Human Nature

[Belacqua]

That's too pessimistic IMHO. Yes, history is bleak but I see slow progress over time. There are peaks and valleys but I see a general upward trend. We are definitely in a valley now and we need to climb out of it but we need to have faith that we will.

Yes, I admit that isn't very logical (my optimistic Secular Humanism side asserting itself) but what's the alternative? Wallowing in self-despair and self-pity? What good will that do us? We need to plow on and have faith that the better part of our nature will prevail. It's worked before. The Inquisition is long-gone. No longer do we have death wagons collecting our dead and beating to death those who claim they are getting better and going for a walk (Apologies to Monty Python).

We are making progress. It's slower than we would like but I believe it's happening. It keeps me going.

Is humanism a part of the problem?  Have we empowered people too much with our technologies?  For instance, people seem to be spreading far too much misinformation and disinformation on social media.  I'm no longer at all sure that we are honest enough about ourselves.  Our pro-human biases seem to be leading us right back to tribalism.

There's a splendid book by the late and much-missed anthropologist David Graeber which almost inspires hope. His thesis is that much of what we take to be negative about human nature -- the competitiveness, the greed, the tribalism -- is not inevitable. 

I certainly think that the mutual hate people have for each other in America now is encouraged and partly intentional. TV news makes more money if we are constantly outraged. People vote for Democrats if they hate Republicans enough, and vice versa.

Graeber looks at other societies which have encouraged different, more positive values, and concludes that human nature can include these things as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Everything-N...348&sr=8-2