Evil, Naivety, and Wisdom
Ruben Nagesparan Chandrakumar, BS
One of the eternal problems which humanity faces is that of evil. The propensity for the individual to become resentful, envious, lazy, vengeful, murderous, and genocidal is one which has existed as long as humanity has been around and will not disappear until we die. In times past, we have seemingly understood this evil element of our psyche due to the prevalence of it in our everyday lives. The peculiar paradox of our situation is thus that, as society engages less and less in violence regularly, we intensify the need for individuals to delve deep into the devils within the psyche to deter them from manifesting unconsciously through our personal lives and, thus, into the greater society.
As one confronts their most terrifying self, they can understand and discipline it. No human is without the capacity for evil, lest they not be human. It is the human whose capacity for evil is integrated within their value-system- as opposed to repressed, socially deterred, or unconsciously in control- that can truly be good. A human who is unwilling to use one’s own darkness to protect those one loves is naïve, privileged by the safety of their environment, and lacking in bravery. The darkness and capacity to destroy cannot be extinguished from humanity. Instead of attempting to rid this vital part of the psyche, which has kept the individual alive from threats since the dawn of humanity, there should be an embrace and integration. Denial and repression do not benefit either the individual or society. The truth is that, at any moment, there may appear an individual consumed by their malevolence who wishes to harness the unconscious malevolence of the crowds. A mass of individuals who do not understand their own dark nature will easily fall prey to the predatory nature of humans- all too willing to sacrifice anything, especially the value of goodness, to achieve their aim.
The naivety of a child is a beautiful thing because it reminds us how we are capable of great love and compassion. However, the wisdom of an adult is developed only by the understanding of one’s total nature. The progression and creation of a society, which has taken tens of thousands of years to develop, can be destroyed within hours if power falls into the wrong hands. The way to deter this is not through trying to eliminate all malevolent people and malevolence within humans, but rather to strengthen the individual and communities who are aimed toward the good to be wise instead of naïve. A tyrant is only as strong and as lasting as the weakness and darkness of the people whom they reign over. A society of educated, brave, and wise individuals is the major barrier between civility and savagery, equality and tyranny, liberty and slavery.