Human Nature

 

Humans have some innate flaws in the way they think and act that can be deemed counterproductive to the greater good of society. Some changes are suggested to be made in this human thinking in order to aid the prosperity of human society, otherwise, individualistic ideas may destroy society or the planet. I’m not saying that all of individualism is anti-societal, but some extreme portions of it are definitely that.

 

First and foremost, greed and materialism, as in the quest for material possessions, are unneeded. These two components work hand-in-hand. Materialism is the basing of happiness on the amount of possessions you have. You want to have the greatest amount of stuff, and you want it to be of the highest quality. Hence, middle-schoolers need new Air Jordans every couple months, no matter the price. See, greed is already incorporated into the equation. You always want more; always need better, new and improved stuff. Six Ferraris aren’t enough; I need one more, maybe in a color besides red, if they make them that way. Oh look, Gateway came out with a new PC, I guess I’ll go buy it and ditch the one I bought last month. Sure, this is exaggerated, but not to the extent that it is completely unbelievable. Just look at video game systems. I’m sure that there are people out there who own a NES, Sega Genesis, Super NES, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, Nintendo Game Cube, Sony PlayStation 1 and 2, and an Xbox. There are people out there who buy a new game system every time a new one comes out. Isn’t this an example of having to be on the cutting edge? Being on top of everything and having the latest and greatest technology is materialism. And from this dogma of “must have newest things” comes the greed for more. Not only do you want all new stuff, but also you have to have the most stuff. The quest for this stuff is the whole purpose of life. You can step on and push as many people as needed to achieve this goal. Money is the highest priority in life. Whether you have to lie, cheat, steal, or murder to get it is of no never mind. As long as you have money, you’re living the good life. This theory will spawn a whole series of essays, so I’ll let money rest at that. Murder, pilfering, and war are all the results of the quest for more possessions. Colonization, pushing the natives off their land, mercantilism, and imperialism all come from this materialism theory. Think of all the hardship and oppression caused by basing life on the accumulation of possessions. Hobbes was right, people like their stuff, and they have valid fears of people taking their stuff. So, let go. Your possessions do not define you. It does not matter how much crap you own. All that matters is who you are, whether or not you are a good person, whether or not you help society. Forget the need for possessions, start a revolution in human thinking, and start concerning yourself with what you can do to contribute to the prosperity of human society. It’s not just about you and your stuff.

 

Working along those lines, another aspect of human nature that should be eliminated, or at least curbed is the high amount of selfishness in daily human existence. It’s not all bad, if you believe Maslow; selfishness to an extent is necessary for survival. A person has to have some sense of self-preservation, or the other, more selfish people, will use and abuse them. You have to be selfish enough to ensure your own survival, but not too selfish to impose upon others. Making enough money to survive and support a family is right; swindling millions of investors to make enough money to buy a sixth house in Aspen is imposing. You cannot just think about yourself, there are other people out there. Be courteous, hold doors for people, and don’t drive like a complete asshole. This is a group effort, society needs everyone to contribute in order to succeed. Rudeness, boorishness, and complete selfishness are all counterproductive. They disrupt social harmony. I’m not saying we should live in this dream world where everyone is happy and giddy. All I ask is that people don’t cut me off on the highway, and then give me the bird. Is that too much to ask?

 

Part of human nature is to be lazy. Human history is defined by war and laziness. There is a definite good side to this laziness, though. Let’s look at some examples: It’s too hard to till this soil by hand, let’s use an animal and a wood plank. Voila, laziness creates the plow. It takes too long to write and file all these papers, let’s make a machine to store data for us. Presto, you have a computer. Laziness leads to inventiveness. But human laziness has gone a bit too far at this point in time. People have to have everything done for them. American lives are too busy, they say. People have no time to do anything; they are rushing around doing this and doing that. I’m sure there are some people out there who fit this stereotype, but I cannot believe it is a majority. Anyways, to help these “busy” people, people have produced things to save time, instant food being the frontrunner. Microwave food saves you time. The catch phrase for many commercials is: “Don’t have time to cook a meal, well now you don’t have to with …”. You have hot pockets, TV dinners, and all of their kind. There are a lot of them out there. I even saw pre-cooked, pre-seasoned taco meat once, all you had to do was heat it. Time saving, yes. Convenient, yes. Downright lazy, yes. Do you actually believe that the only people that use this stuff work 12 hours, including commute, a day? Do you think that only these people, who really have no alternative, are the only users? If you do, I think you are mistaken. There are people out there loving this stuff. They no longer have to go fast food for dinner, all they have to do is add water and bake for five minutes. Yes! We’ve managed to cook and home and save time. Time that will more than likely be used to watch television. Ah, TV, the centerpiece for American culture. The main producer of couch potatoes, TV is highly responsible for laziness. It’s too hard to imagine stuff on our own, let’s watch TV. It’s too hard to read the newspaper, let’s watch the evening news. I’m too fat and out of shape to play sports, but I can watch my team play on TV. Laziness has gone too far. Obesity is up in children, why? Television and video games come to mind for an answer. I knew a guy in high school; he was 250-300 pounds as a freshman. We asked him how he got that way, he said Nintendo. Too busy playing video games to go out and play baseball or soccer, sad. You can’t be lazy and sit around and watch a screen all day. You can’t be lazy and just cook in the microwave. Your personality will only be defined by your favorite shows; you will lose an important life skill. Fight the forces of the television, go out and exercise, go out and learn. Be yourself and assert yourself, don’t let the networks define you.

 

Which brings me to my next point, the need to conform. This is not completely generalized to all people, but most seem to want to be a part of a group. People want to be “cool” and roll with the “in crowd”. They follow fashions and trends; they conform to public pressures and guidelines. Look, everyone else is buying an SUV, let’s get one too or else we’ll look odd. Now, there has to be some sense of conformity, or else society will fall apart. If everyone works just for themselves, with no regard to others or to the damages caused by their actions, there will be no society. Conversely, too much of a focus on society breeds a civilization like that of ants, as a good friend pointed out to me. So, there has to be some balance between the two: personal fulfillment with societal benefits. The problem I have with current trends of conformity is that people do not think for themselves. They just blindly follow trends, they act like their friends, and they try to be like people in movies or on television. There is very little individual thinking. They just follow the dogma that is set out by the group and never question it, like they are robots. Being a cynic is the goal. You shouldn’t just take what unnamed sources and unconfirmed reports say as fact. <pauses so irony can sink in> Nor can you completely reject these statements without proof. You cannot even believe the news on TV, since it is given with a bias. Forget about going with the flow all the time. Think for yourself, be an individual, and don’t conform for the sake of being accepted. Don’t act or think in a way that is not your own; don’t let people tell you how to do so. Besides, being an outcast isn’t so bad.

 

Along with this conformity thing is the apparent resistance to change, the rejection of the unfamiliar. Yes, I said to be a cynic and think for on your own, but I do not mean to not hear other opinions. Taking in differing viewpoints is essential to analyzing situations and finding the truth. You cannot blindly believe what people are telling you; you must find proof to their statements, find validity in their opinions. Your way of thinking is not the only way, however. If someone has new ideas or more liberal plans, don’t reject them solely on the basis of it being new and different. Wait for the Yankee bastards to fall on their faces and then discredit them. Being a cynic requires that you do not trust new findings or believe in everything you are told. This is a natural reaction to the unfamiliar. But don’t take that reaction too far, as is natural, and not find the truth about the situation. Reject on the basis of fact, not the basis of “This is insane, it will never work”.

 

And thus end the preaching of the Jaridian dogma on how to be a more productive and individualistic human being while still contributing to society. Thanks for coming, I hope you dropped some money in the donation tray.