite as common as is being portrayed.
That said, here is my definition for what it’s worth:
Evil- Actions–or the attitudes underlying them–which cause significant harm and for which there is no rational purpose, or for which the rational purpose is overwhelmed by the harm caused.
Serving yourself does indeed fall under the heading of rational purpose, the question turns on how much harm you’re causing to others (or the environment). We still need to define “harm”, but you get the idea.
Defining “good” is a little trickier. Is “good” simply anything that isn’t evil, including working, sleeping, eating, being entertained? Or should we create third catagory of “neutral” and and define as “good” only such selfless sacrifices as giving to charity of helping old ladies accross the street?
Humans are inherently Chaotic Neutral until acted upon by an outside force one or more hit dice higher.*
- For the purpose of encumbrance, the human soul does not weigh anything, but 100 of them weigh 1 lb.
Here are tentative definitions of good and evil. I believe they are applicable to both theistic and non-theistic points of view, although theists may regard them as incomplete.
It seems that it would be easiest to look at good and evil in terms of peoples actions towards one another, rather that trying to define them in terms of some pure essence.
Evil, I think begins with a certain self-absorption, an inability to percieve othersas being as fully human as oneself. Evil is then manifested through action that denies other people the rights you would wish them to grant you. This is basically the golden rule or categorical imperative.
Good is simply, if somewhat unsatisfyingly defined as behaving toward others as if their needs mattered to you, everything from simply being polite to laying your life on the line.
As to whether Human Beings are Inherently good or evil, they are not. Although our actions are partially determined by heredity and environment at a certain point we use our intelligence and make a rational choice to be one or the other at a particular time.
Having an open mind means you put out a welcome mat and answer the door politely. It does not mean leaving the door open and with a sign saying nobody’s home