A to Z Quick Chat 93 | Do you think people are born good or bad?
The A to Z English Podcast
Are People Born Good or Bad?
This chapter delves into the age-old debate of whether people are born good or bad, and explores the concepts of nature versus nurture. Through an analysis of different perspectives, they examine how individuals' actions and choices shape their morality.
In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack discuss the question: Do you think people are born good or bad?
Transcript:
00:00:01
Jack
Welcome to the A-Z English podcast, where Jack and Social take you on a journey from learning the basics to mastering the nuances of the English language. Our podcast is designed for non-native speakers who are looking to improve their English skills in a fun and interactive way. Each episode covers a wide range of topics.
00:00:23
Jack
From grammar and vocabulary to slang and culture to help you navigate the English speaking world with ease.
00:00:35
Jack
Welcome to the A to Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I am here with my co-host social. And today we have a quick chat episode and today's quick chat question is, do you believe that people are born?
00:00:48
Jack
Good or born bad?
00:00:52
Jack
Or do you think that?
00:00:54
Jack
It's different from person to person.
00:00:57
Jack
So. So. So what do you think about that? Do you think people are born good or born bad, like Hitler was born bad? Or Mother Teresa was born good?
00:01:10
Xochitl
Jack, I have a.
00:01:11
Xochitl
Hard time with this one because I'm a I'm a true crime enthusiast and.
00:01:16
발표자
Me too.
00:01:18
Xochitl
It's hard because there's people that.
00:01:21
Xochitl
In rare cases, there are situations where like there's no report of a traumatic childhood and stuff for certain psychopaths and serial killers.
00:01:31
Xochitl
And even then, there's usually.
00:01:32
Xochitl
A reason like a traumatic brain injury or something from an accident.
00:01:37
Xochitl
But I think most people are not born evil enough to be serial killers. And hmm and and people are complex. I think good is is very reductive for those listeners who don't know, that means it simplifies it too much. But I think it really depends on the person.
00:01:58
Xochitl
And their experiences and how they choose.
00:02:02
Xochitl
Ultimately, how they choose to process those experiences or what they choose to do.
00:02:09
Xochitl
With those experiences, cause I know that you can have someone who had really bad experiences and they might use those as an excuse and a justification to be abusive later, or to be.
00:02:23
Xochitl
To outlet their trauma in destructive ways. Or you could have someone who had the exact same experiences and chooses to grow from them and not subject anyone else to the kind of abuse or horrible situations they suffer.
00:02:37
발표자 4
Right, yeah.
00:02:40
Xochitl
But I don't think anyone.
00:02:41
Xochitl
Is all good or all bad? We've all done bad things.
00:02:46
Jack
Yes, yes, you're right, I.
00:02:49
Jack
Think I think we all have the capacity, the ability to to do good or to do bad.
00:02:56
Jack
But the question, yeah, this is a tough one because I'm just thinking of like again, I'm thinking of, like, serial killers and like the ones that that had, like, good parents. Like they weren't. They didn't have, like, a terrible.
00:03:13
Jack
You know, childhood or, you know, they had parents that were not terrible and and home lives that were not full of trauma. They weren't traumatic. And then they still wanted to act out in this way.
00:03:32
Jack
I feel like it's.
00:03:33
Jack
It's possible, but maybe it's a it's a lot smaller percentage of people than we think that our maybe just born bad.
00:03:43
Jack
They're just like they're they're missing something, but I think it I think for for the people to.
00:03:50
Jack
I think for for example, for a a a person to commit murder, there has to be a lot of different. There has to be like a lot.
00:04:00
Jack
Of factors taken in, it's like it's not just that they were born bad, but it's also that there was, you know, a bad environment when they were growing up and then.
00:04:11
Jack
Also, there was an opportunity for them to commit a crime, and so it's like it's kind of like a perfect storm.
00:04:22
Jack
When people commit really horrible crimes like like serial killers, I feel like something is has come together. It's not just that they were born bad, but it's just that like they're they, they have a lot of like a large capacity to do bad or maybe they even.
00:04:41
Jack
Have a a.
00:04:44
Jack
Compulsion like they want to do something bad and then an opportunity comes up and then also there's a bad they have bad parents. So like it's like a it's a combination of like all these bad things that makes them act out and so.
00:05:01
Jack
Like you said, it's people are complicated and it's it's hard to just say like ohh this person is born bad or this person.
00:05:08
Jack
Was born good.
00:05:10
Jack
But I do think that there is some.
00:05:14
Jack
In certain people, that allows them to to to behave really badly and and and and it's it's it's something that's just like hardwired in their brain like it's it's not.
00:05:29
Jack
I don't know. It's just it's just part of their who they are. Like it's part of their genetic makeup.
00:05:35
Xochitl
I think I remember. I don't know who the quote was from, but I was told that by some guy that he's a German guy and.
00:05:44
Xochitl
For those who are familiar with German culture, it seems really stereotypical that a German person said. But.
00:05:51
Xochitl
He said people aren't good or bad. They're better and they're worse.
00:05:58
Xochitl
And that doesn't.
00:06:01
Xochitl
I think, Jack, when I when.
00:06:02
Xochitl
I told Jack this a little bit before we.
00:06:03
Xochitl
Started the podcast.
00:06:05
Xochitl
It wasn't like a he interpreted it as like a thing of degrees. Right, Jack? You interpret it as, like, some people are better than others, and some people are worse than others.
00:06:14
Xochitl
But I personally interpret it like.
00:06:21
Xochitl
People in different times in their lives and in different situations can be better, and they can also be worse later and better again and worse later. It's kind of like who we are as people goes through waves.
00:06:36
Xochitl
And of course, there are people on extremes like serial killers and.
00:06:40
Xochitl
On good extremes, like Mother Teresa. And then there's us who, you know, we're probably not going to be as great as Mother Teresa, but we're not. We're no Jeffrey Dahmer.
00:06:54
Xochitl
Yeah. And so most people are somewhere on the spectrum.
00:06:58
Xochitl
Being a little better.
00:07:02
Xochitl
And a little worse all the time, but not crossing certain moral limits that I think we set for ourselves that are important to ourselves.
00:07:11
Jack
Yeah. Yeah, I think that's this is, I don't think we're going to be able to. I mean this is this question is probably will never be answered because this is the great philosophical question. Questions is are we born with a blank slate? You know the.
00:07:19
Xochitl
Right.
00:07:27
Jack
What is it called? Tabula rasa. Whatever you know, the, the, the kind of we're we're we're just pure when we're born and then all anything that any bad bad part of us is is imprinted from our you know parents and from our upbringing and our experiences or are we already kind of.
00:07:36
발표자 4
OK.
00:07:48
Jack
Is there already some uh personality that exists there and then our experiences and our environment kind of builds on those things? I mean, that's what I think. I think we're kind of we're kind of born with a certain with certain strengths and.
00:08:05
Jack
This is and then we can build on those in our environment and our our upbringing kind of informs that. And so it it, it can either enhance the good qualities or it can also a bad experience or traumatic childhood can enhance the the weaknesses and the bad parts of our personalities and so.
00:08:26
Jack
I I just think it's like a mix of of everything. You know, it's environment, it's nature and it's nurture.
00:08:31
Jack
And uh. But like you said, it's a you like where it's it really comes down to decisions that you make in certain moments. You know you you make the better decision or the worst decision and and it's and those build on each other so that if you make enough bad decisions in a row you can end up doing some really horrendous.
00:08:51
Jack
Things and I I think.
00:08:54
Jack
That's the the key is that.
00:08:55
Jack
There's all. We're always one decision away. One good decision away from kind of.
00:09:00
Jack
Being being good, I think.
00:09:02
Xochitl
Right, right. And one.
00:09:03
Jack
Yeah, yeah.
00:09:05
Xochitl
Bad decision. It's like crazy because.
00:09:09
Xochitl
You can make like 100 good decisions in your life and one really bad thing that you choose to do.
00:09:16
Xochitl
Can really hurt other people and it takes forever to make it back up to them or to make it back up to yourself, to where you feel like you've redeemed yourself and your situation.
00:09:28
Xochitl
So I think.
00:09:29
Xochitl
It is really important to take into consideration before we do hurtful things.
00:09:35
Jack
Yeah, I mean one.
00:09:36
Jack
Of the right now, there's a there's a famous actor named Russell Brand who's in a.
00:09:42
Jack
Lot of trouble.
00:09:43
Jack
A A potentially for alleged crimes against certain women and.
00:09:55
Jack
Again, it's it's alleged, but it's like he, you know, these are decisions that he.
00:10:03
Jack
Uh made ten years ago that our stood out. He's might have to pay the consequences for right now. And sometimes you make bad decisions and then you you become better.
00:10:10
Xochitl
Right.
00:10:16
Jack
And a better.
00:10:17
Jack
Person, but you still have to pay the.
00:10:20
Jack
For the consequences.
00:10:22
Jack
Of of your of your bad decisions.
00:10:24
Jack
In the past, so I mean it's so.
00:10:26
Jack
That it gets.
00:10:27
Jack
Very, very complicated, you know? Is this a bad person or is this a person that was was bad? But now is good and?
00:10:36
Jack
Yeah, yeah.
00:10:36
Xochitl
I think if you were.
00:10:38
Xochitl
Bad. And now you're good then part of.
00:10:42
Xochitl
Actually being good now and actually being a better person, especially in like me too cases and cases where you have like victims who are affected is actually taking full accountability and responsibility though, and paying up for all the things that you did. And I think if you really become a better person, then you need to be open to facing the consequences.
00:11:03
Xochitl
You know for your behavior.
00:11:05
Jack
Yeah, that's a good. That's a really good point. That's a really good point. UM, yeah, even. Uh, yeah, I think you're right. If you if you're a person of integrity and you really are a better person, then you will. You will tell the truth and say I did this and that ten years ago and you'll. Yeah.
00:11:25
Jack
And and then you can actually I.
00:11:27
Jack
Think redeem yourself, but if you're still lying about something.
00:11:32
Jack
That happened in the past and not then. Then you really haven't changed that much. Yeah, that's a great point.
00:11:42
Xochitl
All right. Well, let us know what.
00:11:43
Xochitl
You think in e-mail?
00:11:44
Xochitl
At A to.
00:11:45
Xochitl
Z.englishpodcast@gmail.com, we've a comment down below at our website at ozenglishpodcast.com.
00:11:53
Xochitl
And join our WhatsApp group and we will see you.
00:11:55
Xochitl
Guys, next time.
00:11:57
발표자 4
Alright. Bye bye bye.
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