Q&A: Optimistic or Pessimistic
Optimistic or Pessimistic
Question
Is human nature, at its core, good or bad? On the one hand there is the image of God, and on the other hand, "the inclination of a person's heart is evil from his youth."
Thanks to you I understood that this question can't really be answered, because there is no tool to measure it, and it also isn't important.
What seems more important to ask is that there is apparently a contradiction or paradox in Jewish law:
On the one hand, the Sages enact decrees and make safeguards and fences around the Torah, which is a sign that they are concerned that a person may fail; but on the other hand, a Jew has a presumption of kashrut, does he not?! And there is also the consideration called, "Are we dealing with wicked people?"
So why did the Sages really make so many safeguards and fences? Did they not believe in people? Why prohibit poultry with milk lest one come to meat with milk (assuming that is the reason for the decree)? After all, one could say no! Meat with milk is forbidden, and a person will not come to transgress even if poultry with milk remains permitted.
Answer
Not only is there no way to measure it, and not only is it unimportant—the question is also not well defined. Every person has tendencies both toward doing bad and toward doing good, in different proportions, and each person is built differently. Try defining from what point he is bad and from what point he is good.
The presumption of kashrut means that a person does not sin deliberately. The distancing measures are meant to prevent inadvertent sin. Beyond that, sometimes presumptions also need a bit of help.
A person is neither good nor bad. A person is a lacking creature who spends his whole life seeking to fill his deficiencies (physical, emotional, and value-based), and the question is whether he will fulfill that desire in accordance with his values—because then we would say he is good—or whether he will prefer his desire over his values, in which case he is bad. As the Sages said, "The wicked are under the control of their heart, while the righteous have their heart under their control."