Human Nature

I often wonder if our human nature is really as flawed as people make it sound? If you read the paper or watch the news there is so much going on around us to make us question it, it would be hard to think of it as anything but flawed. But then there are glimmers of hope in which it is obvious people out there are not inherently evil, but can have compassion for others without an alternate motive in mind.

I am not saying that I believe people are perfect, I know we are human and can only do so much, but for the most part I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, until given a reason otherwise. Right now, I think I am facing that reason in a situation and I'm not entirely sure I want to believe it.

I am not always a very trusting person, however I have pretty good instincts and can usually gauge how much trust to give. There are time the sirens go off and the lights flash and I choose to ignore them because I want to believe this person is good - unfortunately I typically end up with the result I originally thought would happen.

I recently rediscovered an old 'friend' via the Internet and we began chatting. We shared a few conversations but they were limited to what information they could see via our social medium. I think this lack of information prompted a 'friend' request. They were able to then see photos and all other 'personal' content I keep hidden from the public view. Within 3 days I noticed I no longer had them as a friend, however they had copied a photo from my site and uploaded it to their own.

I am not entirely sure what to think of this. I want to think this was an 'accident' and not intentional however my instincts are screaming otherwise. What I don't understand is why? Why would they do this? Why take a photo of something they clearly have no desire for? Why say the things and act as if they care if they really do not?

I am not perfect, I do remember a conversation a little bit ago where someone said something very similar to me and all I could try to explain was that they were mistaken - it wasn't any of that at all. Perhaps this is my karma or perhaps this is nothing more than what it seems. The sad thing is that I see quite often how deceitful a persons nature can be when hidden behind a computer. It's almost as if this is their shield and it's not wrong because they aren't really doing it. Perhaps it gives them the illusion of not being accountable because they never have to leave the comfort of their own home.

I don't know, but maybe I should pay more attention to my instincts in the future.

Have you encountered a fake persona on the Internet by someone you thought you knew?