Is it normal to believe that you don't choose if you're a good person or not?

I believe that whether or not one's a good person isn't up to them rather then it's up to their concious (Sorry, spelling). I believe that the subconcious is the one who decides if one will be good, bad, neutral, or so-so.

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30% Normal
Based on 37 votes (11 yes)
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Comments ( 10 )
  • dom180

    Good and evil aren't even real. We do what we do, and the collective values of our society end up dictating whether it was good, evil, or somewhere between the two extremes.

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  • This is an interesting topic, but I don't fully agree because we have free will to do what we want.

    Some people may be predispositioned to make morally good, or bad choices, but they still have free will.

    A good example is psychopaths, who are unable to feel sympathy or care about anyone. I think they are more common than many people think, but most of them never actually do anything that gets them but into a situation where they get diagnosed because they still have the free will whether to do something bad or not.

    Usually immoral choices are motivated by something, so it's a mix of various factors that go into making an immoral choice rather than just being "bad".

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  • tripw7

    When you are between five and ten years old, you become aware what is right and what is wrong. It is not that you suddenly become bad person or behave like a good person, it's something that is a choice. You make the choice and it's all up to you what choice you make. You are not pre-destined that you will be good or bad.
    You may be trying to justify a bad behavior and that you don't have to accept responsibility because it wasn't up to you if you were a bad person or a good person. Good luck with your decision.

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    • green_boogers

      Aha! You are not Presbyterian! (neither am I).

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  • kingofcarrotflowers

    Nature vs nurture

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  • wii3willrule

    You are right in the sense that social factors play a great role in how we live our lives. The book Propaganda by Edward Bernays is really good in describing just how social power is used to sway the people. People are essentially nothing more and nothing less than reflections of their societies.

    Do we have a choice? Of course, but what I'm saying here is that social force greatly reduces the choices we have and even more greatly reduces the wise/good choices we have.

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  • Canttel!

    You can chose. Its your mind and body. Even if you are born from a sadist it doesnt mean you will be one as well. Some one can easily convince you to stop commiting crimes and not evry one will give in, but there will be people that will turn to the light side of the situation

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  • Riddler

    You can choose to be a good person as much as you can to be a bad person. We all have freedom of choice. We are given rules and laws and told not to do something. If we choose to break them is entirely up to us.

    You can have a bad thought about someone it does not mean you have to hurt them. Instead of saying you had no choice and was born a bad person try taking some responsibility. Most other wont have any sympathy since you just felt like being an asshole.

    If you did something in the intention to do good and it created something bad you are misguided but not a bad person. If your intention was pure than you are not a bad person. If your intention was bad that determines it. However you can sometimes can let out your cruel desires if its with a willing participant in a controlled environment. Than its neutral.

    Also even your nature is bad it does not mean you cant be taught good. Same with a person with a good nature. You can have someone who is very timid and raise them to be tough. This kind of thing happens all the time.

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  • ThisIsImpossible

    Good and bad are subjective. You're on the right track though. What's free will? What is perception?

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  • thr

    The way I see it, you can argue that there is no free will, that your actions in the present are caused by how your brain has been molded in the past, and perhaps you want to add something about quantum mechanical randomness.

    From a human perspective, though, using the term 'choose' in the way you normally would, you can choose to act in a way which you think is good.

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