There is no such thing as human nature and anyone claiming such a thing to support their arguments is full of shit.
The only thing all humans have to do is breathe, eat, drink, piss and shit. Literally everything else is optional and how you go about solving those requirements is entirely up to you.
Replace the word human with any other animal and you’ll drool when you read that back.
One of the wildest things about being human is that we’ve somehow convinced ourselves that we’re special and different from all the other animals. We can talk and plan so we’re different.
If we don’t have a nature to contend with, why have religions cropped up independently from one another all around the world over and over again? The nature we deal with might be a bit more complex than the nature of a meerkat, specifically because we can plan, but we definitely have a nature.
We kill for resources just like any other predator. If another group of humans is sitting on something we need, we kill to get it, just like lions that attack other prides and rip off the testicles of competing groups.
We’re just smart (and cruel) enough to bring back the defeated and give them a name and a job to do back at our den.
We can pass information down long after we’re dead and knowingly build on things that shaped our species long before we got here, but we still contend with our nature.
There are needs and material conditions that humans will react to, but using human nature as a reason to not change to a better organizational structure is a naturalistic fallacy, just like saying its human nature to eat meat would be in the face of a vegan. Just because something is traditional does not itself justify.
Oh no, I agree with you. I just think that acting like we don’t have a nature to contend with won’t help.
Part of the fact that we live beyond our own lives with knowledge we pass down means that we have a responsibility to grow as a species. I eat meat, but I don’t think that will be the norm forever because our nature is subject to growth and change. I respect vegans for jumping ship early. We will always have to contend with factions of people who want to walk us back though because of our nature. Or small handfuls of people who want to be kings.
Collectively, our nature could save us in the form of information hoarding. Of course it could also end us because we have a readily available supply of misinformation/disinformation. I believe that people pushing disinformation is part of our nature. Misleading other people for personal gain that is. I don’t have any desire to do it on a large scale, but I’d sell something that was broken if I was hungry. Some people do that when they aren’t hungry because planning is part of our nature.
Sorry if I’m in circles here or making no sense. I’m being chased around by two very needy toddlers. :p If I’ve failed to make a point here, I’m sorry. I have to give up now and hold this brat.
I don’t disagree with you though. I just feel like knowing what our nature is can be valuable for growth.
Just advice. Spend less time on here and enjoy your time with your toddlers. Take extended videos of their daily lives. You really only get about 7 to 8 innocent years with them until they spend less time with you. And it goes by so fast. I know it’s cliche, but it really is true.
Oh trust me, I know. My son just turned 26 on the 30th. The next one turned 21, the next one turned 19, the next one turned 15.
I ended up with a woman a lot younger than me and she wanted children so I started over.
It’s absurd, I’ll have 7 children when the next one is born. Two of my older kids are adopted (well one of them is, the other I just raised).
I fully intended to stop with my 15 year old, but I felt it would be unfair to enter into a relationship with a younger woman who wanted children of her own and say, “Sorry babe, I’m done.” Besides, I love raising them.
My son was a neighbor’s kid. He kept coming over and asking if he could play my video games. I told him no like 30 times (all the local kids knew I had an insane video game collection and talked about it with him). I let him in one day and he never left. He was 7 when he first came, he was 18-19 when he moved out. I always worried that he’d disappear on me when he grew up, but we talk almost every day.
After about 3-4 months with me, I finally told him I needed to meet his mother. She told me that when he came asking to play games, his father had thrown the kids out and they were sleeping on a little backroad that had recently closed to traffic. She asked me if I wanted to adopt him, I said yes. We never made it legal, but he was my kid from then on. We played WoW together every day. He was my whole world.
I wish I had the ability to record videos so easily then. I have some, but not many of my older kids. I got an iPad pretty early with my 15 year old and I have several videos, but not like I do with the little ones. Her mother passed from breast cancer and she’s been through hell. She’s a great kid. She really is. By the time cameras were in our pockets, my son was camera shy. I was too so I didn’t press the issue. I wish I had.
Thank you so much for caring enough about a stranger to make that comment.
There is no such thing as human nature and anyone claiming such a thing to support their arguments is full of shit.
The only thing all humans have to do is breathe, eat, drink, piss and shit. Literally everything else is optional and how you go about solving those requirements is entirely up to you.
Replace the word human with any other animal and you’ll drool when you read that back.
One of the wildest things about being human is that we’ve somehow convinced ourselves that we’re special and different from all the other animals. We can talk and plan so we’re different.
If we don’t have a nature to contend with, why have religions cropped up independently from one another all around the world over and over again? The nature we deal with might be a bit more complex than the nature of a meerkat, specifically because we can plan, but we definitely have a nature.
We kill for resources just like any other predator. If another group of humans is sitting on something we need, we kill to get it, just like lions that attack other prides and rip off the testicles of competing groups.
We’re just smart (and cruel) enough to bring back the defeated and give them a name and a job to do back at our den.
We can pass information down long after we’re dead and knowingly build on things that shaped our species long before we got here, but we still contend with our nature.
There are needs and material conditions that humans will react to, but using human nature as a reason to not change to a better organizational structure is a naturalistic fallacy, just like saying its human nature to eat meat would be in the face of a vegan. Just because something is traditional does not itself justify.
Oh no, I agree with you. I just think that acting like we don’t have a nature to contend with won’t help.
Part of the fact that we live beyond our own lives with knowledge we pass down means that we have a responsibility to grow as a species. I eat meat, but I don’t think that will be the norm forever because our nature is subject to growth and change. I respect vegans for jumping ship early. We will always have to contend with factions of people who want to walk us back though because of our nature. Or small handfuls of people who want to be kings.
Collectively, our nature could save us in the form of information hoarding. Of course it could also end us because we have a readily available supply of misinformation/disinformation. I believe that people pushing disinformation is part of our nature. Misleading other people for personal gain that is. I don’t have any desire to do it on a large scale, but I’d sell something that was broken if I was hungry. Some people do that when they aren’t hungry because planning is part of our nature.
Sorry if I’m in circles here or making no sense. I’m being chased around by two very needy toddlers. :p If I’ve failed to make a point here, I’m sorry. I have to give up now and hold this brat.
I don’t disagree with you though. I just feel like knowing what our nature is can be valuable for growth.
Just advice. Spend less time on here and enjoy your time with your toddlers. Take extended videos of their daily lives. You really only get about 7 to 8 innocent years with them until they spend less time with you. And it goes by so fast. I know it’s cliche, but it really is true.
Oh trust me, I know. My son just turned 26 on the 30th. The next one turned 21, the next one turned 19, the next one turned 15.
I ended up with a woman a lot younger than me and she wanted children so I started over.
It’s absurd, I’ll have 7 children when the next one is born. Two of my older kids are adopted (well one of them is, the other I just raised).
I fully intended to stop with my 15 year old, but I felt it would be unfair to enter into a relationship with a younger woman who wanted children of her own and say, “Sorry babe, I’m done.” Besides, I love raising them.
My son was a neighbor’s kid. He kept coming over and asking if he could play my video games. I told him no like 30 times (all the local kids knew I had an insane video game collection and talked about it with him). I let him in one day and he never left. He was 7 when he first came, he was 18-19 when he moved out. I always worried that he’d disappear on me when he grew up, but we talk almost every day.
After about 3-4 months with me, I finally told him I needed to meet his mother. She told me that when he came asking to play games, his father had thrown the kids out and they were sleeping on a little backroad that had recently closed to traffic. She asked me if I wanted to adopt him, I said yes. We never made it legal, but he was my kid from then on. We played WoW together every day. He was my whole world.
I wish I had the ability to record videos so easily then. I have some, but not many of my older kids. I got an iPad pretty early with my 15 year old and I have several videos, but not like I do with the little ones. Her mother passed from breast cancer and she’s been through hell. She’s a great kid. She really is. By the time cameras were in our pockets, my son was camera shy. I was too so I didn’t press the issue. I wish I had.
Thank you so much for caring enough about a stranger to make that comment.
I hope rest of your life is wonderful.