Human Nature

[Alan V]

At some point we did evolve the ability to reflect on our actions, at least a little. I mean to some extent we can understand that it's good to control our urges, natural as they are. At least in theory we know that spreading one's DNA around as much as possible isn't the recipe for a good society.

And if we did evolve this reasoning ability, then it's also natural. A part of human nature. So we can't say that human nature is ALL bad. Only that it contains contradictions and opposing forces within ourselves which, at best, we can manage rather than overcome. 

But of course you're right about the hypocrisy -- our reasoning ability often seems strongest when we're inventing justifications for what we wanted to do anyway. 

I suppose there is a never-ending debate about what constitutes "flourishing," under 21st century conditions. Surely there is a part of human nature which makes it normal to care for the weak, or feel empathy for the unfortunate -- at least to some extent. Although these things are shockingly easy to switch off. I still think that these better parts of our nature could be encouraged under different economic conditions. 

Particularly, I wonder about a sort of automatic adversarial mindset that one sees so often. Like, people will say that not only is my tribe best for me, but all the others must be defeated. How deeply is this ingrained in humanity, I wonder?

We evolved to be social creatures, which includes inhibitions of some of our more selfish impulses.

Reasoning to be rational was a rather late development. I assume reasoning evolved to solve problems relating to surviving and competing.

Also, consciousness evolved so that we could identify when best to employ our apparently contradictory abilities.

Part of our social nature is to be tribal, but that depends on our identifications. These days I identify more with my country than with my family, which I haven't seen in years.

So identifications can change. For instance, part of the present success of Republicans can be attributed to Fox News propaganda teaching them to hate other Americans.