8.0.4.1 Is Human Nature Good Enough?

Version 1.1 August 2014                               (Previous Version)

Humans are cooperative as well as competitive.  Though it is unrealistic to expect our core human nature to change, we expect beneficial changes in circumstances to promote well-being.

·       As we explain in Part 2 (Science), our core human nature is determined by our genetics. 

o   Some people deny our core human nature, preferring to believe that our minds at birth are like a blank slate on which we can draw anything, almost infinitely malleable, capable acquiring almost any range of feeling and emotions.  But they are wrong.

o   In fact, unless we have some genetic defect, we are born with innate abilities, to walk and talk, for instance, that are shaped to some extent by our environment.  The specific language(s) we actually learn depend on the family and community into which we are born, but our ability to learn language is innate.

o   Genetic changes come too slowly for us to expect or hope to transform human nature.  (In the future, perhaps genetic engineering can speed change, but that is potentially as dangerous as it is exciting.)

o   To the extent they rely on transformations of our core human nature, millenarian utopias – whether Marxist, New Ageist or Environmentalist – are doomed to failure.

·       Most people are born with an innate sense of compassion and justice. 

o   Children left to their own devices play fair, with people of all races and creeds.

o   Bigotry has to be learned: we teach it in homes, schools, communities and the media.

o   When we are in fear of our lives and desperate need of life’s basic necessities, we naturally are more prone to be selfish, competitive and aggressive.

·       Our human nature is also formed by our environment: our family and community. 

o   Worldwide there is a trend to greater prosperity and a rising middle class, leading to better nutrition, health and education outcomes for more people.

o   There is also a long term trend towards greater democracy and rule of law, which enables us to feel more secure, less focused on self-preservation and less violent.

o   These trends promote the development of more compassionate and just societies.

·       As we explain in Part 3 (History), the expression of our human nature within our genetic constraints is determined by our physical and social environments – that change over time.

o   Regional differences in the spread of science, technology and management are being reduced by improved communications and transport, such as the internet and planes.

o   If the benefits are spread reasonably fairly, in societies that value truth, diversity and equality, such as liberal democracies, then people will be less driven by basic needs.