( CNN ) -- Three dead bodies , 20 to 30 missing limbs , and more than 180 injured can force us to revisit that age-old question : What is the state of man 's nature ? Is he inherently good or evil ? The Boston Marathon bombings have presented us with the dilemma of Locke versus Hobbes again . Pictures like this tempt us to adopt Hobbes ' pessimistic view of man . But it 's wrong . Events such as this , or rather men responsible for events such as this , do n't define us . Actor Patton Oswalt , in a Facebook post that I 'm sure has virally made it to your screen , put it perfectly : . `` If it 's one person or a HUNDRED people , that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet . '' And : `` The vast majority stands against that darkness and , like white blood cells attacking a virus , they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and , more importantly , the damage they wreak . This is beyond religion or creed or nation . We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil . We 'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago . '' And more : `` So when you spot violence , or bigotry , or intolerance , or fear , or just garden-variety misogyny , hatred or ignorance , just look it in the eye and think , 'The good outnumber you , and we always will . ' `` Exactly . At least , that 's what I think . What about you ? Which is it ? Is man inherently good or evil ? It 's an admittedly oversimplified question . But how you answer it dictates what you do next . Carlos Arredondo , Jeff Bauman define us . Carlos Arredondo is being hailed as a cowboy-hatted hero . He is . With the bomb blasts still ringing in his ears , Arredondo dove into the carnage and began to help victims . He is extraordinary . I think he says more about us than whoever dropped a pressure cooker at the marathon on Monday . It 's Jeff Bauman , though , whom I keep thinking about . Bauman is the man who was standing on Boylston Street watching his girlfriend run the Boston Marathon . Bauman is the man who in one moment was standing with youthful invincibility and two legs . And in the next moment , he was lying without legs . He 's the man Arredondo stayed with until he was in an ambulance . There 's something about these two men , this moment that defines us . Yes , it 's Arredondo 's heroism . But it 's also Bauman 's gaze . He 's literally three-quarters the person he was minutes before . And yet he almost calmly looks forward . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Will Cain .
Will Cain : The Boston Marathon bombings make us wonder about the nature of man . He says such events , or rather those responsible , do n't define us .