I just made a video about this for class. What compels to commit evil, become evil, or involve themselves immensely in dirty deeds. I essentially used the Seven Deadly Sins as a starting point, and placed it in an objective manner. ...The Seven Deadly Sins encompasses (all are frowned upon in Christianity and other faiths): Greed/Avarice Pride/Vain glory Lust Acedia (Slothfulness) Sorrow/Despair Wrath Gluttony Envy/Jealousy 1. Alot of people in our world feel that one needs to be competitive physically, mentally, financially, competently, and etc to survive. Whether, it's education, sports, romance, business, politics, or ... pretty much everything. Who is bigger, who is stronger, who is the most beautiful, who has the best house, who has the best car, who is tallest, who is the ugliest, who has the most educational degrees, and etc. Those worldly views propel people to do things that may not be so . . . kosher. That's why people cheat to win or pass a test, that's why people use sabotage, have exorbitant plastic surgery, that's why people rob, use extortion, fall into corruption, and even murder on occasion. Maybe, end it all with suicide. When you immerse yourself in competition of any sorts, you do need desire and a passion to win, succeed, and even DOMINATE in some cases. Generally speaking, you do not get rewards or material things in life for losing or being inferior unless you are a pro sports team in Washington or Cleveland. You get better things in this world, except maybe in monastery, if you achieve or desire more. More passion, more drive, more greed, a hint of jealousy, and even wrath in failing. When people lose things, the same principles apply. Some things that allegedly propelled Hitler to who he was -- could've been his jealousy of Jewish people, his failures as an artist, or possible inferiority complex, yet look how he altered world history on those emotions and desire. Powerful, yet so-called sinful emotions. Too many examples exist in sports, business, and politics of individuals being obsessed with winning and going after large sums of money, yet be criticize for it when someone does something unethical, like extortion, bribery, cheat, use performance enhancing drugs, get players traded or officials fired, and politically or professionally holding people and their careers hostage. Things that Jesus Christ or Eastern teachings (Buddhism and Taoism) may frown upon. Since one is either, trying to save souls and themselves, or is one a path of enlightenment or containment. Most of all, you cannot have faith in worldly things and people. 2. I made a brief point about conquest, and how few historians have argued that the modern world is made up of conquered nations and people, yet at the same time alot of those conquered nations, kingdoms, and people endured more rapid social and technological expansion, because of conquest. More often and not, the desire for conquest comes from greed/avariciousness. I've rarely heard of any conquest that was in the name of specifically helping people. There's always a bit of self-interest involved. 3. Lust, lust, and more lust. Essentially for most people (not all), it's impossible to have a romantic relationship with someone without desiring them . . . carnally or the things they have. While, it's almost as equally impossible to live in a modern world and not lust after things and objects, especially money. Do you see any threads in the hangout talking about how spiritual or how wonderful a woman's personality is or how admirable she is in her field of work . . . Typically no. You see threads about who is the hottest, best ass, the best boobies, and etc, just as much as you see threads about who has the most money. It's almost unrealistic to see so many rich men (and women) have or lead such miserable and destructive unhappy lives. For the same reason, you do see some women going gaga over a man who is really successful, has all sorts of expensive toys, and is not a bad looking guy (but if he has money, it's not quite as relevant). You sort of start to see that so women, especially if they fall into the trap of being a gold-digger. Who could possibly be the most happiest women in the world, as well as the most miserable, because EVERYTHING hinges on worldly desire and success that is not in your own hands or ability. I used the gold-digger example, because it is a figure that can perfectly embody every single quality to a T, when it comes to the seven deadly sins. Greed, lust, pride, sorrow, wrath, and jealous, yet much to slothful to get what they really want ... money, material things, and the man, but not necessarily the person. It can be the most rewarding feeling in the world to catch, such a man, yet not only going through the pains of getting such man. But, the pains of keeping him or not being able to get his rewards all to yourself and realize that she might have to share such a man. I'm not saying people are completely shallow, but we are thought to want more things than what we have and the best or better things. We tend to like the things that society tells us to want, and when people do not get them . . . it's not telling what means they will use or go to attain them. Some people can find containment and happiness in the things they have, while others will never be happy. As others are constantly in turmoil, when it comes to their personal relationships and other things in their life. It's very rare to meet a person, a creature, or entity that is purely good, as it is very rare to meet something that is purely evil. Darth Vader as a bad-ass dragon as he was, ruthless and unrelenting to failure, he actually still had a bit of soft side and was not completely evil. Probably better than alot of people I see and more honorable (Vader/Skywalker was a very loyal -honorable warrior and NEVER LIED). The Emperor probably falls in that extremely rare category . . . I'm evil, I know it, I will use it to my advantage, and destroy anyone or thing. The Emperor personally identifies as evil and is casual about it, while Vader, I'm not sure ever really thought of himself as being evil or being on the wrong side of thing. Vader simply had a perspective of what is right and just. Moreover, there's also the big argument of what is good and evil, you'll find that generally it's a perspective thing. We can call Vader a bad guy, antagonist, or anti-hero, but to call him evil is presumptuous. Though, I'll conclude and say that most people are not capable of nearly or completely being selfless. Ayn Rand emphasized that selfishness and the objectivity in the manner, it isn't necessarily a bad thing or evil, but if you are supposedly spiritual, religious, or of a particular faith. You are really in hard spot in this modern world. Most of all, world peace in this world is not possible. There's no point to being evil, almost as much as there is not really a point to being good (unless you are rewarded for it).
Why do people enjoy certain foods while others don't? Why do I like the color blue, but others may like red? Why do I like women with a C-cup, but some men like the DD's? Why do some people enjoy others' pain and suffering, while others enjoy easing the pain of others? We call it a "mental disease" if it's against the status quo; an uncommon preference that few people share. I suspect the reasoning why they have this "mental disease" is just a rare occurrence (probably genetic) in the brain that perverts the natural preferences of human beings. Frankly, we don't know and our understanding of how things like memories/emotions/preferences/etc. work is shaky at best. Give it time. Eventually humanity will find the answers. And no, the answer will not be "IT'S YOUR SOUL! IT'S JESUS!"
When Obama is elected for his second term and he turns this into a socialist country, I'm gonna go full-on communist and nationalize CaseyH's business and turn it into a public business and just pee and poop all over it.
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Evil is available as a choice... granted by god. Not by Satan. Your god gave you the ability to chose.
"Evil" people don't think there ideas are bad. Each of them have their own ideas of creating a better place. Hitlers process might be that he was getting rid of the weak for the best to proceed. Now if your talking Wesker bad or Cell bad then thats a different idea
Frankly, I don't think anyone is pure evil, there is just a lot we don't understand about the human mind yet so we can't understand all the different sources of acts of "evil". A few centuries ago everyone thought people with epilepsy are posessed by the devil or demons. Then we figured out that it's a medical condition. Evil gone. As Rox11 said, everyone thinks they are doing the right thing. Somee who worship the devil for example tend to believe they are supporting the underdog team in some cosmic competition of good vs evil which can be won or lost. Don't confuse evil with the 'opposite' of what you believe or with the unknown. It takes a lot to say someone is evil. Organizations can be evil because the mix of hungry herd mentality and power concentration erases all morals.
