Naturally Mystified

Human nature is self interest.

This answer to the age old question, "Are people inherently good or inherently evil?" seems to have become the social "right answer" so that we can stop worrying about the question. One of my teachers had this statement posted on above his door as though it was an overarching fact of life. But I believe otherwise. I think that this phrase, while somewhat intelligent in its creation and absolutely an arguable position on the topic, has become a cop out for people who are unwilling to actually deal with the question at hand.

If our nature is self-interest then why to we have such guilt when we act greedy and such irritation when others act selfishly? No creature under heaven feels guilt about their nature, about what they were created to be and do. The bird doesn't feel guilty to eat the worm, to crow in the morning, to pull nature apart to make her nest, to push her young from the nest. The gazelle feel pride to jump and run, to have sex and raise her young, to live in the herd but also to run faster than the other gazelle when the lion comes hunting. The wolf works with his pack to make a kill, he fights for the she-wolf he desires, he protects her and stays with her. He is loyal and smart, brilliant even, and he feels no guilt over any of these things. If it is our nature to be self interested, then we should have no issue acting selfishly.

But we are not. We struggle with doing what is right. But this does not mean that we are inherently good. We are interested in ourselves and sometimes we do feel anger and resentment for those who have more than we do. As children we think nothing of the world, only of the instinctual feelings for self preservation. This is by design, all creatures act this way and it has nothing to do with the inherent nature of what that creature will become. We must all start with nothing so that we can become something. It may be cheesy to quote a movie, but in this case it is true: "you cannot fill a cup that is already full" (Avatar, in case you missed it, its a great movie).

So we begin with nothing and the first thing we must learn is how to preform the tasks like eating, drinking, pooping, sleeping, and the like to continue living. This also teaches us something that many people forget as we grow up: we are unable to do it alone. Sometimes, we have to cry out for help from others and from our God so that we can continue to live.

But this part of our existence is not the key to our nature our purpose. It is only the beginning. The rest becomes a struggle with the very question of what we are made to be and do. In essence, I believe that the question is also the answer. We are the only creatures in the universe that we know of that are gifted (and burdened) with the ability to ask this question. We were created, our nature is, to deal with this question and to act as we feel is appropriate as humans. The human spirit is one that questions, which is different than any other creature, and it is a beautiful thing that we sometimes try to cover with answers and excessively broad statements. We struggle with ideas to create our morals, we struggle with decisions to create our lives, we struggle for life and happiness and for everything else we come into contact with.

Human nature is struggle. Those who abandon the struggle, abandon the life and thus will never be able to grow and become what they were made to be.

For the ones in the human experience,
Dancing With Fire