Basic humanity is an innate capacity for interest in the well being of others. In its more developed expressions, it motivates respectful, helpful, valuing, nurturing, protective, and altruistic behaviors. In extreme adversity, it motivates sacrifice and rescue.
Basic humanity allows us to grow beyond the confines of personal experience and prejudice to recognize the inherent value of other people. The more in touch with basic humanity, the more humane we feel. When out of touch with it, we feel less humane.
In the Age of Entitlement, with its emphasis on "getting your needs met," basic humanity is in serious decline. The alarming prevalence of resentment and anger in today's world parallels the retreat of basic humanity from the popular consciousness. At a time when, according to some authors, adults have prominent "emotional needs" - and apparently more of them than ever before in human history - we ironically discount the behaviors most likely to promote longer lasting states of well being. Exercising basic humanity does not always feel good, to be sure, but it may be the only way to feel wholly genuine and to outgrow the entitlements and ego defenses often mistaken for "emotional needs."
The Path to Well Being
If you perceive yourself to have emotional needs that must be met, try this experiment: For just two weeks, forget about your emotional needs and focus instead on developing your sense of basic humanity.
Growth in basic humanity doesn't mean becoming Mother Theresa, nor does it necessarily mean giving to charity or doing volunteer work. There are degrees of basic humanity, and most of us can do quite well by regularly exercising only a moderate level.
Highest Level of Basic Humanity:
- Universal brotherhood
- All people are connected
- Drive to enhance and protect the welfare of others
- Sacrifice for the greater good
Moderate Level:
- Feeling equal to all, superior to none
- Respectful of everyone
- Generally helpful
- Acting according to one's deepest values rather than reacting in kind to the bad behavior of others
Low Level:
- Feeling superior or inferior (opposite sides of the same coin)
- More manipulative than helpful
- Resentful
- Vindictive
Underdeveloped Basic Humanity:
- Sense of isolation
- Contemptuous
- Vengeful
- Willingness to harm
How to Maintain Moderate Levels of Basic Humanity
- The secret is accepting that humane behaviors are their own rewards, rather than investments for expected returns from others. We must replace: "I'll be nice to you so you'll do something for me," with, "I'll be nice to you because it's the right thing to do and will make it more likely that you'll be nice to someone else, who then may be nice to yet another person."
- Know that everyone has a sense of basic humanity - even the person acting like a complete jerk right now would probably rescue a child in danger. The harder it is to recognize the basic humanity of another person, the greater the reward in doing so. There's only a little gain in appreciating Mother Theresa, while there is great reward in seeing a faint glimmer of humanity in Jeffrey Dahmer, if you can do it.
- Realize that you raise self-value by valuing others and lower it by devaluing others.
- Recognize that most people are more frail than cruel.
- Respect each and every person.
- Do some small thing every day to make the world a better place.
If you do the above consistently for two weeks, you should experience longer lasting states of well being than you can possibly achieve with focus on "getting your needs met."
CompassionPower
