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I’m sure you’ve heard someone ask at least once: “Do good people truly exist, or are we just taught to act nice?”. In my case, it was my high school Philosophy teacher who dropped this question casually during class one day.
The Instinctive Answer
My first reaction was utter disbelief. I could not comprehend how people could genuinely believe or even entertain the idea that humans are not inherently good.
Back then, my train of thought was fairly simple: I am good, I believe myself to be good, so other people must be good too. What could possibly be the difference between me and someone else?
The Complexity of the Argument
Now, with a bit more life experience and knowledge, I understand how much deeper the question was. I also see how much scientific evidence could be presented supporting either side of the argument. With what I’ve learned since, I want to revisit the topic as best as I can and explain why I still consider my position at the time to be somewhat truthful.
Why Many Believe Humans Are Inherently Bad
We live in a world so saturated, and to some extent desensitized, by bad news on television, radio and social media that we subconsciously convince ourselves that negative events are more likely than positive ones. Hopeful stories feel like the exceptions, not the rule.
Therefore, given the constant exposure, it goes without saying that it becomes clearer why most people could stand by the fact that humanity is inherently evil, and that without laws or social structures, humans would harm each other for the sake of doing it.
Goodness is Everywhere If You Look for It
However, if you look for goodness, I am convinced goodness will look back at you and show you how easily it can be found. It appears in the smallest gestures: someone holding the door for you, a stranger offering direction, a friend checking in when you least expect it. These moments are quiet, almost invisible. Nonetheless, they still show that goodness is woven into the fabric of ordinary life.
Even in a world that often feels chaotic or cruel, acts of kindness persist stubbornly. The more attention we pay to them, the more we realise that goodness isn’t rare. It’s simply overshadowed by the volume of negativity around us.
Nature Vs. Nurture
If it is true that nurture plays an important role in the life of a person, as much as nature and genetics do, then by making it normal to see and do acts of kindness in our daily lives, we are consciously fostering the “little children” in us to be the best version of themselves, and love and respect everything and everyone that is around them, unconditionally.
And the more these small acts become habits, the more they shape our instinctive responses. Goodness stops being something we perform and becomes something we are, something that feels natural rather than forced.
You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you.
Eckhart Tolle
Why Uplifting Stories Matter
This is the reason why I would like to uplift media and content that make it their primary objective to share stories of the best of humanity, because these narratives remind us of what we are capable of when we choose compassion over plain indifference. They counterbalance the noise of negativity and offer a more complete picture of who we are as a species.
You can find this kind of uplifting storytelling in projects like “Good People: Stories From the Best of Humanity” by Gabriel Reilich and Lucia Knell (2024), which highlights everyday acts of kindness and compassion.
Learn more about the topic by watching “Is It Nature Instead of Nurture That Makes You, You? – with Robert Plomin” on YouTube.
