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Loading...What Is Human Nature?
- Sarah Cooke
- July 6, 2012
- 6:00 am
- 25 comments
I had a fascinating conversation recently about human nature. I tend to view people as essentially good, while others would say that humans are naturally self-interested and express compassion and respect for others only because it is socially necessary. My fiancé believes that humans are neutral by nature: that we have the potential to do good and bad things, and it is what we make of ourselves that is important.
I see his point. To believe that humans are either good or bad by nature suggests some sort of intelligent design, which I do not believe in. And I see his point, that trumping up human nature romanticizes our existence, in a sense. When it comes down to it, we simply are what we are. His argument makes sense to me.
However, I believe there is more to it than that. Perhaps we are neutral by nature. But, while I don’t believe in intelligent design, I do consider myself a spiritual person. To me, spirituality is any experience that connects us to one another and to the planet on which we live. Enjoying the company of family and friends and experiencing the beauty of nature make us feel good on a fundamental level.
Therefore, while we may be neutral by nature, it is positive experiences that make us feel happy and alive. Most of us are inclined to engage in such activities, rather than destructive ones. However, if we experience some sort of emotional trauma, we can turn away from those inclinations and become serial killers or tobacco executives. So essentially, what I believe about human nature is this: we are born neutral but with inclinations toward enjoying positive experiences – our ability to follow those inclinations is determined by any emotional trauma we experience, as well as the decisions we make on our life path.
Related:
Happiness Takes Courage
6 Signs of Spiritual Transformations
Learned Self-Reliance: The Negative Effects of Spoiling Children
Read more: Life, Spirit, evil, good, human nature
Sarah Cooke
Sarah Cooke is a writer living in California. She is interested in organic food and green living. Sarah holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Naropa University, an M.A. in Humanities from NYU, and a B.A. in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University. She has written for a number of publications, and she studied Pastry Arts at the Institute for Culinary Education. Her interests include running, yoga, baking, and poetry. Read more on her blog.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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people are talking
Great fruit.
Sounds Great!!
I have made most of my friends from the workplace because I worked in the same place for over twenty…
mmmmmmmmm. A shower with all of the right scents brought into play. Oh yeah.
for an adult touch, maybe add a bit of raspberry vodka?
25 comments
+ add your ownThank you :-)
Thanks.
I work in a department store as a cashier and I see the different sides of human nature. Most people are polite and pleasant. Some are not so friendly and not concerned with social niceties.
Then there are the few who are downright rude and unreasonable. How everyone gets to be the way they are, I'm not so sure. The age old question is why do people want to hurt each other? Why can't we just get along?
hmmm
I think people are inclined to be good but with emotional trauma we can turn away from those inclinations and become Republicans.
I love how tobacco executives are indeed paired with serial killers...best laugh I had all night.. Thanks!
I agree.
thank you
I think that co-operation as a servival strategy is the reason people do 'good', and we've also come to realize that it 'feels good' to do good.
Destruction of self and others would indicate a mal-functioning gene that became so fragmented there are no dots to connect any more.
Humans have both a nature that leads them to try to ensure their own survival and success, and a drive to work together, since that has proven an effective strategy, historically, to achieve survival and success. Good and bad (I don't happen to believe in evil, myself) are subjective based on how you perceive another's actions in relation to your own survival and success (or that of your group). Morality is based on the size of the group with which you identify (yourself, a small group, a culture, a nation, humanity, animals, all of life, the planet, the galaxy, the universe, etc). One could make arguments about the morality of this tribalism, but it's definitely a behavior humans exhibit. That's my perspective, anyhow.
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