What is Evil?

I honestly believe that we are ALL born with evil in us..we are ALL capable of doing heinous, horrid things HOWEVER the majority of us choose to NOT follow that part of us and it remains "sleeping" for the duration of our lives UNLESS there is a series of traumatic events that trigger (wake up) that part of us....

Evil is not an innate thought or emotion so i don't think you are born into it. I think it develops through observing and mimicry, example is a two year old learning to talk you say "daddy" one day that child will say "daddy" again observation and mimicry. Evil comes from these two main points. "Children Are Like Mirrors". I think far most the developmental stage that "evil" is first carried out is the age of reason and the rush of adrenaline of doing something wrong will stick to the subconscious mind.

Evil, I think Katherleen, is real indeed. I am not sure where it came from or how it got here, though many will site spiritual means I am sure. I think that evil is truly when someone has the ability to help others and chooses not too. For example...organized religion is the wealthiest organization in the history of the world whose soul purpose is supposed to be to help people. People die of hunger every day. That is pure evil. Organized religion has the power and ability to help the entire world, yet it chooses who it helps and neglects. That is true evil.

A innocent child cannot be born with evils,I think,it is developed within him with time,by the influence of environment or the people surrounding him.Well,I regard bad manners as a evil.But,what do you think???

Wow, the 100 dollar psychology question... Based on what I have learned so far while obtaining my psychology degree, I think it is a bit of both. If a person is born with an undesirable personality trait, experiences like upbringing and social interaction might cause that trait to either strengthen or weaken depending on what happens. There's no exact science and psychologists still tend to disagree on whether nature or nurture has more impact on a person, but most modern psychologists will tell you that nature and nurture will work together to determine personality. Personally, I would consider evil to be a lack of a sense of right and wrong or the absence of moral values. This type of thing is generally learned because people teach their children morals and how to discern right from wrong. However, I'm sure there are some children that had certain traits or disabilities that prevented them from understanding those lessons.

I do not think any child is evil. I think it has more to do with how they are brought up. What vales they are taught. I think evil people have had hard lives and take it out on others. I do think some people like child molesters are not wired right in the brains.

I think that all children are born innocent and are shaped by their parents, and their environment and the way they are' treated.MIstreated children often grow up with warped minds' and from that may come evil doings. Evil is anything done to purposely hurt someone else from verbal abuse to physical ' abuse to downright murder.