Human Nature | Teen Ink

Human Nature

September 28, 2011
By MagusEceerb SILVER, Buttville, South Carolina
MagusEceerb SILVER, Buttville, South Carolina
9 articles 0 photos 80 comments

I was raised as a Southern Baptist Christian, and I hold to those same beliefs today. However I have a slightly different opinion on morality then most Southern Baptists would have. I think that, due to our physicality in part and partly due to what I believe is something more, that human nature is essentially the same throughout unless there is some kind of dysfunction in one's physicality (brain disorder, psychological problems, schizophrenia, etc). I think that, for those of us who are in control of our mental faculties, our nature is generally the same, and it is actually the world that impacts how individual we are. Everybody's life is so incredibly different, from the larger aspects like race and religion and location, to the small things that happen to you. It is not statistically or logically possible for one person to have experienced the same exact experiences as someone else. We have incredibly diverse lifestyles, and millions of different occurrences within them that change who we are bit by bit. I think one person who ends up a baptist preacher, and one person who ends up a convicted murderer could easily end up in the other's spot if they had lived the other's life. I think human nature can be broken down into three categories: Instinct and Learned Behavior, Necessity Based Actions, and Social Behavior. Instinct and Learned Behavior are simple things like breathing and reacting to basic stimuli like pain. Necessity Based Actions are things that we are pressured to do by the circumstances of the world we live in. If a completely normal middle class person saw someone vulnerable carrying money, they would probably not even think about robbing the person, that is considered "wrong". However if the mother of one of the 27,000 children that starve to death in the world each day saw the same person, she might forget what is "wrong" and try to save her child. However that does not make it fair for the person getting robbed either. The problem is that the world we live in is not fair, and it throws circumstances indiscriminately at us. Social Behavior is when two or more people are interacting who need absolutely NOTHING from the other person. They do not need to rob or harm the person for any reason, they do not have any prejudices or personal reasons for having any feelings towards them. When this occurs, I think what happens can be broken down into three things, Trying to understand each other, trying to make others understand yourself, and positive and negative reactions to success or failure at either of these things. In short, human behavior is to understand, to have a thirst for knowing others. Some might even call that love. I think, with this basic, unbreakable law of humanity, that what we consider innocence is not only capable, but impossible to resist on the most basic of human levels.


The author's comments:
I have adopted this philosophy personally and found it life changing, I highly recommend doing the same or similar with your own thoughts.

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This article has 3 comments.


on Mar. 28 2013 at 2:41 pm
MagusEceerb SILVER, Buttville, South Carolina
9 articles 0 photos 80 comments
Thanks! :)

half.note said...
on Feb. 8 2013 at 2:01 pm
half.note, Edmonton, Alberta
0 articles 0 photos 102 comments
Very interesting thoughts. Hard to disagree with, really. Except, of course, that human nature can be resisted. As a Christian, I understand that our human natures are naturally disposed towards evil. However, when we are converted, Christ's divine nature works with our human nature to change us. Well, anyways, perhaps one of us will have to create a Thread about this. :)

on Oct. 21 2011 at 1:18 pm
MagusEceerb SILVER, Buttville, South Carolina
9 articles 0 photos 80 comments
Please if someone is going to rate my article negatively, leave a comment explaining why at least.