I choose to do good over what seems to be evil because, for one thing, I believe choosing good over evil benefits the common welfare over time more than doing evil. Secondly, choosing good feels more comfortable and right for me, over choosing to do evil or what seems to be wrong. Finally, I take great personal pride in being moral and ethical, as part of my identity, so I choose to do good rather than evil or wrong for that reason as well.

Self interest, the most reliable of motivators for personal actions.

science of ethics and logics

As a life-long Atheist I can most honestly and sincerely state that I use Morality, Ethics passed down to me by my father and his fathers before him and with the additions of my own conscience, experiences, etc, to guide me through life and to know right from wrong TOTALLY WITHOUT the influences of ANY religion/religious indoctrinations.

Thats a sticky wicket that one. Ideally our humanity as others have stated. Realistically people choose "good" out of fear of consequence and based on what they have learned as a child. Also to some extent their nature; Sociopaths etc.

One of the greatest tests of morality is circumstance and the nature of harm. We all harm each other and ourselves everyday. The question I think is do we face why and work to mitigate such actions as much as possible. Do we understand context and why others may do things that harm us in small ways and large for their own reasons? And are we strong enough to forgive and move on? In a finite world we all need to take to survive. Often this means others have less. In America we have so much I think we pretend this is not true or punt the ball onto others; use charities and those who seek to help the less fortunate as a excuse for our own excess or simply decline to care.

The computer/cell phone/tablet we are reading this on is built on the abuse of humans just like you all over the world so not only can you have such a device but you can afford it. Does that make it and you and I evil? Right now men and woman who suffered what for many of us is unimaginable physical and mental pain in service to our nation or due to abuse suffered by those we assume love and care for them are on the street and dying in the ER's. Yet so many of us resist the idea of helping them, of funding the programs that aid them. Refuse to enshrine caring for the least before we cater to those with the most. That too me is evil, a banal evil the worst and most common of them.

We choose good and evil in equal measure often I think and we find excuses for the evil. Humans are by nature selfish creatures and beneath the fragile civilization we have wrought we all are savage creatures who would kill to keep what we want. Or in the anarchy world many of us who are good natured would die very quickly if we did not run and hide. Ultimately it is a hard choice to be good and a easy choice to be evil.

our humanity. the question presumes among other things, that believing in a god makes a person choose good over evil., have you seen the prison stats? there are an awful lot of christians in there, very few jews, even fewer atheists. whatever makes a person choose good over evil, it sure isn't religion, or belief in a god.

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I'm guessing by your question you're assuming that religion tells "religious people" how to choose between good and evil. My answer is that it depends on how someone was raised, with what morals and values. Add the law factor into the equation and it's a combination of following the law (required for societies to avoid chaos), morals and values. A simple following of the Golden Rule pretty should pretty much keep people from doing evil.

As a social animal, if we "harm, hurt or kill others" we decrease our chances to pass on our genes.

I question the existence of good and evil, seeing them only as human constructs and general guidelines by which we may choose to live. The way i see it, people try to make the choices that gives them or their group the best advantage, and we have evolved to more or less behave in this way. Unfortunately a lot of the things that benefit one person will harm another, and that is usually disadvantageous for society as a whole. Our whole society is constructed around the notion that we can take change people's behavior to maximize the survival chance of that society.

I think more of us are empaths , or leaning that way.

Social conditioning?