OMG WERE ALL EVIL KILLING THE PLANET WE GO TO WAR (EVEN THOUGH MOST OF THE WORLD DOESN'T WANT WAR) WE ARE SINNERS!11!!1! e

Evil is only what is interpreted as being bad in the society you live in. In many countries, rape is a horrible crime, but in Saudi Arabia, the woman is killed for being lustful. Their society views that as normal, but ours views it as horrible. It's all subjective.

Quote from Fusion

Evil is only what is interpreted as being bad in the society you live in. In many countries, rape is a horrible crime, but in Saudi Arabia, the woman is killed for being lustful. Their society views that as normal, but ours views it as horrible. It's all subjective.

So should I, or should I not, exterminate all of humanity?

Quote from Zed

So should I, or should I not, exterminate all of humanity?

That's stupid man, humanity is the most advanced species on earth, we have promise.

It's just that all those cynics throw away the good and highlight the bad.

Promise to do what? Will our advancement contribute to the overall happiness of the universe? Or will it involve treading on every other species and causing suffering for billions?

Btw, devil's advocate.

Indeed, most of us don't realise what we're are actually doing to the world. At least a few are trying to help...

Quote from GR4Y-F0X

Indeed, most of us don't realise what we're are actually doing to the world. At least a few are trying to help...

This is why I don't like it when you play the devil's advocate Zed, people think you're being serious.

And honestly, I don't think it will make much difference whether you killed us all off or not. We don't harm the planet (we harm ourselves), and many, many species die out every day, the odd few we happen to kill off without meaning to doesn't make much difference, and it's natures course for animals to make other animals go extinct.

Quote from Automaton

:Spiderman:

This is why I don't like it when you play the devil's advocate Zed, people think you're being serious.

And honestly, I don't think it will make much difference whether you killed us all off or not. We don't harm the planet (we harm ourselves), and many, many species die out every day, the odd few we happen to kill off without meaning to doesn't make much difference, and it's natures course for animals to make other animals go extinct.

Ok, for the record, this latter paragraph of yours pretty much encapsulates my personal opinion. Not so much in that we don't make a difference overall, but that any individual animals life won't be much different. I don't think rabbits much care whether they're running from a car or a hawk. Any gaps we leave would be filled by another species soon enough.

I enjoy arguing with devil's advocates, personally. Especially when they take it seriously, which is the whole point.

This thread seems to have come full circle, so I'll join in. I think right now we're doing well to **** up a lot of the world. I mean, no natural predator can compete with our ability to devastate an entire ecosystem, such as the rainforests in South America and Southeast Asia. Or the mountaintops of the North Carolina. Or vast stretches of the ocean where we've got so much pollution that fish are eating more plastic than plankton. We've cleared land for cattle and crops that bring down biodiversity and use up more resources that are transported using more fossil fuel, etc, etc. But what we're doing with genetic engineering could undo the extinction of endangered species.
We could get the chance to save them through cloning or altering the genes of clones grown in labs. [Other sci fi tech insert here]

We have potential to avenge the deaths of our fallen foes. We have ways of creating new life. We could potentially be a force of nature in our own right, causing a new mass extinction event as we try to repopulate the globe with our own creations, with unforeseen side effects. We may seem to be doing "evil" things in our modern sense of ethics, but as far as nature is concerned, we're just another critter sprung up from the water to fight its battles and win. And I have to say, we are the clear leaders of the evolutionary race at this point, so Nature would be mighty pissed if we were taken out. (assuming she's sentient, but you understand...)

Oh yeah, humanity is evil.

Oh yeah, humanity isn't evil.

In terms of religious dogma, yes humanity is evil, when adam submitted his will to the snakes, he willingly gave the kingdom of earth to satan, and in the bible it is presented as such, saying that the earth is the devils kingdom.

In terms of moral law, it depends on if you consider the survival instinct bad or not. You have several different moral beliefs, nihilism, for one; why would it be bad to kill someone in the larger picture of eternity and the universe, what difference does it make? And if reality isn't real and its all perspective, what does murder do?

I don't think man, in essence, is like that swastika flag. I don't think we are initially born into this world like that, I think that is taught to us, or learned from a perverted stem of something else. But yes, man is born a fighting murdering creature, its just that we try to survive by doing that.

Are we speaking of humanity in the present tense? Or humanity as of all time?

I'm saying present tense for now, although nipping it in the bud completely and saying it would be best if we'd never come down from the trees is an equally interesting line of argument.

Edit: Ah, feck, did I just shoot my swastika in the foot?