The Hyde Effect

Drew Worden

Mrs. Pierce

SFTC British Literature

17 February 2018

The Hyde Effect

        The nature of man is inherently evil. We are born into sin, but we teach ourselves to rise up and become better people, either through religion, societal norms, life efficiency, or our inner conscience. An example of evil tendencies without a coherent learning process is shown through lying for the first time. When someone tells their first lie at an early age, they are doing it to protect themselves and will use any tool in their figurative arsenal to accomplish that. They do this to provide diversion away from themselves, so that they will not bear the consequence as a result.

Humankind has survived through the millennia through this inherent nature to use any means to survive. If murder, thievery, or lying makes you survive then that is what will be used. Through the ages, however, we have adopted these techniques to not just stay alive, but to obtain what we want, portray how we want to be betrayed, and work our way out of tight situations.

The question then becomes, “If man uses evil to survive or to likewise, make their lives better, what motivates a person to be good.” The answer, I believe, lies in humanities ability to be effective at surviving. For example, when so-called good deeds are done in society, the society is strengthened. When you give to a food bank, you are providing people with food, which helps them survive and become better members of society, which in turn benefits you. Society is beneficial to humans become of our natural sociable character. Humans thrive in groups, cultures, and societies. If by doing good means that you are strengthening society, which strengthens you, then that would mean it would be in your best interest to do so.

Over time, I believe, we have pulled away from that logical progression and merely taught the next generation to be good, simply because it is the right thing to do. The words, “right thing to do,” means benefiting you in the long run by keeping you secure in your current societal standing. We then develop these concepts into reality, like superheroes and stories, to encourage and motivate people to do as they do. In a poetic sense, in order to keep evil at bay we must do good, but to be good we have to start with evil.