A Discussion On human Nature

It’s self-evident that when you pay enough attention to individuals from all over the globe there are striking similarities, from a ‘first principles’ level of analysis. Human beings have coded into them naturally. It seems as though this nature (man) is revealed to himself through the state of the current society and for some this may not be particularly comforting, but it appears developing a harmonious relationship between individual and society takes some grounding in facts of biology. It’s difficult to swallow the word equality inside a discussion on human nature since the word has its roots in creationism (Christianity) and implies deep-seeded cooperation, whereas objectively people are born different through a blind process of evolution and it seems whoever had the most adaptability to the environment survived. Opposed to the Darwinian theory of evolution but still grounded in biology is the ‘gene-centered view’ of Richard Dawkins stating that the closeness of gene expression should in-fact express itself in cooperation. Building on the biological foundation, the nature of humans must include ‘the thinking man’ isn’t that what essentially makes us human? If we follow the infamous Greeks and say that our purpose is housed in our function, therefore, our reason and intellect have a strong case. “Cogito Ergo Sum” becomes the manifesto of the age of enlightenment and Descartes becomes the superhero of self-determination. There are two painfully obvious problems with reason, it can only produce schemas and models of the known and evolution requires interaction with the volatile potential of the unknown, not only that, social life is unbelievably complex to reason with giving rise to our faculties of instinct Behaviour that doesn’t require large amounts of cognitive contents that has extra-sensory characteristics.

From the “one-ness” philosophy of the east to the maximum pleasure-seeking utilitarianism how are we supposed to think and behave? I believe a starting point for this is our hemispheric brain, Form follows function, and the two sides although always work together target polar conceptions. The left wants to reason everything down to certainty and the right wants to maintain the integrity of the whole picture including the vast uncertainty and possibility. Our nature is a contradiction which is the one thing that TRULY separates us from animals, robots, and the inert.