Originally posted by: CSMR
Originally posted by: NeoCorn
Man is inherently good. Man does not in general set out to destroy himself nor his environment. Man has the capacity for self regulation as well as the capacity to consider effects of his actions and the actions of men. I believe that the human race (man) is progressing in knowledge, communication, and social responsibility. These things demonstrate inherent goodness.
Are "knowledge, communication, and social responsibility" good?
As it stands man appears to be a unique animal with the ability to reason, accumulate and communicate knowledge, and apply it to uses which knowingly benefit more than the individual. In all of this there is choice. As a cheetah is a fast animal and uses its speed to survive, man uses his brain. But man uses his brain for more than survival and chooses his actions every step of the way. This is not to say all actions are good or all people are good.
To answer your question about whether knowledge, communication, and social responsibility are good I think I have to turn the question around. How about, 'Are ignorance, miscommunication, and social irresponsibility good?' If you consider man as a group, would we (man) be better off ignorant, isolated, and generally hostile to other men? Ignorance, isolation, and hostility cannot lead man to improving his lot to any great degree. Knowledge, communication, and social responsiblity can lead man to improving his lot and we have. There have been and are going to be many growing pains along the way but I think we are going to continue to improve as our worldview gets larger and clearer.