JWB pretty much hit the nail on the head.
Humans are great at cooperation and that's generally how humanity's greatest achievements have come about. We are basically tribal and are not particularly violent compared to other animals. As an example comparison, common chimpanzee societies are generally
a lot more violent than human ones.
We're tribal and we have an us and them sort of way of thinking of people. When you look at another person, there's a lot of subconscious evaluation going on, but very roughly, you're trying to figure out if it's an "us" or a "them" you're looking at. Your internal moral interests will be a lot more protective towards an "us" than they will towards a "them". If everybody in the world felt like they were part of the same cooperative tribe and there were no "thems", I'm sure we'd be very peaceful.
There are those who exploit and who are outright nasty to others of their tribe. To the extent that such criminal and anti-social behaviour is genetic, we're generally creating an environment where these genes are penalized (ex. societies are growing bigger and we create laws and send criminals to prison). So, our social traits are evolving and will continue to do so in the future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wpnfire
Hobbes said yes.
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Hobbes was very wrong. Let's just say his ideas about human nature would be a lot more challenged today than they were in his day.