A Popular Misconception

I just finished listening to a YouTube video about how important it is to set and pursue goals. The author maintains that without making plans, you will end up (along with perhaps a 95% majority of people) essentially a failure, having never achieved real success. This I cannot disagree with; the adage goes, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail."

The title of this blog refers to a statement he made toward the end of his post, though. It is a popular train of thought, but one that I disagree with. He says, "People are basically good." I am NOT going to say that people are inherently evil scientists, bent on the destruction of the universe; but my contention is that the statement is flawed, and should read, "People are basically capable of being good." Being good, like being evil, is a choice each of us has to make. I think that if we don't plan on being at least a little good, we will tend toward being a little evil; selfishness is a minor evil, after all. Unless you've been trained very well by your parents to share, to reach out, etc., you will probably tend to look to your own interests first.

I think the purpose of life is to have a positive impact on the world, at least the world around you. (We can't ALL be raging megalomaniacs, after all!) But even this takes planning and action on each person's part. We have to want to. I think having no impact on the world is to be a failure. Of course, having a negative impact is worse; you require more people to work harder at being positive influences.

At the same time, I don't think we should just blindly pat people on the back and say nothing but positive things all the time. Sugar coating everything around you is not realistic; in fact, it's essentially lying, which turns your efforts into evil. But slamming people with their failures is counter productive. I think that's where the term "constructive criticism" comes in. It's a positive, encouraging way of telling people how their performance was sub-par. It builds them up, and helps them set better goals, helps them strive to make better impacts.

So, use your powers for good, and not for evil! But please, use your powers SOMEHOW. Make a choice, make a plan, and act. (And physician, heal thyself....)