NEW ESSAY: The Myth of "Bad People"

This is the latest essay I published in my project Me, Looking for Meaning.

It can be unsettling to question the familiar division between “good” and “bad” people. This essay explores why that binary feels so natural—and how it limits our understanding of ourselves and others. I examine how psychological habits shape our sense of right and wrong, and why moving beyond moral certainty can create space for humility, compassion, and connection.​

Here’s an excerpt:

Most of us move through life with a certainty that the world is divided into good and bad people. We may not say it out loud, but the assumption shapes how we interpret our own and others’ actions—in relationships, in everyday life, in politics, in history. We want to be good, of course, and we want to be surrounded by good people—those who are kind, trustworthy, and safe. When something goes wrong, whether in our personal lives or in society, we instinctively look for someone to blame: the bad friend, the bad parent, the bad politician—the bad actor in the story. It feels natural to imagine that if we could only keep those people away, the world would be fixed.

This way of thinking runs deep. It is woven into the stories that have guided human imagination for millennia. From myths and fairy tales to novels, movies, and news headlines, narratives very often feature heroes and villains, victims and perpetrators, saviors and destroyers. The appeal is obvious. A world divided into good and bad is easy to understand. It offers emotional clarity: someone is right, someone is wrong, and the conflict between them gives meaning to our experiences.

Yet even as this moral logic feels familiar, something about it obscures more than it reveals. Life rarely unfolds as neatly as our stories suggest. People who hurt us can also love deeply; those who do harm can still believe they are protecting what matters most. And while we are quick to spot the “bad people” in the world, we almost never see ourselves among them.

The idea that some people are simply bad may bring comfort, but it also limits our understanding. It prevents us from seeing how easily any of us could cause harm, given the right mix of fear, conviction, or circumstance. Still, it is difficult to question this assumption—because it is one of the oldest and most reassuring stories humanity has ever told about itself.

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