WillSpirit!

Is human nature good or bad? If some God-like consciousness balanced all human behavior in a giant cosmic scale, would it look angelic or demonic? Closer to home, what if we as individuals were so measured?

A related question, and the one that got me thinking about this, came out of my last post and a comment sent by someone I respect. Are humans basically loving, so that if neurosis and insecurity were stripped away everyone would work toward global well being?

These are ancient questions that have been pondered by brilliant and learned philosophers. My contribution cannot count for much in the larger dialogue. But the questions are important, not just from an intellectual perspective but also a personal one. We each have our beliefs about human nature, and we shape our behavior around this worldview.

The person who believes everyone is selfish reacts in protective, self-promoting ways. It’s only natural with such a framework to strike first, before the other gets a chance. If in a position to accumulate treasure, then such people will grab for it, even if it means depriving someone else (which of course it always does.) Why not rape the landscape if someone is bound to?

On the other hand, a person who believes others are basically soft-hearted, and that they only need to be shown consistent kindness to find release from their demons, will act differently. They will sacrifice their own desires to help neighbors meet pressing needs. They will be charitable and fair, believing that such behavior will spread if given the chance.

It was my fate to be raised by a woman most would consider a monster. What else do you call someone capable of strangling a seven-year-old in his bed? Or routinely tormenting and humiliating the youngster until abject terror and subjugation became the norm of childhood? And yet my stepmother had good qualities. They were rarely on view, but I saw them. Yes, she was capable of feigning kindness to deepen her control over me. But she also had tender feelings; not toward me, but toward others, and I saw them. There is a bit of sunlight even in the hearts of the cruelest among us.

There are some truly fine people in my family also. And yet I have not always agreed with them, or considered every one of their actions laudable. There is a cloud within even the best of us.

A lot rides on one’s experiences in life. Those raised with consistent kindness are more likely (but not guaranteed) to be consistently kind later on. Those raised under cruelty, oppression, and chaos more often become mean, exploitative and confused. Alternatively, they may grow into self-denying victims who routinely allow evil to go unchecked.

My own inner demons are one proof of this. I am not in the least bit proud of much of my past behavior. I never consciously chose to be selfish, and I might have objected if someone described me that way, but my actions spoke of a deeply paranoid and self-centered being. Many people were hurt, and my own soul suffered. I was a troubled person, flooded by overpowering emotions, who acted erratically and with little true regard for the feelings of others. What else could have emerged from the nursery that produced me?

But even in my worst moments, a voice inside saw that I was on the wrong track. I would try to be kind, but anger would erupt and ruin all my good intentions. Or I would reach out to another, and then feel an awful paranoia churning inside until I had little choice but to act self-protectively and often hurtfully. I suffered too much cruelty and too many attacks growing up to escape the surging currents of fury and fright later on.

With age and setbacks, and the consistent kindness of my wife, I am slowly swimming free of those vortices of darkness. Happily, I can now behave more freely and more kindly. Note I say can, and not that I always do. But at least I feel there is some awareness and some choice; with that opening, I do in actuality behave more selflessly more of the time.

Why do I tell this personal story? Why open up about my process? Aside from the fact that it’s my nature to do so, I think my case represents the larger human situation. When young, we are driven by forces we don’t understand. If those forces were shaped in healthy ways by those who raised us, we grow up kind and outgoing, loving and friendly. If the forces were twisted by abuse, we may well be self-centered and chaotic.
Later in life, we begin to understand ourselves, and we begin to have more choices. Granted, our options around careers and relationships become narrowed, but we begin to have more influence over our personalities and behaviors. The result can be a maturing and broadening of spirit, so we gradually become better people.

Alternatively, we can close ourselves off to the better parts of ourselves, and remain fixed in the patterns of youth. If youthful years were filled with aggressive self-aggrandizement, and if people become fixed in that mode while holding positions of power, we end up with the world we see today.

But many people, and I have seen this play out almost as often as its opposite, become warmer and gentler beings with age. Such people could potentially teach the young, and produce a generation that would catch on to  truth sooner in life. The world could be transformed.

So here’s my answer to the questions I posed starting out: I don’t believe people are either inherently good or inherently bad. But I do believe almost everyone knows the difference, deep down, between truly humane and responsible behavior versus its opposite. That’s all. With age, we become better able to act according to this barometer of right and wrong. Young people can be trained to follow their inner voice, but it takes wise adults to teach this skill.

People are too malleable and diverse to be characterized as angelic or demonic, but they do all carry a mental instrument that measures good and evil with great accuracy. Granted, many people delude themselves and ignore this inner voice. They justify selfish behavior until they convince themselves they are in the right even when performing acts of appalling destructiveness. But deep within their hearts know the truth. This is what I believe.

Is there hope? Can humanity be saved? With such a gauge of moral rectitude, it is possible. But given the gentleness of this inner voice, it is also quite possible that the great body of humanity, and especially those intoxicated with power, will continue to ignore this inner calling.

It may very well require a global calamity to awaken humanity. Catastrophe has a way of teaching people what truly matters. As a species we may remain stubbornly attached to the old mode until something awful happens to make us limit how much evil we allow into our hearts and our world. It would be wonderful if we could avert the inevitable crisis by changing now. But will we?