What makes people act in good or evil ways?

These are the first two paragraphs (so far) of my paper for a "Social Psychology of Good and Evil" course. I may upload the whole thing when it's done (as it is due tomorrow), but for now I figured I'd see what people think of the intro.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke

It is easy to see the world as all-good or all-evil. From cognitive psychology, studies in schematic thinking and heuristics tell us that making easy, definable categories which are performable in automatic ways will simplify a person’s life. While defining each can be a mess of logic, consensus, and parsimony, we all have within us some very real sense of certain acts being good or evil. In studies of morality, questions abound as to the nature of what “good” people are and what makes them different from “bad” people, if differences exist. In what often seems the bleakness of the world, its obsidian shroud of relativism and selfish desire, there can be some who uphold a strict moral code and believe in the pervasiveness of good over destructive behaviour and intent. To reach such a state of virtuous action, these “moral exemplars” have developed to act morally out of an “uniting of self and morality” (Colby & Damon, 1992, p. 310). Not only can these people be admired for their moral state, but their example allows an in-depth look into what bridges the divides between evil, neutral, and good.

In this paper, it will be argued that good and evil actions have their roots in how integrated one’s sense of self is with one’s sense of humanity, morality, and purpose. By “good”, I mean to say constructively adding to humanity through beneficial acts to individuals or groups, whereas “evil” will be defined as avoidable harm committed against others or the unwillingness to help avoid or alleviate harm if such is possible and will not result in further harm done. Alternatively, another appropriate definition is provided by “Irving Sarnoff: ‘Evil is knowing better but doing worse’” (Zimbardo, 2004, p. 22). Since they are not mutually exclusive, both definitions for evil will be utilized. Since “humanity” can be defined in different ways, here it refers to all human “in-groups” being conceptualized as unified, and a respect for humanity denoting some degree of reverence for “the value of human beings and of human life, their worth” (Colby & Damon, p. 317).

Hopefully no plagiarism will be taken from the above, but I'm sure if you want the reference the date and author will give you enough, and if not I can definitely mention it later.

On Solo Film-Viewing

I'm not a loner.
At least, I make the most sincere effort not to be; however, I have to give a recommendation to anyone who enjoys movies: try watching them alone. What? "Movies are supposed to be a social event, something you do with friends". Sure, you can use movies as social events, but I'd like to make the point that this is probably the worst thing you can do when you want to hang out with people: sit in a large, dark room while following a story on the screen (if that's the kind of movie you're at, that is). Not only does each person in a group have a different perspective on the film, each person afterwards feels obligated to validate the choice of movie-going by saying how they liked or disliked it, with whatever opinion comes first typically being the eventual consensus because, after all, you're not there to enjoy a movie, you're there to enjoy each other's company.
Those who know me, know that I frequently go to movies alone. This, of course, is not to insult anyone or to establish that I am in fact an individual (I have enough evidence of that already). The reason for solo movie-going is to gauge the movie's merits myself, independent of any other opinions of those people I may have some obligation to agree with on some level. Recently, I saw "Stranger Than Fiction" (which I recommend on the basis of having very interesting perspectives on the value of one's life, death, and just basic morality itself), and I know that if I had seen it with anyone I know, I would definitely not have enjoyed it nearly as much. I will admit a primary reason for this is that I care what others think of me, because it's usually me who chooses the movie, thus the evaluation of the movie is also an evaluation of me as a movie-chooser.
"What about sharing the experience with others?" Rent. You can fast forward, rewind, pause, whatever the situation requires. In fact, if you rent, I believe you'll enjoy the movie more because you will see it in a comfortable environment, and you can actually see the people around you. Awkwardness doesn't go away for me, unfortunately, but at least people have the option of talking without ruining the experience of unknown persons, and in fact more opportunity is given to "constructively review" the movie as you're watching (often in the form of jovial commentary, of course).
All in all, don't take my word for it, as I'm not always the exemplar for normal. Try it with some movie that you think you would enjoy, but are unsure if anyone else would have as good a time as you would. For anyone who thinks that I'm just taking too much time to speak on a completely irrelevant issue, a) you're the one who's read this, and b) really, there are more irrelevant things in the world.
Oh yeah, anyone wanna go to a movie?

Saved by a paper

Ever had one of those moments where you feel like doing something, but in your heart you know it's not exactly you who wants to do it?
I've had a few moments like that recently. No idea if it was God speaking to me or through me, as I know He does happen to do once in awhile (oft times to both my surprise and bewilderment, and not always reinforcing my ways of life).
One seeming God-moment was when I was feeling completely drained last night after being with what felt like a hundred people (but in fact was only a few I had not seen in awhile). It wasn't a feeling I usually have, like a filled-in-hollow-burned-out kinda thing. So, I ended up wanting to do what anyone would in such a situation: go jogging. Fortunately for what I am sure would have been both my physical and mental well-being, someone asked me to read over their paper, which I am always excited to do as it combines my passions for helping people, being critical, and improving my writing skills. So after a jog over to their place, I read through and gave my suggestions for the paper, which was really more flow-deficient in a few places than all-out horrible. And after that, we somehow got onto the topic of friends and deep conversations, both of which I struggle to attract. Yet as I sat there listening (a pasttime I've come to appreciate more and more), I realized that not only am I struggling to find what Larry Crab would describe as "spiritual community", but that others seem to want more from their fellow Christians than talk about the radio or how a job is going. I have no idea if this person had the need to talk about it in depth, but I definitely had the need to listen to what was said.
I have the feeling that there are times when God needs us to not only listen to him, but listen to others as well. While there is no doubt in my mind that last night was a blessing in what was before then a rather spiritually unfulfilling day (and considering I went to church, it probably should not have been), I do wish that I had some idea of how to create a deeper community among those people I'm close to. Given my propensity for analyzing the logic of relationships (whether friends or otherwise; see "odd but valid question" post earlier), it seems like I have a long way to go before that happens, but seeing as nothing is impossible for God, I guess I just need to leave myself open to more of these "God-moments" and see what happens.