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Philosophers, some scientists, and many people have long held the assumption that human nature is antisocial and self interested. This does not make sense, because people are deeply connected with each other, and self interest is often social. This blog will detail the ways in which people are fundamentally social, and what that could mean for our sense of who we are. Read More
Human Nature
To be honest my bias is that it is very hard for most academics to really know about life. This is not a problem from the point of view that the rest of us also know little about life but is a bigger problem when academia by definition presents itself as a teacher of life.
As an example most well known and honored french intellectuals preaching world peace, human dignity and equality between 1945 until as late as the early 80's promoted the Soviet Union as an example to follow ? How blind is that.
Yes people are deeply connected with each other and I disagree that we are fundamentally antisocial only self interested.
At least to me one of the places to begin the discussion is that we are torn between love and fear as 2 fundamental, simultaneous but paradoxical life expressions.
Hey Jamil! I like your
Hey Jamil! I like your article. I think the destruction you see from civilians in war zones results less from a breakdown in government, and more from witnessing the death and injury of people that make up your social network. It's precisely because humans are social creatures that we become monsters when our families and friends are endangered.
Thanks for reading! @Keri:
Thanks for reading! @Keri: That's a very good point. People are willing to do many things, some of them destructive, to protect their loved ones. There are also situations, though, in which people can be induced to act cruelly, or to "dehumanize" other people without a clear sense of danger to their social networks. That would be an interesting topic for a future post... thanks for the idea!
morality and mind-body unity
Most interesting, looking forward to future posts. Maybe you'll be discussing at some point the working of the hormone oxytocin (the "empathy hormone") not only in human but all animal physiology/psychology? (And the tend-and-befriend, rather than fight-or-flight reaction? Could these also be female versus male responses? to do with oxytocin, testosterone, vasopressin?) Could what makes humans different than other mammals -- verbal language -- have come out of female (especially mothers' to infants) tend-and-befriend behaviour in our early ancestors?
hormones and morality
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Barbara! The role of oxytocin and other hormones in prosocial behavior is a huge topic, one that I have done some research on and will definitely write about soon. In the meantime, I would mention that you are right that parent-child interactions are a huge part of the development of morality, but that there is evidence that both male and female caregivers contribute to this development. Here I would point you to a great book on this topic: Mothers and Others, by Sarah Hrdy.
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