The bad people in this world

I have a feeling that most people these days are keeping their "dark side" very near the surface, ready to be exposed at any instance. But for most of the time they're keeping it well-hidden (except for a few nasty ones, who don't bother hiding it at all). I've always felt that one of my "talents" was to bring out the evil in people, to bring it to the surface.

What do you think? Do you think "evil", "wickedness", etc is more prevalent now than say 20-30 years ago? Or am i just imagining all this? Am i just thinking this due to too often being on the receiving end of evil/nastiness/etc?
 
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Impending climate change aside, global quality of life is better now than it ever has been in pretty much every measurable category and continues to improve. I assume unmeasurable factors (like say, "evil") would show the same trend, if they could be measured.

I have to wonder, if you have a tendency to perceive that other people are showing you their darker side, or otherwise acting in a more "evil" way than they do normally, are you really seeing evil in other people, or should you be seeing something in yourself? That is, maybe you're not putting yourself in their shoes. Or maybe your own definition of good vs evil could use some fine tuning. Maybe some subtle thing about how you act or your mannerisms tends to draw negative reactions from people. Maybe you see evil in people because you look for evil in people.

Something to think about, if you haven't already.
 
Impending climate change aside, global quality of life is better now than it ever has been in pretty much every measurable category and continues to improve
That may be so. The sciences have been improving greatly. And maybe also general well-being, but hapiness is a different thing altogether (& is at a low point).

I assume unmeasurable factors (like say, "evil") would show the same trend, if they could be measured
I believe that mankind is now at it's lowest point of civility ever. Could have something to do with spirituality being at an all-time low.

I have to wonder, if you have a tendency to perceive that other people are showing you their darker side, or otherwise acting in a more "evil" way than they do normally, are you really seeing evil in other people, or should you be seeing something in yourself? That is, maybe you're not putting yourself in their shoes. Or maybe your own definition of good vs evil could use some fine tuning. Maybe some subtle thing about how you act or your mannerisms tends to draw negative reactions from people. Maybe you see evil in people because you look for evil in people
I just think (for a good many years) that it takes WAY too little for some people to resort to acting wickedly & deplorably. It's like they're waiting for somebody like me to come along, so they can express their sadistic urges (eg to humiliate in public).
 

Earthcircle

Well-known member
I have a feeling that most people these days are keeping their "dark side" very near the surface, ready to be exposed at any instance. But for most of the time they're keeping it well-hidden (except for a few nasty ones, who don't bother hiding it at all). I've always felt that one of my "talents" was to bring out the evil in people, to bring it to the surface.

What do you think? Do you think "evil", "wickedness", etc is more prevalent now than say 20-30 years ago? Or am i just imagining all this? Am i just thinking this due to too often being on the receiving end of evil/nastiness/etc?

My father was alive 20 years ago. Now he's dead. So, at least in that one respect, there is less evil in the world.
 

FriendlyShadow

Well-known member
I will try and be as honest as I can with this. I do agree that there are some decietful people in this world who hide their true identity around others. Growing up, I've tried being nice and helpful to people, especially those who had a tendency to put me down a lot. Personally, I've realized that the more I was surrounded by these people, the harder it was to stay true to myself. In fact everytime I'm forced to be around these people I find myself becoming physically and emotionally drained because of them demanding things from me.

It gets harder when I'm around other people who can't seem to understand why I feel the way I do. All my life, one of things I grew so used to listening to was other people criticizing me. No matter how nice or sincere I've tried to be torwards these people, they would somehow find a way to make me feel guilty about myself (my quietness, my lack of social cues, my appearance, ect) There's times where I feel so angry and pressured that I just want to explode. I don't mean for my feelings to come out that way, but it's something I can't help. I've had to deal with a lot of things in my life alone, deaths in my family, parents arguing almost constantly, having nobody who could actually comfort me. Maybe I shouldn't even keep complaining since I guess that's just the way things work in my life. :idontknow:
 

Pacific_Loner

Pirate from the North Pole
Isn't it difficult to say that people were nicer 30 years ago, if we weren't there to deal with them ?

I believe that mankind is now at it's lowest point of civility ever. Could have something to do with spirituality being at an all-time low.

I'm interested to know what makes you think that. From my knowledge of history, we've been a lot deeper in the evil spectrum before. 21th century doesn't feel so bad to me. Not perfect, but it never will be.
 
Isn't it difficult to say that people were nicer 30 years ago, if we weren't there to deal with them ?
I was, but tbh it's hard to tell any change in evil in the intervening 30 years. I was younger then, and so would have got treated a bit differently to how i get treated today. But i did feel i got treated too badly too much (but i was always very sensitive to criticism, put-downs, bullying, etc); i seemed to attract evil to me like moths to a light.

I'm interested to know what makes you think that. From my knowledge of history, we've been a lot deeper in the evil spectrum before. 21th century doesn't feel so bad to me. Not perfect, but it never will be.
Maybe i should change the time span to the last 100 years? MILLIONS of people killed in all manner of wars, genocides, etc (mind you the population has also grown a lot). Entities like Al-Qaeda & ISIS (& the extreme visciousness they show). The amount of mass shootings happening. I believe the increase in evil these people show is proportional to the increase in evil in the everyday population.
 

Fey

Well-known member
I think many have poor impulse control, or are very selfish, demanding, and entitled. I don't know about actively evil.

I've had a couple stalkers or people with stalker tendencies in my life, so I feel like I'm kind of a "target" for some of these people. I don't feel like I can really be vulnerable around others or I'll be hunted.
 
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