The Cure for Misanthropic Cynicism?...?

Question

I ran into a fascinating, elegant, beautiful little argument that other day which has been noodling away at my misanthropic cynicism ever since. For a long time I've had a pretty bleak view of humanity, but this little gem is pretty gosh darned convincing...

Brought to you by the Taoist Mathematical Logician, Raymond Smullyan:

He will prove to all of us that people are basically good at heart! Good luck Smullyan...

Premise 1: I am basically good at heart.

Premise 2: I'm no better than anybody else.

:O Did he just do it?

What can us misanthropes say now?! Can anyone help me demolish this, or are we going to have to accept that people are actually...*cringe*...Good?!

Answer 1

A deficient assertion asking for agreement and/or supplementation. Not a question. You will need plenty of help demolishing my argument, gosh darn it.

The cure, indeed.

Answer 2

Everyone has some good and some bad in them.  On the whole, though, humanity IS good!  If we were more evil than good, we wouldn't be where we are now.  We'd either still be barbarians living under tyrannical governments, or extinct.

Instead, what you see when you look at our history is steady, progressive improvement.  There are occasional hiccups like the Dark Ages, the n***s and communism, but evil systems are inherently unsustainable and tend to implode...it's just a matter of time.

Over the past few centuries, and even just the past few decades, we have seen marked improvements in just about everything.  Both quality and quantity of life have gone way up.  We now mostly treat each other as mostly equals, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual preference, etc.  Science and technology have made our lives easier and more enjoyable.  Violent crime and yes, even wars have lessened.  (Even as media coverage of them has gone up!)  The sum total of human knowledge continues to grow.  Free economies and free governments continue to become more and more the norm.  We are now a much more cosmopolitan world, and reaping the benefits of it.

Which is not to imply that there isn't a LOT of room for improvement.  We're still a ways from utopia, but the progress we've made so far and the maturation of our civilization point to our being inherently more good than evil.

Answer 3

Nice, thanks man.

Answer 4

we are all good and all bad at the same time

Answer 5

I can tell you this...

People say they arent better than anyone else... but they lie.  They say what they think people want to hear.  It would be arrogant to say "Im better".  And that makes them look bad.  Self-preservation of reputation.  Its a failing, not a virtue

I am basically good at heart is another lie.  People think they are good at heart... the convince themselves.  But they all argue for subjective morality, rationalizing their own preexisting lifestyles and wants and choices... nothing they do is ever "wrong" or a "sin" because they either dont believe in such things or have subjectified it beyond all definition.

Therefore both premises are wrong

- cynical misanthrope.

PS. Two premises dont make an argument.  You need an inferential statement

Answer 6

Hahaha. That is an interesting argument indeed. I do choose to believe that generally, people are good. Or trying to be good. But if you look at that statement, it has some martyrish qualities to it. 'I'm no better than anyone else' is a good equaliser for humanity, but the fact of the matter is, if you acknowledge that you are generally good at heart it does make you better than all the people who are selfish egotistical as.holes. You probably are better than someone else. And then, there is somebody better than you. The trouble with statements like that is it puts everybody on a level playing field, which is a fantastic thing that we should aspire to, don't get me wrong. It assumes that everyone is the same, with the same needs and drives (which I guess you could argue that we do, evolutionary and instinctually, but in a modern world there is far too much subjectivity for there to be a common ground) which everyone quite clearly doesn't.

Having just ranted on rather devil's advocate-ly about that though, I think that is two fantastic premises that I do believe to be true. Thanks for the thinking material! :)