Humanity
Humans have many built in features. We have basic survival instincts. We know danger when we see it. We can feel fear and hunger and sadness and joy. Aside from the built in things, we learn plenty of things. We have no personality yet. We have no sense of purpose other than to live. We don't know our native language. We learn all these things overtime. Many people debate if our "human nature" is actually something we are born with or if we are an entirely a blank slate, as Mr. Steven Pinker mentions in the opening of his lecture.
Of Mice and Men is a proper example of raw human nature. It shows the grim aspects of it all while being a work of amazing literature. It shows us the raw emotions of humanity, mainly rage and hope and sadness. George and Lennie hope for a nice farm all their own and we see their hope through the entire book. Later in the book we see pure rage when Curley's wife is found dead by Lennie's hands. We also see George's sadness after having to be the one to kill Lennie. These are basic human emotions. Everyone has the ability to use these things. It's human nature. We all hope and we all get angry and we all get sad. No one stops to think about our nature and what humans are capable of doing. This book reminds us that humans can be just as savage as the sharks in the ocean or the lions in the Savannah. Mr. Pinker speaks mainly of human nature of the genetic and psychological layer. That is mainly what human nature is. He doesn't approve of people saying humans are "blank slates." He states that a great human fear is that, if we are all blank slates, we could perfect mankind. It's that we are all equal. This isn't true though. We are all perfectly imperfect. Some people like to dye their hair crazy colors while others are just fine naturally. Some people get a rush of joy by doing dangerous activities while some are okay with sitting at home and putting on a movie. The truth is that we are not all blank slates at birth. We already have an idea of who we will be when we are born. It's in our genetic makeup and how are parents treat us. At least, that's what Mr. Pinker tells us. The point is, we all need to acknowledge our human nature. We can't live our lives in peaceful ignorance. We can only be safe from ourselves if we slow down and realize what we are capable of. No one wants to turn out to be a Lennie. To be someone who thinks they could never harm another person and only harms things by accident until they commit a serious crime and realize what they are. No one wants to be blindsided by the realization that it's so easy to take a human life. No one wants to know the pain of having to hurt someone close in order to protect other people. It would just be easier for us a;; if we just took a moment and realized our potential and took steps to avoid the bad parts of our potential. |
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