Can the World be a Happy place?

[Jdanz]

I'm pretty convince that the world is a good place and getting better. There is a lot of crap, but for the most part if someone is struggling people are more likely to help than hinder.

I live in NYC and there are tourists around all the time. When they ask people for directions people usually oblidge. Why would they do this rather than walking away if there isn't an inherent motive towards altruism.

In general i think that people are too self-involved to worry about helping other people, but all things being equal if it was little or no effort to them they would help their fellow man.

You're average person is far more likely to help a stranger who dropped a grocery bag then to intentionally knock it over. I mean look at OOT there is pleanty of dickery here, but for the most part when people askquestions the entire community gives them what they at least believe to be good advice, and at what benefit to themselves?

People are basically good, and that in my mind proves the world is a pretty good place.

edit: as a pre-emptive defence, i realize that people will do incredibly terrible things in their self-interest and that can suck, but that's no different than any other animal or organism, what i think is heartening is the desire to do good. People might do evil to get what they want, but rarely desire to do evil for evil's sake whereas most people desire to do good at least to some degree for its own sake.

[Blarg]

I think plenty of people like to do evil and enjoy it immensely. But since you can't unmake the world and start over, you just have to deal with them the best you can and try not to succumb to your own worst impulses yourself, and instead try to do things the right way as much as you can, even if it's not always the most comfortable or profitable thing to do.

You may not ever be able to change others, but you can always change yourself. And you don't have to live by anybody's world view but your own, if you're strong enough inside.

[Jdanz]

i'm not denying that some people like evil, and i agree with what you've said in your post.

However, from my life expereience i've just noticed that most people like doing good, they get some sort of kick out of it . [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

[Blarg]

I wish I could say the same. I find most people indifferent at best, but I do think I've probably run into an unbalanced sample.

[Jdanz]

hey i'm not trying to downplay indifference, but the fact that people feel bad when they act like a dick (most of the time) and feel good when they genuinely help someone (most of the time) has to count for something.

[Blarg]

Depends on the person. Many people also feel great when they act like dicks. This possibility is just hardwired into the human character for everyone, and for some people it's a lifelong thing. Many are entirely indifferent to helping anyone. Many don't help anyone enough to know how they might feel about it.

I really think there are just different kinds of people in the world, and plenty of them. There is usually just as much aggression in social situations as there are good things, and that even from people who would never consider themselves aggressive or less than superlative in any way. We're a viciously competitive species, and it's often not enough that we're together, but we must compete; and it's not enough that we win, but someone must lose. We're genetically built to screw each other over, and that's at least as natural as helping each other or giving a damn about each other, if not more so.

[Jdanz]

meh, people are petty and scared and selfish, but they still want to be good people for the most part, and very ogten they are. YMMV.

[tonypaladino]

From the responses to the first few replies, it's obvious the OP is just an ass-hole looking for a fight. Don't indulge him