Sometimes, I just don’t get it. Why do people act the way that they do?
I guess it must have to partially be because of the way they were raised, or the environment they lived in, or maybe it’s just because that is the way they are made.
I always believed that people are born basically good, and not evil. That the way they end up, is the byproduct of what they are taught by others. A collection of morals and beliefs that have been accepted as the truth. Truth, being what we believe to be the ultimate truth.
I also believed that some very unfortunate people are born without the ability to learn, understand, and process abstract ideas – love, caring, truth, respect, ect.
Or, perhaps they just aren’t capable of understanding, that they cannot always get the amount (or type) of attention that they think they deserve. After all, when you boil it all down to the basics, humans desire attention more than just about anything else.
When a person is born, they know nothing other than that they desire attention, in order to remain alive. The brain handles the life giving organs, so the baby’s lungs and heart, and internal organs work. But, in order to continue living, they must have food and nourishment – so they cry, to tell others to pay attention to me – I need something.
They don’t plot what their next move is, or hate, or try to hurt anyone. They simply and selfishly – want sustenance in order to remain alive.
It isn’t until later, that these little humans brains develop beyond “just surviving”. During the process of developing, I think that they learn – and connect to the people that provide caring, love, and affection.
By the time the child is a certain age, I would think they have been taught certain things, more repetitive task oriented type things – but, I don’t think they have been “taught” the evil and hateful things that later in life become who they are, and what they are like.
Somewhere along the path, those hateful things have somehow been ingrained in their being. I’m sure there are a thousand psychological opinions and reasonings for this. And, the rationalization is that there are probably just as many causes that may never be truly understood.
Try as we might, I don’t think we will ever understand evil and hateful behavior.
When bad behavior is not mitigated, it is allowed to become normalized and accepted. When encouraged, bad behavior flourishes.
We live in a world where norms, rules, and laws help define what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Sometimes, when not explicit enough people will try to work the shadow land between acceptable and unacceptable. When it isn’t exactly spelled out as to being unacceptable, the behavior might therefore be okay. Even when it most likely isn’t.
Seems to me, the gray area shouldn’t be reason to justify bad behavior. But, unfortunately – that is how the thinking of those perpetuating bad behavior, do indeed justify it.
Ruminati 