Do bad people think they are good?

Maybe they don't consciously think about or ask that question. They just act without thinking, refering to people that do bad things. What makes a bad parent? Who has determined just what a good parent and a bad parent look like? Who has the final say as to whether I am a bad parent or a good parent? In the never ending world of comparisons, who do I compare myself to? The perfect parent? Please tell me who it is...lol. A bad person may be really a good person. It is their behaviors and actions that are not so good.

I think everyone has a conscience on some level, even people with mental disorders. I guess everyone thinks about their regrets, their morals and things differently. I think the really "bad" people, like those you mentioned (ie. murderers, molesters, etc.) may have an underlying cause for their actions. Sometimes I think it comes from their genes, their upbringing, and other factors that I can't begin to contemplate. But I do believe that, on some level, everyone on Earth "believes" they are good people (even those who do bad things). Then again, there could be those we'd consider "evil" who don't care about being good, moral, compassionate people but strive to be the opposite. I'm not sure where that line of thinking comes from, perhaps that's some sort of mental imbalance as well. Wow, this really is a tough question... your grandson is really on the ball with the philosophical stuff! LOL! Good for him!

your grandson is rather precarious for a 4 year old, isn't hfe? that is a rather profound question with quite a bit of insight. I think that many people who actively do bad things have convinced themselves that they are doing it for the general good many probably even consider themselves martyrs of a cause, a cause which we may see as diabolical. I have to keep reminding myself of Our Lord's words: "Father forgive them, they know not what they do"

I guess it's kinda like that old saying, "crazy people don't know they're crazy." But on a serious note, I think bad people know they are bad people when they are doing bad things. But on an everyday note they are just like normal people with a bad problem. No one is incapable of doing anything. We are all capable of doing these bad things but the majority of us don't have the desire to do any of them. Yes, there are those few that are seriously messed up mentally but they count as crazybad. The other people just need to get a grip and learn to live every moment like a normal person.

Your discussion topic reminds me of that expression..'out of the mouths of babes.' You have raised some interesting anomolies...and I have often wondered the same thing myself. Turn around is fairplay DanaMark...now you are asking me to think...and that is good. I like to think..as you have already mentioned. Okay...the first thing that came to mind was the life stories of old time gangsters and their 'double value system.' Many of their children claimed they were wonderful family men and loving fathers who were a good role model 'in the home.' When grown children discovered their father's other life they were shocked. So where I am going with this is...I think some people are bad...and tell themselves they are good. Good fathers, good business men, even 'good' gangsters..or whatever their forte. With that mindset the 'bad' parts of the psyche are 'all in a day's work' to them. It sounds really bizarre to the rest of us who are doing our best to walk our talk and live according to society's standards. This was a perspective I developed when one of my psychology professers was teaching a class about sociopaths or those catagorized with narcisstic/or anti-social psychosis. He put it this way, "those who live within the confines of their own psychopathy do not care about their thoughts, behaviors and actions or their impact on others. It is completely predicated on 'self-serving, self-centered' motivations. They operate within a completely different realm. I was astounded to hear that even those who work in forensic psychiatry feel ill equipped to treat them. As my prof said ' we often do not even try to fight in the same ring with them' because they play by a completely rule book than the rest of us. So that is, on some level what my training showed me...that scarey as it is many bad people do think they are good. For the hard reality that they do not have a conscience or moral compass to reveal anything different. Your grandson is one smart cookie...to have two 'thinking people' kind of scratching their heads. Good one!

I guess it depends... Some people do bad things unconsciously, others do it because they are forced to. Those who are forced to do bad things - such as being robbers because they dont have enought money to feed themselves, let alone their family (thats common in my country) - knows they are bad. Most of the times they didnt want to be bad, but they are forced to. But if someone does bad things unconsciously, he doesnt know that his actions are leading to bad things. They dont think they are bad at all.

It is actually true, many people who commit bad deeds actually do think that they are good people. They think that what they are doing is right. They feel that they do not owe society anything. Society owes them everything.

As far as the type of people you described, I don't know. But I consider a bad person to be alot of different things. Right down to someone you trusted as a friend, then they stab you in the back. Those type of bad people think they are good. In some ways, I don't think they know that what they did was wrong. Take for instance someone I called a friend for about 5 years. She claimed to be my best friend. Said she loved me like a sister. Then out of the blue she starts writing all these lies about me on the net. Tries to make me look as though I was trash. Why did she do this? To be honest, I don't really know. All I can think is she thought I had abandoned her in a time of need. Which I didn't. At the time I was working as a substitute teacher and didn't get home until almost 5pm. Just in time to cook supper, clean house, help my kids with their homework, make sure they had a bath and was in bed at a descent hour. I didn't have free long distance and where she lived was long distance. So I couldn't call her after she called and left a message for me to call her. I can't afford those kind of phone bills. And when I did get a chance to be home when she called I talked to her on the phone and listened to her problems, no matter how long she talked. And believe me, she could talk. Anyway, to get to the point. Do I think she realizes that what she did was bad? No, I think that she thinks she was right for trying to spread lies about me. And you know I could have called her back and then had a high phone bill. But to me, that's taking food out of my kids mouth. I have a family to take care of and as much as I love my friends, my family comes first. So, to answer your question, yes, I think some bad people think they are good.

I do believe that bad people according to your definition know exactly that their behaviors are bad. From the bottom of their hearts, they knew that they behaved badly. But they just didn't want to realize or admit it. Because Adam and Eve falled into sin, we all know about right and wrong (The Tree of Knowledge). The voice of our hearts can't lie. However, there are some people who have an acute pyschological disorder (crazy people) and they may not recognize between right and wrong. But if their self-consciousness is still okay, they may know between what is right and what is wrong.

i think everyone thinks they are good. everyone makes their best choice they can with their current abilities to use their current resources.

I have met many "bad men and women" in my life and they all have on thing in common..they may think they are a big man or women but they all have a "little heart.;(" Some people with a little heart have no compassion..that is what is wrong with big business and big governments...and no compassion or the ability to love..therefore they are delutional about their own status..but that would be hard for a four year old as i don't even understand it myself..as i have a brother like this :( and he will probably never change in this lifetime.

hi friends, In my belief the basic foundation of civilized society is the respect for person and property. Therefore, any one who consistently, recklessly and intentionaly voilates these principles knowingly and aforethought, is a bad person. I do not care wheteher he is doing it on purpose or not, whether or not deriving pleasure from it, at last he is hurting some one . so he can't be good. Yes they will try to be good parents as no one wants to be bad for their children but their nature and habbits influece on thier attitude, and child will also gets influenced by them. So I think they may try but it is absolutly difficult to prove themself as a good parents. This all i think.

Bad people don't think they are good or bad. They have no concious thought of what is wrong and right. Could be ingrained as children, or they could have been raised with no moral compass.

i thank they do think they are good. they continue to do it because of there own greed or carnal ways . plus most of the time it's lack of good home foundation or love and support. so they do wrong to get attention also to inform people they are haerting and this is the only way they know how to express their feelings inside.

No.Bad people know that they are bad.And they enjoy being bad.This is the bad part about the bad people.

Hello friend, do you think that you are good? so does every one think of himself, only outsiders will tell whether you are good or not.

people are not bad. they do bad things cuz they want somthing. people want to be dignified. plz read the book: HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE