The Importance Of Human Nature

What is human nature? Human Nature is characteristics or feelings shared by all humans. In “The Midas Touch” Midas is an example of human nature being greedy. Also, in the text “Are We Naturally Good or Bad?” shows that humans are naturally good based on an experiment. Lastly, in the video “The Myth of Human Nature” humans have certain needs that should be met. In all of these texts there are amazing examples of human nature and how humans would act in situations related to the topic.

In Genesis the word of God leads humanity in the direction of self preservation, urging them to procreate, to ”Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 9:1), and to minimize hostility and violence among people. As Freud asserted, “Besides the instinct to preserve living substance and join it into ever larger units, there must exist another, contrary instinct seeking to dissolve those units and bring them back to their primeval, inorganic state” (Freud 77). Genesis exemplifies the struggle between the two opposing human instincts, with God acting as a moderator between them. Forms of justice are put into place in an attempt to control these drives, one example being the proclamation that “Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed” (Genesis 9:6). The ethics and laws that develop throughout Genesis seek to “prevent the crudest excesses of brutal violence” but are unable to control “the more cautious and refined manifestations of human aggressiveness” (Freud 70). Since they cannot be completely eradicated, the scriptures instead play into the more negative aspects of human nature, especially narcissism, and manipulate them into a force for conservation rather than annihilation.

Human beings are part of the animal kingdom, and therefore part of nature. If that is true, then everything they create or destroy is by default "natural". I agree with the statement.

Human nature by essence has been the cause of many entrepreneurial paths, all follow to known the essence itself behind of what we conceive as life. Moreover it’s righteous description and abstract content, that many great man has humbly studied and that for centuries have made a path closely enough to the understanding of it, yet far from the light, it seems to be and unsolvable question that gives us a “Raison d'être” to our existence in this world.

Throughout today’s society there are several different cultural perspectives which form theoretical and practical understandings of natural environments, creating various human-nature relationship types. In this essay, I will describe and evaluate different ways of knowing nature and the impact of these views on human-nature relationships. From this, I will then explore my own human-nature relationship and reflect on how my personal experiences, beliefs and values has led me to this view, whilst highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each and reflecting upon Martin’s (1996) continuum.

Throughout the course of the class, we have explored genocides from the perspective of perpetuators and studied the effects that their decisions had on their victims. Although all of these genocides may have different leaders and different causes, these genocides are all similar because they have manipulated people’s psyche, in order to accomplish their goal. Psychology, the study of how people act and the reasons behind them, states that the decisions that people make are influenced by the decisions that the people around make and by rewards that they receive from a certain decision.

Many researchers have tested the theory that humans are naturally war-loving. A fair viewpoint, from the article “Evolutionary Life”, is that “human nature is not one thing, neither 'good' nor 'bad' overall. People in general have been genetically endowed by evolution with a wide variety of tendencies and capacities that respond to -- but are not necessarily controlled or determined by -- their environment" (Atlee). With this, it’s fair to draw a line between how humans were “made” to act and how they act today. In the earliest stages of human life through the present, humans have fought, hunted, and killed their way through life. Today’s difference to the past is not much different besides the means we use to go about the deeds. Businessmen, politicians, and numerous other professions utilize harmful tactics in order to get what they desire. For example, a politician exposes the underlying “evils” of another candidate in order to gain votes, much like how the infamous Salem Witch Trials were pursued in the late seventeenth century when others cried witch in order to avoid being tortured and killed themselves. While one may argue that cavemen were, in some aspects, biologically different than we are today and that they were not exposed to as much as we are, one cannot argue that we are not still instinctively caveman-like. We hunt and gather food; we create new and improved ways of killing enemies or food source; and when we don’t like how or what someone else is

As human beings, we have all experienced the notion of being plagued by a single, paralyzing, and perhaps irrational fear. Often seen as a point of weakness and fragility, fear is an integral part of human nature and for the most part, cannot be destroyed, but merely conquered. Touching Bottom follows the female protagonist in her endeavors through her life in relation to her fear. A major variable in her life is swimming and being around water, as the story kicks off with her struggles in learning to swim. She undergoes a traumatizing experience with a leech at summer camp, leaving her paralyzed with a fear of murky water, and leeches specifically, a fear she carries on with her throughout her life. Forward to the protagonist as a married

Humanity by nature resembles their Creator God. They have superior intelligence and abilities to understand and be able to fulfill God’s plans and purposes for their lives and for prospering His creation through them. Significantly, God’s love is in the hearts of the people that they have the ability to love God and their neighbors. However, when sin entered the human heart, disobeying God’s will, they became a slave of evil. God filled with grace and compassion, responded to the problem of humanity by calling for Himself Godly people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David… to reach the hearts of the people by spreading His message of salvation and by leading them back to God’s Lordship. Unfortunately, since human hearts and mind have been weakened by sin, unable to control or favoring the desires of their flesh more than obeying God; Thus, God hated them because of their sins. However, God loves His creation unconditionally and He is unwilling that any of His people perish, but come to repentance; Therefore, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world not only to fulfill all righteousness, He likewise educated the people, lacking true spiritual understanding, concerning God and His Kingdom, righteousness through obedience and the work of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives. Finally, Jesus showed to the world His love for God by obeying His word unconditionally to the point of death and love for humanity by dying for them on the cross to redeem them from death caused by sin, to be restored to God and to live with God

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a classic dark novel about the scientist Victor Frankenstein who defies the laws of nature, creating a horrifying aberration. This monster later went on to committing horrific deeds and became a destructive force that destroyed the life of his creator. However he was not innately destructive, but is rather an example of the destruction and pain caused by the tendencies of human nature portrayed in Frankenstein. Curiosity, the impetus of Frankenstein’s works, secrecy, the driving force in Victor’s horrible decisions, selfishness, the fear of taking responsibility for his actions, and lastly

To conclude, the process of basing a state around human nature arguably falls into two camps. Either building to enhance mankind and allow him to prosper or to prevent mankind from his own nature. when using a positive definition of society, the system that usually is constructed can be seen to have developed into a more secular liberal society. A key development can be seen to be societies in the west constructed post enlightenment. The separation of church and state can be seen to be the cornerstone of secular society. The reduction of the power of the church has led man to look for moral justification for his actions outside the realms of religion. Darwin’s on the Origins of Species can be seen to be the most destructive text to the power

Jane Addams once said, “The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” The same can be said for humanity. Evidence from history supports the concept that inhumane actions are contagious, and for this reason compassion and humanity can not be practiced in parts. Practicing humanity and compassion selectively or in parts creates an inhumane world. Humans must learn to be kind and take care of each other before much else beneficial can be accomplished. Universal humanity insures that all human beings do not have to worry about becoming victim to inhumane actions and violence. Imagine, women, children, and men victims of inhumanity and violence. In order for humanity and compassion to be of any true importance, humanity and compassion must be universal.

In Young Goodman Brown and Other Short Stories, Nathaniel Hawthorne develops his characters based on the belief that all humans were evil beings. From this, his view of human nature is revealed: all humans are immoral because of their sins. Though he created these personas through this idea, he also leaves them with a bit of humanity. In a way, Hawthorne presents many of his characters with the same traits said by an English novelist and author, Graham Greene: “Goodness has only found a perfect incarnation in a human body and never will again, but evil can always find a home there. Human nature is not black and white but black and gray.” Human will only show temporary acts of kindness because of a person’s natural tendency to sin. As a result of these actions, no one can achieve the title of being “white,” or truly pure and innocent. Overall, from the perspective of both authors, human nature is often viewed as “black,” or evil and “gray,” or a combination of good and evil.

Throughout the development of philosophy and human examination as a species, one problem has always seemed to be at the root of all the questioning. Philosophies exist that justify even the most extreme of governmental styles and world attitudes, from draconian governments which attempt to keep order at all costs, to carefree ruling styles which seem to suggest we should just let people self-govern. Many of these different justifications take their root in differing conceptions of our human nature. Put simply, this entire debate reduces to the single question of whether we as humans are intrinsically good, bad, or somewhere in the gray area in the middle. One side of the debate is epitomized by a line from the song “Demons”: “No matter what we breed, we still are made of greed”(Imagine Dragons). Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, the novel A Separate Peace, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s works in a Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men and The Social Contract illustrate the gamut of views on the matter of mankind’s inherent nature.

Human nature is generally defined as the general psychological characteristics and behavioral traits that all humans share (Dictionary). This would imply that all humans are born with certain feelings, thoughts or actions that we all have in common. However, this does not take into account the most important part of determining persons characteristics and behaviors, their childhood. Babies are born being neutral and they develop and grow into the person that they will become as an adult. Humans are not born morally good or evil, it is determined by society and its influence on them.