Intelligence linked with evil?

[vortexTechie]

Absolutely
If evil people had morals, most of them would not engage in evil activities.

Thing is, different people have different morals.
For some societies (through not many), cannibalism is normal. And for some people (not for me, just so you know), being gay is evil and punishable by God.

So what might be considered 'evil' in one society, can be perfectly normal in another.
And all these humans keep thinking that what they say and believe is better than everyone else's opinions.

[_Quietus_]

Thing is, different people have different morals.
For some societies (through not many), cannibalism is normal. And for some people (not for me, just so you know), being gay is evil and punishable by God.

So what might be considered 'evil' in one society, can be perfectly normal in another.
And all these humans keep thinking that what they say and believe is better than everyone else's opinions.

I'm speaking of evil as in they work as a malefactor towards other humans for their own benefit.
Which is generally coupled with power. People say politicians and corperations are corrupt, but if they didn't have the power, they might as well not be.
You see, one cannot be evil, unless they can overpower their victims in some way.
that's one of the reasons why you rarely hear of evil babies.

[Wessolf27]

I'm speaking of evil as in they work as a malefactor towards other humans for their own benefit.
Which is generally coupled with power. People say politicians and corperations are corrupt, but if they didn't have the power, they might as well not be.
You see, one cannot be evil, unless they can overpower their victims in some way.
that's one of the reasons why you rarely hear of evil babies.

Yes, Power has a more direct link to the possibility of doing evil, as evil usually implies that you have a certain advantage over other people and using that power for one's own benefit. Of course one also needs the intelligence to use that power. But usually, it's through power that people exert their dominance over another person, either through the use of force, or by coercion through means of withholding something that the other person wishes.

[kholhaus]

The definition of evil is more or less the same from culture to culture, but the technicalities are endless.

Context is what defines Evil above all else.

People see others as 'Evil', depending on their own standards. Rarely do people declare themselves Evil unless they're insane, or extremely detached from the world.

I could go further into the difference between Intelligence and Wisdom, but both have their negative aspects, as well.
And then of course you get into Intent. Which governs whether a decision is ultimately 'right', based on that person's motives.

[_Quietus_]

The definition of evil is more or less the same from culture to culture, but the technicalities are endless.

Context is what defines Evil above all else.

People see others as 'Evil', depending on their own standards. Rarely do people declare themselves Evil unless they're insane, or extremely detached from the world.

I could go further into the difference between Intelligence and Wisdom, but both have their negative aspects, as well.
And then of course you get into Intent. Which governs whether a decision is ultimately 'right', based on that person's motives.

Insane people are generally the least lkely to declare themselves evil

[kholhaus]

Insane people are generally the least lkely to declare themselves evil

Depends on the breed of insanity.

[Proxyknight]

The more intelligent a species is, the more it will try to categorize and morally separate some behaviors from others.
Inherent personality and temperament differences dictate these will not always be agreed-upon definitions, naturally.
As such, a more intelligent species is more capable of perceiving certain behaviors as morally wrong.

Animals which are generally agreed upon as being "below" us are capable of murder, rape, theft, and that sort of thing--they just get a free pass because they basically don't know any better.

One could argue we don't either, we just think we do...but that's a different discussion.