# When did you first learn that you are an evil person? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2017, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087 "2017-06-04T04:54:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/81 "2017-06-06T04:01:31Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > Do you even know what evil means, Shagnasty? No I don’t, do you? That is part of the reason I asked the question. Even most career criminals like Al Capone and Whitey Bulger have their strong points and usually people that love them. There are very few people that are completely evil in a cartoonish way. There are also very few people that are so pure that they have never done something that would qualify as evil in their life especially if they repeated it. We are looking at a continuum. I admit, it is an uncomfortable subject. What I am really asking is where people think they fall on that spectrum? Details aren’t required. The original question came from the famous claim that no one thinks they are evil - they are just responding to circumstances. That obviously isn’t true. There is a feedback loop and fear of consequences that keeps many people perfectly aware that they can’t engage in certain behaviors that they may otherwise be tempted to. True sociopaths are sometimes proud of displaying pure evil but, even then, many of them are still good citizens, parents and employees like the BTK killer. I don’t think that anyone reading this is a Stalin, Manson or Ted Bundy type. Those would be a ten on the scale. Jesus and Buddha are a one. The question is to figure out how close you are to something like the latter in terms of behavior and deeds, not simply beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/82 "2017-06-06T04:14:27Z")
You can consider it in other terms as well. The word ‘evil’ may have not been the best choice. You can also think of it as not living up to your inter-personal behavioral ideals and societal moral contract. You can be someone like my ex-wife who has never done anything wrong in her life (if you want proof, just ask her) or you can be someone like me that feels guilty about everything. It is really just a self-awareness question. ---
**Author:** ![LicketySplit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@LicketySplit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LicketySplit)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/83 "2017-06-06T04:15:20Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > I’m still confused about how the OP turned this from evil (like Hitler and Stalin) to negative thoughts then to negative traits. Seems like a lot of moving the goal posts to me. > > Have I done mean things to someone? Yup. Have I regretted it? Yup? Did I apologize? When I could. But does that mean it was evil or I was evil? Heck no. > > Do you even know what evil means, Shagnasty? > > I may or may not continue to read this thread–as I’m afraid that since the enemies of Shagnasty die horrible deaths that I may suffer the same. Not that I’m an enemy, but because I simply disagree. > > And yes–people are flawed. But a bad thought or bad deed doesn’t equate into evil. > > If I was out of line I apologize to members and the mods. I’m new here and I hope my post followed the rules. I was not personally attacking or anything (or hope not). Nah, bro…you’re fine. And I totally agree with you. The OP claim of all people being evill was so hyperbo!ic and groundless as to be basically a troll post. After myself and a few others proved this, and challenged him to define what he considered to be evil, he could not. Thus, to avoid having his original claim busted up even more, to oblivion levels…he was left no other recourse but to move those proverbial goal posts. LOL. And move em quickly. The whole thread was weird. And very surprising to me, also a newbie, given the very name of this forum we just joined. Anyway…good job. Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![LicketySplit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@LicketySplit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LicketySplit)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/84 "2017-06-06T04:27:29Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > You can consider it in other terms as well. The word ‘evil’ may have not been the best choice. You can also think of it as not living up to your inter-personal behavioral ideals and societal moral contract. You can be someone like my ex-wife who has never done anything wrong in her life (if you want proof, just ask her) or you can be someone like me that feels guilty about everything. It is really just a self-awareness question. It was nothing remotely resembling a self awareness question, bro. Rather, it was a groundless and cartoonish claim, that we here are all evil. You said it had nothing to do with religion, yet it smacked of the very same sort of tripe one finds on a religious forum. Usually posted by a Born Again zealot, who follows it by asking us if we all also know that we have no right to exist outside of hell but for God’s grace. Or some such woo. Anyway, glad you so nicely and deftly backtracked. I’m still a bit shocked to see that such an absurd notion of universal and unescapable evil came from a charter member of a forum entitled Straight Dope. LOL Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/85 "2017-06-06T04:34:53Z")
> [@LicketySplit](#): > > The OP claim of all people being evill was so hyperbo!ic and groundless as to be basically a troll post. I have been here for 17 years and I am certainly not a troll. The question was a serious one. I was not a Philosophy major so I can’t define the word ‘evil’ to rigorous standards. I just meant it in the colloquial sense hoping that some people would get it and give interesting responses. Sometimes that works and other times it doesn’t. In any case, the question was an honest one. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/86 "2017-06-06T04:39:08Z")
> [@LicketySplit](#): > > It was nothing remotely resembling a self awareness question, bro. > > Rather, it was a groundless and cartoonish claim, that we here are all evil. You said it had nothing to do with religion, yet it smacked of the very same sort of tripe one finds on a religious forum. Usually posted by a Born Again zealot, who follows it by asking us if we all also know that we have no right to exist outside of hell but for God’s grace. > > Or some such woo. > > Anyway, glad you so nicely and deftly backtracked. > > I’m still a bit shocked to see that such an absurd notion of universal and unescapable evil came from a charter member of a forum entitled Straight Dope. LOL > > Cheers. We don’t do Bro talk here and I am not religious. This is just a friendly tip but you may want to read the forum rules before posting. Your writing quality doesn’t match the rest of the board. We always love new members but this is not Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/87 "2017-06-06T05:02:54Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Your writing quality doesn’t match the rest of the board. We always love new members but this is not Facebook. lol 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Maurie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Maurie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maurie)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/88 "2017-06-06T14:48:59Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I’m not saying anything in this thread out of a sense of superiority, which you seem to be insinuating. I’m saying that there’s a huge difference in my opinion in being extremely angry and wanting justice and being in rage and and hoping for the murder of someone. > > To answer your specific question, what I am trying to convey is that I have zero empathy for thinking about the murder of someone under those sorts of scenarios (not specifically related to someone who killed a pet, but a general situation of a very serious wrong being carried out by a terrible person). I’m saying that the OP’s idea that everyone thinks like that is incorrect. I’m not sure why you are taking such great offense at this fact. I’m totally with you. I was equally shocked when it was implied that all normal people entertain violent fantasies of murdering people who wrong them and don’t carry through only because of the threat of imprisonment, as that way of thinking is wholly and completely foreign to me. I too am not intending to imply that I am “uniquely serene, calm, and less prone to the more “base” or “uncivilized” emotions that other people have”, only that I honestly had no idea that anyone believed that everyone else considers literally wanting to kill people in anger to be _more_ normal than, well, _not_ wanting to kill people. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/89 "2017-06-06T15:25:58Z")
> [@Maurie](#): > > I’m totally with you. I was equally shocked when it was implied that all normal people entertain violent fantasies of murdering people who wrong them Again, that’s a bit of a straw man - \*\*Shagnasty \*\*didn’t say he wanted to kill people who merely “wronged” him - as in, cut him off in traffic or spilled coffee on his shirt. He said he wanted to kill someone who had killed his beloved pet for no reason. That’s a lot deeper and more heinous of an offense, to some pet owners almost akin to as if their biological child were killed. ---
**Author:** ![Maurie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Maurie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maurie)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/90 "2017-06-06T18:36:58Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Again, that’s a bit of a straw man - \*\*Shagnasty \*\*didn’t say he wanted to kill people who merely “wronged” him - as in, cut him off in traffic or spilled coffee on his shirt. He said he wanted to kill someone who had killed his beloved pet for no reason. That’s a lot deeper and more heinous of an offense, to some pet owners almost akin to as if their biological child were killed. Well, yeah, he kind of did: > [@Shagnasty](#): > > Like beating the hell out of or even killing some people that I can’t stand. I have a big revenge streak that I feel no remorse for because I am not the one that starts it. I turn icy cold and scarily brutal when someone intentionally wrongs me. I want them to be hurt badly and I want to see it personally. The dog thing was only one example. He also listed his daughter being bullied, and people vandalizing his vehicle. He said that people _vandalizing his vehicle_ made him see red and want them dead, and that he couldn’t fathom how anyone would _not_ feel that way. He also specifically said that it was not just revenge that makes him want other people to be badly hurt, but that _entertainment_ is a factor too. It is not just about one incident (which I agree is unspeakably sad and horrible) with the dog. ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/91 "2017-06-06T19:16:30Z")
Long ago, I was beaten into a coma for being gay. It was an unpleasant experience, and it left me a hollow shell of a person. About two years after that, I made a point of finding the ringleader after he got out of prison. I found him alone and beat him within an inch of his life. He ended up being paralyzed and in a wheelchair for life. I made a deal, got a criminal record for aggravated assault, and did a short stint in jail. Now I don’t think that revenge made me an evil person, though it sure didn’t make me a better one. No, what convinced me that I was evil was **how much I fucking loved doing it.** It was by far a better endorphin rush than even cocaine can give. Listing to him trying to beg for his life while he was choking on his own blood was euphoric. It was after this that I adopted Satanism as my personal religion. I knew who and what I was now. I still occasionally freelance as a debt collector for a cocaine dealer, just so I can occasionally feel that rush again. Is that evil enough for you? ---
**Author:** ![LicketySplit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@LicketySplit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LicketySplit)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/92 "2017-06-06T19:24:47Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > We don’t do Bro talk here and I am not religious. This is just a friendly tip but you may want to read the forum rules before posting. Your writing quality doesn’t match the rest of the board. We always love new members but this is not Facebook. I will put my writing skills and composition talents up against anybody. Anytime. My syntax and content are fine, thanks. You would do well not to groundlessly criticize and denigrate me just becasue you do not agree with my opinions. And just because I effectively busted-up your OP on the “inherant evil” thing. I stand by all that I have said. About your OP claim and the original stance you took on this thread. I also re4spectfully and humble invite ANY moderator to review my past posts, and kindly explain to me where I may have even trod anywhere close to violating Forum Rules. You’ve been here 17 years? Wow. I was flying jets for the Navy when you began here. I did so for six years. I am also a published Free Lance writer, and have been published in several magazines and other periodicals you have most likely heard of. So I reckon it is best that we now officially desist from any further criticism of my compositional skills. In time, if I stick around here, you will see more of my work and I trust will then realize how unjust and inaccurate your claim was. But that’s OK, I am new. After all, you’re a “charter member!” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087/93 "2017-06-06T19:33:35Z")
[SIZE=“2”]I got mildly “evil” around the time I turned 45. There’s a certain freedom in being a middle-aged woman that unleashed the “hmmm, I really don’t give an f\*\*k what you think.” My evility has manifested in refusing to do stupid, pointless paperwork and not suffering fools gladly (or at all).\* Not exactly “mad, bad, and dangerous to know,” but I have crossed the Rubicon into TONAWANDA! territory. \*I’m also a far less angry person now. Caring less about stupid stuff has shifted anger into amusement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-you-first-learn-that-you-are-an-evil-person/788087.md?page=4)