We are all involved. All of it an experiment. I personally love the arts that permeate all cultures and communities. The starvation, pain, and death caused by greed is something I speak out against. If we are alive, we'll always have to understand and live with both.

Things are pretty bad, but they could also be a whole lot worse. This makes me believe there is no God, or that he's incompetent / uncaring. If there was an patently evil God I would expect things to be even worse than they are.

Certain smaller religious sects have the dualistic belief that there are two Gods, one good, one evil, and that the latter created the material world and the road to salvation is to escape this and form a union with the transcendent, good God.

I look at this world from the viewpoint of wisdom; I see all the death, predation, pain, disease, filth, untold amounts of completely pointless suffering and so on. — tus

What you call wisdom doesn't seem wise to me. There are those of us who see the world as beautiful and wonderful. We see our selves as living in a place, not that was made for us, but for which we were made - whether you believe in creation by God or evolution.

It is a foundation of my understanding of philosophy that what people believe is at least as much influenced by their attitude about the world as it is by their intellect.

Things weren't created bad nor evil, but rather became bad and evil.

The instrumental nature of existence is an evil. You are here to survive and achieve goals. This in itself is no bueno. The endless cycle of repetitious goal seeking. If we didn’t have goals we would just have experience. Experience is evil in its need to be groomed with romantic notions or logical notions of x, y, or z. It is evil en toto. You may make an appeal to goals/achievement/experience via romantic or logical notions but you would be strengthening my point. And we certainly are not “just being” in neutral land of indifference. You are forced to do this or that and make a decision.

. I do not believe that all this is the product of blind evolution and random chance — tus

And yet to me it's hard to believe it could be explained any other way.

I see all the death, predation, pain, disease, filth, untold amounts of completely pointless suffering and so on.

death comes from life. Without death, there likely wouldn't be life, and life is considered a good, so we find a balance. Without life, there is no good or bad, as there is no perception to define good or bad.

Predation is competition. Life needs resources, and successful life responds with more life, which needs even more resources. At some point, the life will face limited resources, and those who obtain resources will continue, and those who don't will cease. Predation is the shift from the competition of resources to turning the competition into resources; is a naturally easier path to resources in an saturated world.

Pain is feedback; negative feedback. Negative feedback is very useful; look at those humans that are born without pain. It's a miserable life for them. If it didn't hurt, it wouldn't exactly be negative. Pain is fascinating when you consider that we evolved it as an ability to make us stronger and more competitive. It sucks, but you know what sucks more? Not realizing or caring that you picked up a red-hot stone out of a campfire.

Disease sucks, but its tied to competition. We are not free from competitors. It's a constant battle.

Filth. What ?

Pointless suffering? There isn't really much of an evolutionary reason to prevent suffering is there I suppose. Perhaps we should torture every child on the planet, and allow only those who seem to suffer less to have children. In a few hundred generations, perhaps people will have been bred to suffer less. We aren't perfect systems, but your suffering isn't really something that matters to the overall picture, hence why it continues on.

I look at this world from the viewpoint of wisdom; I see all the death, predation, pain, disease, filth, untold amounts of completely pointless suffering and so on — tus

That's because you're NOT looking at it 'from the viewpoint of wisdom'. It is the very thing you're lacking.

The Great Programmer created Mario, the princess, and Bowser, and Bowser is evil, while the princess is good. We are Mario, and should try to defeat Bowser. But it is not possible for Mario to judge the morality of the programmer.

I'd say it's probably as likely as it is that "all this" was created by something good.

I'd say it's most likely that someone set the initial variables, and then let the program run.

In the New Testament, Satan is said to be the god, ruler, and prince of this world, and I am wont to agree, if not literally at present, then certainly metaphorically.

I have often heard it repeated that the problem of the existence of evil is explained in the following way.
God is good, but were the entire universe to be thoroughly good the goodness would go unnoticed. Some evil is put into the world as this gives the good something to occupy them. They can do more good by good works; when pain is alleviated the goodness of the world is revealed to them. People can be happy for a time and appreciate that happiness in the face of evil.

However.....
Why not turn that on its head?

God is evil, but were the entire universe to be thoroughly evil the suffering would be diminished in the absence of a contrast. Some goodness is put into the world as this gives hope that there might be something more than just suffering to occupy them. People may strive for good times, only to have that goodness damned, all hope abandoned. In the end all their efforts are for nought as all shall perish and suffer death. People can be happy for a time and appreciate that happiness in the face of evil which is dominant.

You posted your little screed 13 days ago and haven't responded to anyone, so apparently you shot your wad and that was that.

I think if there is a god it is nature, and if so, then it is completely indifferent to our psychological valuations of good and evil.

[Delete] @Baden

I look at this world from the viewpoint of wisdom; I see all the death, predation, pain, disease, filth, untold amounts of completely pointless suffering and so on. I do not believe that all this is the product of blind evolution and random chance, and I certainly do not believe that it is the product of a good, benevolent god. — tus

It's the creation of our experimenting and minds, and as with all experiments some of it goes well and others not so well and we learn from it all, though not all learn in the same manner. Creativity does not guarantee bliss. It only guarantees something new.