The Ultimate Deflection Of Personal Responsibility Is Human Nature
Problem solving and cooperation are skills we learn, just like everything else.
I’m having a years-long debate with someone. I have this belief that humans can have peace if they just learn to get along with each other. The other person believes that peace on earth is not possible because human nature does not tend towards peace. From our divided nation to international wars, she says, until we can change human nature, we will always have humans inflicting pain upon other humans. There is no way around it.
But I disagree.
I have found piles of evidence to show that human nature is to cooperate. From our language to studies that show that isolation can lead to mental illness, we need each other to survive. I believe that our genes are coded to reward us for engaging in cooperation. Everything else, like “evil”, is learned behavior.
I’ve been studying this concept in one form or another for almost 30 years now. I’ve been wondering why it is that we suffer so. And every time I come up against some behavior that is destructive or goes against our mutual survival, I consider that kind of behavior as learned behavior. I consider predatory or challenging behavior as inconsistent with our genetic code.
