Why do people have such faith in humanity?

[Alssadar]

We have our faith in ourselves because... I mean, what else could we really do? Just end us all right now?
No, we still have progress ahead of us, for better or worse. That's one thing I love about humans... they're the cause and solution to all their own problems.
As for warfare... that's just history. In fact, those parts of history I enjoy more, as it is more of shifting lines, general's names, and fated encounters that are more physical and real than 'Bill 7034.14.653, Amendment 73.83'-stuff. Warfare decides nations' fate and their place in this world, to be conquered, or stand strong. It brings advances to technology in ways we couldn't think of and it fuels the military-industrial complex that supplies a good portion of the American workforce.
And why should you care if someone hates you? You hate other people, they hate other people, life goes on. Just because someone hates you doesn't mean you're a dead link. It just means: A. You made a mistake, i.e. you were acting human, or B. You did something right and they're just stupid.

 

[A Shadows Age]

Because most people if not all, are a combination of both both good and bad. So where there is one the other is hidden.

 

[nuba km]

Before i get started, i just want to say that I don't want this to come across as an emo thread, although I'm not feeling great at the moment, I largely just feel curious as to this:

Why do so many people have such faith in the "good" in humanity?

See, I've studied history alot. I've found that we seem to spend 90% of our time on pointless warfare. Even all those great steps we made; mostly made in the name of war, or in the course of war.

Also, it seems 90% of the people I have met in my life have been murderous bastards. See, I'm not wanted here. I'm not meant to be alive, I'm an evolutionary dead end. I'm faulty, and they hate me because of it, want me dead. That's how evolution works, right? The faulty elements must die before they breed, otherwise it brings in another generation of faulty beings. Such trials in life have made me very resilient, but it's me against most of the people i will ever meet. I don't expect to die a natural death, so I do all I can to improve things for other people like me while I'm still here. It isn't a nice way to live, but I suppose in a way I deserve it.

This evolutionary system is terrifyingly effective, but certainly not nice. Not ethical, not morally right. So why? Why do people have such faith in a species that is as successful as it is because it is cruel?

when it come to evolution, no that isn't how it works. As cells divide there are always at least 2 flaws in the dna (as in 2 things that are different) so over time these mutations will have an impact if the impact is 'good', that just mean that the being is more likely to survive (i.e. smarter, stronger or faster) that mean that those mutations are more likely to be passed on to the next generation as the being is more likely to live long enough to reproduce.

If the mutation is neutral it will have no impact on the likely hood that the being survives and passes on it genes so those mutations have the same chance as normal genes to be passes on as the being as the same chance of survival till it reproduces.

If the mutation is 'bad' then most of the time the being is unable to survive (i.e. the mutation causes it to not have a flight or fight instinct) and therefore is unlikely to pass on it's genes.

but at the end of the day it is completely random and there is no such things as an evolutionary dead end, humans are still evolving so millions of years into the future there will be different species of humans (if we the planet can last long enough) but due to health car and ethics these species may have a lot of 'bad' mutations but are still surviving due to how well humans are adapted to surviving, this is also why a lot of other species are dying as human are the ultimate predator on this planet, being able to reach nearly every corner of it, survive in nearly any condition, hunt nearly any animal, we are able to change massive landscapes for our use and able to protect ourselves from nearly any natural disaster

 

[aei_haruko]

Before i get started, i just want to say that I don't want this to come across as an emo thread, although I'm not feeling great at the moment, I largely just feel curious as to this:

Why do so many people have such faith in the "good" in humanity?

See, I've studied history alot. I've found that we seem to spend 90% of our time on pointless warfare. Even all those great steps we made; mostly made in the name of war, or in the course of war.

Also, it seems 90% of the people I have met in my life have been murderous bastards. See, I'm not wanted here. I'm not meant to be alive, I'm an evolutionary dead end. I'm faulty, and they hate me because of it, want me dead. That's how evolution works, right? The faulty elements must die before they breed, otherwise it brings in another generation of faulty beings. Such trials in life have made me very resilient, but it's me against most of the people i will ever meet. I don't expect to die a natural death, so I do all I can to improve things for other people like me while I'm still here. It isn't a nice way to live, but I suppose in a way I deserve it.

This evolutionary system is terrifyingly effective, but certainly not nice. Not ethical, not morally right. So why? Why do people have such faith in a species that is as successful as it is because it is cruel?

I have faith in people doing the right thing, because I know that even though the world might not be perfect, there are still good people in it, and that beause there are a few good people, maybe the right thing will happen, just maybe

 

[Hijax]

Natural Selection(which i assume is what you mean by evolution) doesn't work by the faulty elements being cut off.

The only thing that could be considered "faulty" under Natural Selection is a lacking ability to propagate your genes, and make sure your offspring can propagate them as well. And that's the thing about Natural Selection: it's a process that happens all on its own. If you can't have children, your genes die with you. If you can, and do, they live on. No-one has to go in and cut off the faulty genes, because the only faulty genes are then ones that don't manage to live on.

 

[370999]

Before i get started, i just want to say that I don't want this to come across as an emo thread, although I'm not feeling great at the moment, I largely just feel curious as to this:

Why do so many people have such faith in the "good" in humanity?

See, I've studied history alot. I've found that we seem to spend 90% of our time on pointless warfare. Even all those great steps we made; mostly made in the name of war, or in the course of war.

Also, it seems 90% of the people I have met in my life have been murderous bastards. See, I'm not wanted here. I'm not meant to be alive, I'm an evolutionary dead end. I'm faulty, and they hate me because of it, want me dead. That's how evolution works, right? The faulty elements must die before they breed, otherwise it brings in another generation of faulty beings. Such trials in life have made me very resilient, but it's me against most of the people i will ever meet. I don't expect to die a natural death, so I do all I can to improve things for other people like me while I'm still here. It isn't a nice way to live, but I suppose in a way I deserve it.

This evolutionary system is terrifyingly effective, but certainly not nice. Not ethical, not morally right. So why? Why do people have such faith in a species that is as successful as it is because it is cruel?

You might need to study history harder. Warfare is very much the rarirty. It's incredible expense (In material, money and lives) lead to pragmatic reasons why it happens.

Of course people are going to be extra motivated in warfare as quite often you do want your country to win as the consequences are not nice if you don't.

You seem to live in a weird place. Murder is very hard for most people to commit, incredibly hard. If you live in an area with such low moral standing it is best to move if possible.

You seem to misunderstand how humanity works by large, we are not the most physically powerful specesis, nor the fastest or the most agile. We depend on our intellects and the social dimension which allows us to form societies that proivde us far better protection then we could ever have otherwise. Societies need to be reasonably peaceful to function, Somalia doesn't lead to a situation where you have much food.

 

[SD-Fiend]

couldn't tell you why people retain such faith. god knows nothing but good would come if we all just died in our sleep one night

so with everyone dead how could anyone realize anything good happened?

 

[Active Schizophrenic]

Im not sad about the whole "humanity is evil" thing because I just don't deserve to feel sad about any of this, nothing regarding "humanity is horrible" applies to me, I am a white straight man I have never been affected by anything horrible. Children in Africa deserve to be sad about this, south Americans forced to live in slums do, rape victims, people who have lost family members due to war crimes do. Luckily I have not had to go through that so I am happy. another reason is because I have met happy people who HAVE this shit in there lives one of my best friends was raped by a stranger at the place she felt the most secure (her christian camp) and she is still a kind-hearted woman always smiling all her stories of this have less to do with the crime itself and how horrible it was but more to do with the people you helped her afterwards. and this is what showed me that that humanity and the world are worth trusting.

 

[blackhole1]

If we cannot, what else could we possibly have faith in?

 

[SD-Fiend]

so you can tell that everyone that will ever live is evil because of bad things that others did and they had no part in?

 

[Baby Tea]

Hahaha, Humanity is a word that, with every passing day, applies less and less to our species.
Look at the Holocaust, 9/11 and now the Oslo tragedy.

Let's look at the Holocaust: Yes, millions of people were slaughtered by a cruel, ruthless regime.
You know what also happened? Many countries, religions, and ethnicities stood together and beat back that regime. Many people, my grandfather included, hid Jews at great personal risk (Some died for it) because they knew what was happening was horrifically wrong.

Out of one of the world's greatest tragedies, came an unparalleled unity.

Let's look at 9/11: A few radical Muslims crash planes into the World Trade Center towers. over 2,000 people lost their lives.

And American patriotism, unity, and self sacrifice once again came to the surface. Many people died on 9/11 because they were running into the buildings to save people. People risked their lives to help, when they certainly didn't have to. Many people tragically died that day, and it brought New York together in ways never seen before.

You cite horrific events as if there is no 'other side'. People, like myself, have faith in humanity because we see what people do in the event of tragedy, not just what caused it in the first place. You're 100% correct that there have been some horrible things committed by people. I cannot deny that. But what you are totally losing sight of is what did people do because of it. Who stood up? Who fought back? Who lent a hand? People. Humanity.

Cynicism about humanity isn't a 'worldly' worldview.
It's based on half told stories, and half remembered history.

You know, if anything would make me 'lose faith' in humanity, it isn't the violent or horrible actions of the few. It would be the inaction of the many.

 

[Sarah Frazier]

People have different reasons to have faith in humanity, and not all of them will be a positive kind of faith. Humans have the ability to do amazingly great things for one another, as shown in natural disasters where people who may have never met are suddenly helping each other out. But humanity is also capable of equally amazing acts of selfishness and stupidity. Some people simply chose to see the human race more for the good moments than the bad regardless of what rumor mills may say otherwise.

I think the reason history remembers conflicts more than anything else is because fighting affects people more directly and more harshly than when one of their leaders has an affair. Wars are big, messy, and hard to hide without turning to extreme censorship of everything. The results can even be felt years later as economies and technologies try to readjust. Sometimes they never do and the country ends up ruined.

 

[Dr. wonderful]

Because I met some damn good people in this world and I'm sure as hell NOT going to disappoint them by bitching and whining how "I lost faith in humainty wah, wah, wah." You know how many people get by with that train of thought? NO ONE. I'm going to try my best to help people and keep a good head.

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

having faith in humanity.. are you kidding me?? Well some have it but i don't, we will end up killing our selves slowly day by day... I have not faith in my fellow man.

 

[DesiPrinceX09]

Oh look...this thread again...

Another cynicism thread bitching about having no reason to have faith in humanity; seriously people this is getting really old! So many threads about having no faith or losing faith in humanity, it's crazy! My question is why do so many privileged middle class teens/young adults living in first world countries think they know the bad side of humanity and have the right to deem everyone evil? You want to see real evil and corruption? Go to my homeland of Africa and witness the horrors of poverty stricken nations and the desperation they face daily and THEN you can complain! Until then, keep it to yourself because life really isn't all that bad.

To answer your question directly: People have faith in humanity because they don't want to spend their lives bitching and moaning about how bad things are in the world while doing nothing to improve the situation. Instead, people choose to accept the facts and just live the best life they can in spite of everything bad in the world.

 

[Kiwilove]

Because if the majority of humans couldn't depend on each other, the species would die out. Have you seen a baby? Human infants aren't exactly self sufficient.

 

[Woodsey]

Because most people aren't teenagers crying on the internet.

 

[Sir Prize]

As much as I go on about losing faith in it and such, having faith in humanity is sometimes needed. It's doesn't have to be a huge amount but just a select few, but believeing that there MIGHT be some good can help one from going insane with fury or getting depressed without reason. Yes there is evil but there's also good, we just hear about the negative more.

 

[TheEnglishman]

I trust humanity to push me out of the way of a moving truck, but I wouldn't take them to a party and trust them not to be a dick.