Generally yes, in that most people are good hearted. But they sure do mean shit sometimes. Especially when electronically anonymous!

Yes I think we are generally good. As social beings, we seem to naturally gravitate, more often than not, towards treating others as we want to be treated. And it’s worth saying one doesn’t need religion for that.

That being said... BAD IDEAS - particularly dogmatic ones - can influence a person to do very awful things, when they would not have done otherwise.

This thread brings me joy! Thanks for responding and giving me food for thought. Nice.

The following is just stream of consciousness as I mulled over the question. Apologies ahead of time for the ramble.

I guess I define what's good or moral in terms of the intent and fortitude a) to harm no one and b) to help others when reasonably painless to do so. I'm sure I could go into a lot of detail fleshing out my idea of what's ethical, and moral philosophy is full of dilemmas of what the best course of action or guiding principle could be, but as a general concept I feel comfortable with that as my moral basis.

As for whether I think most people are good by this standard, I don't know. I'm not even sure I'm good by this standard. I hold the values, and I think I try to live by them, but if I were really tested, I can't be sure I'd pass. While I don't steal or act against others violently or intentionally disrespect others' personal boundaries, I can't say what I would do if, for example, my freedom were at risk and someone else were paying the penalty in my place (e.g., an accident in which there's a manslaughter charge). Would I step forward, trading my freedom for that of the wrongly accused, or would I remain quiet in hopes that I'd remain safe and free? I simply don't know. I wish I were confident that I wouldn't let another person suffer for my poor judgement in a situation, but I'm uncertain what I would do.

And I think that's the problem overall. It's easy to be good when there's no risk to oneself. It's easy to be kind when there's no sacrifice. I think most people are overwhelmingly good in that sense. Very few people truly want to hurt other people and most people want to help others out when it's easy to do so. But when it comes down to your wellbeing versus mine — or your wellbeing versus my greed or anger or jealousy — then what? We all act in self-interest, but there's a difference between picking an apple that doesn't belong to me because I haven't eaten in two days and stealing $50,000 from an elderly woman because I want a nice car or an easier life. Where each of us falls on that grayscale line between mere survival and outright greed is a little different, and it makes the question of what's moral somewhat ambiguous.

I do think most people have the intention to be good — to not cause harm and to help others who are in desperate need — but it's the followthrough that's tricky. Do most people actively avoid harming others? In big ways, I'd say yes; we don't see much violence from most people; we don't see serious theft from the majority; we don't see a lot of destruction of personal property from most. But in smaller ways, we're maybe not so careful on the whole to avoid making someone else look bad in the workplace so we can look better, or to make sure we don't say something in frustration that hurts someone else's feelings, etc. And when it comes to helping others, am I doing everything I could be (without significantly harming myself)? Probably not. I do try to be helpful when people need a hand, and I volunteer as a neutral (mediator, conflict coach, etc.), but I could definitely be doing more. I could expand my volunteering into literacy work; I could do more to help people financially; I could be more generous with compliments, praise, and encouragement.

So, I guess I'd say people are basically good the way I think of "good," but I also think many of us could probably be doing a lot more than we are to lessen the harm we cause and to be more charitable (in various ways) toward others. Speaking just for myself, I know I could do better.

I believe it's situational, give people encouragement to do good and they will. Problem is that doesn't happen very often.

There are people who are genuinely good, there are people who think they are good, there are people who pretend they are good, then there are people who just don't bother. Sometimes the challenge for the rest of us is making the distinction. At age 63 I'm finally getting better at it.

If folks were inherently bad, with 7 1/2 BILLION people on the planet,community would be impossible. If people were inherently bad war would be ubiquitous. Indifferent is another problem.