Good By Nature

Do you ever wonder why people do the things they do? The human mind is very mysterious, although good by nature. We all have our reasons for doing what we do, whether others see them as good reasons or not. Every mind thinks differently, so who is to say what is and is not good reasoning? I believe humans are all generally good and there aren’t bad people. There might be those who do things considered unacceptable, of course. No one is greater than human, therefore, mistakes will be made. Everyone justifies their actions even if said actions are only justified in their own minds.

In an interview with Cari Pearson, who does psychological research, she told me her thoughts on the topic. Pearson believes that in general, people are good. Some might not understand the ramifications of their actions, though. In another interview, trying to find an opposing side, Idean Taghizadeh made some great points for both sides of this argument. He started by saying, “It’s the environmental factors and the way they grew up and their attitudes basically reflect their views towards what they see.” I later asked Taghizadeh, “Do you understand the opposing side’s argument, as far as someone who believes there are bad people?” He replied, “Yes, because people can sometimes refuse to cooperate with other human beings which are their own kind. They still resort to killing each other.” Idean brings an excellent point. During a war, the War on Terrorism in Iraq for instance, both sides see their own deeds of killing as good and the killing of their own as bad; When in reality, they’re both at fault and it is just senseless. Should United States citizens, who vote for the war to continue, be viewed as bad people? They’re supporting a legal murder between countries. Should the government be viewed as bad for going to those lengths as far as war goes? “Many Americans consider dropping the bomb on Hiroshima good whereas many Japanese consider it evil” (Pickover, par. 3). So who is to say which side is right? Should the Democrats be considered bad people for being pro-choice? Abortions obviously take lives, but the democrats who support it do not see it as anything wrong. A woman might justify getting an abortion by saying that she isn’t ready to have a child so it would just be wrong to have the baby. A more conservative person might argue that she shouldn’t blame this unborn child for her mistakes and there are plenty of people that would give anything to adopt her baby. Most liberals, however, view the situation as a life that could have been, but never was, so doesn’t matter. If that is truly the belief of that group of people, they cannot be blamed.

Stereotyping is what has caused the belief of “bad” people. People are categorized as bad people when the outside world sees certain aspects of their lives, but not the whole picture. If anyone had the ability to understand the thoughts and lives of another person, they would then have the right to judge. A man robs a convenient store, so most would see him as a bad person. You don’t know what you would do in his shoes because you don’t know his life and more importantly you aren’t him. His children may be in desperate need of food and he’s just trying to make ends meet. Yes, robbing a store is against the law and everything, but like most of us, this figurative character puts his family first. He does what he thinks needs to be done. This man could very well be a case of Antisocial Personality disorder and/or depression due to irresponsible work behavior causing him to be unemployed and struggle financially.

In some cases, a person might have an antisocial personality disorder, causing them to be unaware of the feelings of others. They are completely ignorant to the fact that their actions affect anyone other than himself or herself and have an absolute disregard for the rights of others. This disorder, although lasting through adulthood, begins in childhood or early adolescence. Antisocial personality disorder may cause individuals to be aggressive towards or harass others, steal, destroy property, and etc. These individuals might oftentimes be manipulative and insincere to gain pleasure or to achieve personal profit. Since they don’t understand what they’re doing is so wrong, they cannot be considered “bad” people. One might argue that everyone knows the difference between wrong and right, which is true to an extent, but one with such a disorder does not even think like that. Just because they have been told something is wrong, doesn’t mean their mind fully adapts to the concept.

Sometimes people, who may seem to have antisocial behavior may in fact just be part of a protective survival strategy, so should not be diagnosed. However, many times, with females especially, antisocial personality disorder may be under diagnosed. This happens because aggressive behavior is emphasized in the definition of Conduct Disorder. Continuous lying, conning others, even using an alias are all signs of antisocial personality disorder. You might think these actions are obviously wrong, but how many times have you, yourself taken part in such acts? Do you consider yourself a bad person? If you answered yes, you certainly aren’t because if there were bad people wouldn’t you think they wouldn’t admit to their flaws? For the sake of argument, let us say there are people out there that are not generally good. Criminals are criminals, no excuses. It is the criminal’s fault that their life is destroyed. A man on death row deserves what’s coming, rather than just getting psychological help. That does seem like an easy solution, does it not? Tell me this; Why would somebody do something harmful to themselves or others if they didn’t have a good reason for doing so, even if the reason is only good in their mind? Why would a man commit a crime knowing the consequences could very well ruin or even end his life? They may be unconcerned about, or provide a selfish rationalization for their act of mistreating, hurting, or stealing from someone. Some criminals might condemn their victims for being ignorant, defenseless, or deserving their fate; they probably minimize the damaging consequences of their crimes; or they may just have a lack of concern.

I do believe that we should be held responsible for our actions. It’s only fair. Even if these actions were an accident. There’s a difference between doing something wrong, purposefully as opposed to accidentally. Nevertheless, either way your responsibilities are nothing but your own. “…blatant mistakes just aren't about right and wrong, black and white, mistakes now take on a whole new dimension in that it must be proven if you meant to make a mistake or not” (Grace, par. 4). We usually know when we’ve made a mistake. However, individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder show very little regret for the consequences of their acts. The majority of “criminals” don’t need prison or the electrical chair. They need serious psychological help. Some people cannot control their minds. A psychopath makes spontaneous decisions without putting much thought into them, if any thought at all. They may also commit acts of assault whether that be child abuse or spouse abuse. Most who take part in those acts were already very familiar with that sort of lifestyle as early as their infant years. When you see a certain act taking place frequently over time, wouldn’t you consider that the norm? Wouldn’t you feel as if that behavior might be needed in some cases?

On the show “LOCKUP: Inside Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex”, they tell extreme stories of the prisoners they hold and the prisoners are actually interviewed a lot of the time. Some of the things these men say are unbelievable. Inmates will sit there and rationally talk about the crimes they have committed, which are mainly murders. On the show, prisoners who are placed in isolation will have annual meetings to take a look at their behavior over the last year to see if they would be able to move into the normal prison. One prisoner, at his yearly meeting, was trying to be transferred to a prison closer to his mother because he is all she has and she can’t afford to come visit him very often. He is refused the transfer because of behavior he displayed almost a year ago. Because of his refusal, the inmate, once back at his isolated cell, begins to act like an animal. He is cussing profusely and threatening the guards, as well as everyone else that works at or for the prison. He throws anything he can find at the window on his door until it is completely shattered. Yes, this is extreme behavior, but keep in mind, this is all because he wants to be able to get visits from his mom in prison. This man seems to be an example of someone who reflects the norm. We later find out that his mother was in a very abusive relationship most of his life, up until he went to prison at age eighteen. In an interview with the inmates mother says talks about how she can’t believe her son is living in such a place and she feels like it’s all her fault. Her son grew up around that behavior. He grew up getting verbally and physically abused for every mistake he made. If he had grown up with two parents that were very loving toward him, he probably wouldn’t be this way. Sure, he would have the same problems every man has, and might have anger problems, but he wouldn’t be a prisoner. I later on asked Pearson, “Do you believe that a serial killer justifies what they’ve done in their minds?” She quickly responded with, “Yes, in general. Most killers probably experience paranoia and most likely don’t understand the ramifications of their actions. Psychopaths, for example, feel no empathy.”

The case I discussed above is the typical prisoner story. No one ever talks about how the ones who claim victims, might very well be victims themselves. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a French political philosopher, won a contest held by the Academy of Dijon over the question: “Has the progress of the sciences and arts contributed to the corruption or to the improvement of human conduct?" He strongly believed that humans are good by nature and that it is society that corrupts them. This is the case in most prisoner stories. Their actions match up perfectly to the way they were brought up. In most cases, men that beat their wives or girlfriends witnessed that sort of behavior as a child. Similarly, women who were in or a witness to abusive relationships when they were younger, are usually the ones in these same horrible relationships as they age. This is another example of just following the norm and doing what feels right to you. Society just wants to point a finger and come to the easy conclusion that criminals are bad people who don’t feel. When really, I would argue that they feel more than the rest of us, which is why they get into such situations.

To fully understand the life and mind of a serial killer, u should take a look at their past, their adolescence, in particular. In most cases, serial killers come from extremely dysfunctional backgrounds. The resentment they have for their own society may come from their upbringing and history of an inability to be socially accepted, physical or sexual abuse, sexual frustration, absent parents, etc. All the previously stated, are horrible conditions to grow up in. Everyone reacts to past events in other ways, so who is to say wasn’t is a normal reaction? Children who grow up in such situations learn very early in life how to manage. Some might manage their problems better than others, but that is merely chance. No child can be held fully responsible for the way their mind wants them to do things. Serial killers have a wild imagination, which is usually an effect of the previous childhood issues. They can create a fantasy world in their own minds where they can control their life and the lives of others.

There are many humans throughout history who some people like Cliff Pickover might consider to be evil. Adolf Hitler, Ivan the Terrible, Tomas de Torquemada, and countless others have made a huge impact on millions of people for their own selfish reasoning. There is no way any of these men were sane. They all could have used psychological help. For example, Hitler was in fact a good leader, as far as giving his country a feeling of hope for the German race and it’s future. He gained trust of Germany and other countries with his ideas. They sounded good at first, but then some might say he turned into a monster. He was motivated by his hatred of himself. This hatred led to the hatred of everyone like him. Hitler was gay, and hated that aspect of him, causing him to attempt to free the world of gays. He had dark hair and dark eyes, and yet so did the majority of his victims. He was also Austrian, not German. He experienced belching, bloating, and serious abdominal spasms. He had regular headaches, heart trouble, and hypertension and often complaining on ringing in his ear. “And while the Nazi leader was afflicted with a variety of physical ills, both real and psychogenic, he suffered from nothing severe enough to take the blame for his crimes” (Goode, par. 3). Although this is a very strong argument, it goes to show that Hitler was obviously not sane. Even in this drastic case, the basic rule still applies. Hitler really felt he had to do what he was doing. It obviously was a very wrong and evil doing, but he himself was completely convinced that his reasons were valid ones. His actions were justified in his own mind, which is all he knew.

Whether a criminal or a victim; an American or an Iraqi; rich or poor, we are one in the same. We all have our problems. Some might be unique to ourselves or we might share a common issue with a large part of the population. Everyone has their stories and our reasons why we are the way we are. “For all action has a reaction and that reaction is either negative or positive and in our world a negative reaction tends to surmount to a mistake, but surely you didn't mean to be negative for if we did that would mean we premeditated our mistake” (Grace, par. 3). Life is made up of bad choices and mistakes we make. Bad people don’t make mistakes, humans do.