Human Nature In 2011   by Josh

in Society / Social Issues    (submitted 2012-02-04)

As 2011 draws to a close, it seems natural to look back on the year that was. At a time when boundaries become less relevant, when technology communication surpasses all borders, events take on a new global context and become relevant to our lives where ever we are. However, to provide a proper retrospective, simply regurgitating what took place won't do. The true gauge of what took place is surely how those events affected how we perceive who we are. At base are we evolving from those who once lived in caves or is human nature something so strong, so innate, that no amount of knowledge will fundamentally change the way we are? Human nature is an ephemeral concept. While views vary, there are some definitions of human nature that I think shed more light than others, and all seem to imply there are elements of good and bad, or even good and evil, within us all. I cannot help but feel inside that there must be more to being human than just the bad, the selfish, the cruel. With that in mind let's look back at a few key events of 2011…

Reported as nothing more than a storm in a tea cup, it was the whisper that grew to a roar and brought the greatest change to the Middle East for 60 years. Decades of totalitarian dictatorship fell. The people had had enough. Our fundamental human desire for freedom from oppression was unleashed and revolution was the result. While that yearning for freedom might be regarded as part of our nature, the paradox is that the part of our nature that needs to dominate others, to be the alpha male, was the victim. Human nature seems replete with this repeating hypocrisy of conflicting desires, both existing and non-existing simultaneously.

Europe continued to spiral into economic crisis. The few rotten apples threatened to spoil the barrel, and the situation remains dire. Is it part of human nature to be better, richer, faster than the rest? Or to help the weak, those in need, the less fortunate? Some commentators argue that what seems inexplicably complex is actually remarkably simple and understandable once you can make sense of human nature from its core.

Disasters were not limited to man-made events and Mother Nature did her best. Earthquakes in Japan, New Zealand and Turkey, and floods in Brazil, Pakistan and Thailand killed thousands and impacted us all, whether we even knew it. The electronics market felt it hard as production factories destroyed by the tsunami in Japan meant our favourite toys (necessities?) evaporated overnight. Ironically it was as if the loss of lives was less important to us than the delay in getting an iPad 2. In the face of this selfishness though, was immense compassion for the loss of our fellow humans. It seemed that the beautiful part of our human nature shone threw as assistance and donations of food, welfare and funds to help rebuild rushed to those in need.

There were triumphs at what we had achieved. After 30 years of operation, NASA called it a day for the Space Shuttle program and an extraordinary story of exploration. While NASA may have been exploring the stars, it's hard not to look deeper and see the metaphor for the need to explore human nature, and discover more about ourselves. We can put a man on the moon, but we still don't know who we are…

Two billion people watched the wedding of the century as England's Prince William married Kate. We allowed ourselves to fall in love all over again and share in the dream. Love must be part of human nature to have that many people watching. Again, the irony, the almost hypocrisy of the problem of not being able to understand who we are, lovers or haters? How can we be in the tenth year of the war on terror and yet all long for love?

Finally, I found the following quote from Major Richard "Dick" Winters, who passed away this year, the last living commander of the 101st Airborne in WWII epitomised in the HBO series Band of Brothers, best summed up human nature, some 70 years after he had committed the ultimate sin, but for the ultimate glory: "I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' Grandpa said 'No… but I served in a company of heroes.'"

May 2012 produce more heroes than villains.

This is just my take on 2011 and how it's events shed light on human nature, but for the best account I've seen so far go to http://www.worldtransformation.com.

About the Author

Born in Australia I graduated from University with arts and philosophy degrees. I now work in a large family business but continue to have a keen interest in world affairs and humanity in general. At present I am interested in an organisation founded by an Australian Biologist, Jeremy Griffith called the World Transformation Movement . Have a look at this page on their site regarding human nature.