Why are humans cruel?

This is a question i've thought about for a while now. It came up in physcology class. We learned about child abuse. Humans are cruel for no reason. While other animals kill for food and fight for territory, it's all simply for survival. Where as humans hurt and kill for no reason. So why are humans so cruel?

 

A lot of it has to do with how society has conditioned us. Not everyone is cruel, but quite a few people are... it's something that comes hand in hand with our ego, you have to realize that our notion of "good" exists co-dependently with our notion of "evil" (which cruelty is one aspect of)... you can't have one without the other, and that's what separates us from animals... animals do not do anything evil, but they do not do anything that is purely good natured either, they just follow their instincts.

 

I do believe you can have good without evil. Being mean is often a learned behaviour, although it seems some chose to be cruel for no reason.

 

maybe some were raised that way

 

humans are animals by nature.

 

Humans are not cruel. Humans are curious being, meaning that we want to and must know all. But we do not know everything,and to know something of which you do not know, you must exemplify it yourself. Take Homicide for example. All of those criminals are thinking to themselves,"I wonder if I could take this Innocent's life and not be punished...".

 

Humans are usually cruel for one of two reasons, they were raised into it (were abused as children) or they could feel like they need attention. It could also be the fact that they have low self of steam and by hurting or putting others down it makes them a false sence of power which they enjoy.

As Ughster said, no one can do good without doing evil. First off you need to know what both are from your own experiance. No one is perfect and will be cruel sometime in there life, so it is also in our nature to want to put ourselves ahead of others. Though not everyone is like that, lots of people are and some people just aren't as bad as others.

 

Who told you animals can't be cruel? Of course they can. It's just more familiar to judge in the human psyche.

It'd also be naïve to assume that there's only one reason humans can be cruel, and, further, to assume that cruelty can be defined without context. In the case of child abuse, it could be: An outlet for stress. The result of childhood abuse/trauma. A side-effect of drugs/alcohol. A biological psychological disorder (ie, schizophrenia). A psychological psychological disorder (Munchausen's). A misguided attempt at parenting and discipline. Etc.

So, why are humans cruel? There are any number of explanations, and for any number of situations.

 

Maybe that the humans think that they are bigger than the person who is killed.

 

In our advancement of our brains, and our evolution, we've forgotten to take care of one another and to hate whose better than us and to fuck over people until we're better then them, and if people get killed in the process, so be it. Human nature mate, get used to it.

 

"Why are humans cruel" You can't really depict the whole human race of being cruel, because i think you'll find a lot of people are kind and generous ect.

There is, in every specie, race and such those people who act "cruelly" but to say "humans are cruel" isn't entirely accurate..But the reason why most people are like they are is because of todays society.

 

Actually, there has been some debate whether humans are inately cruel- like by Nobel Laureate Golding in his novel.

Some argue that humans are animals, merely constrained by society due to the intelligence that enables us to understant the rules imposed.

However, I agree with Flames, due to the fact that the alternative is just to terrible to consider...