Humanity kind or cruel

Why Are Humans So Cruel?

psychological cruelty

The acts of Oscar Schneider, Harriet Tuba, Ivan Anyway, and ordinary people show that humans are kind, unselfish, and giving. In our obscurity - in all this vastness - there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

What is the role of knowledge in human cruelty

Mark Twain believes that humans are the lowest animal because he chooses to see human flaws and imperfections. The apparent contradiction in human nature has served as a mainstay in philosophy from ancient Confucian philosophy to the European Enlightenment up through today. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. The idea that humans are a domesticated species is as old as Aristotle , and was also considered, but ultimately dismissed, by Charles Darwin. Thus, we feel schadenfreude because our self-worth does not exist in a bubble; it is relative. Proactive aggression is when your cat surprises you by quietly sneaking up and pouncing on your foot. Carl Sagan captured this thought best: "The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Cruelty is very complex. A group of males identify a domineering or overly aggressive male and wait for the right opportunity to kill him, without injuring themselves. Help us tell more of the stories that matter from voices that too often remain unheard. Others' failings help us brush our own failings under the rug. His examples vary in time and place, from Inuits to Aboriginal Australians, but they follow a similar pattern. Both involve you getting attacked, but the mechanisms producing the behavior are different.

This can be accomplished by remembering that whether from a scientific or religious perspective, we are pretty darned insignificant. On April 15,an act of terrorism shocked not only the United States but also the entire world.

Intentionally cruel

Hire Writer Another show of kindness was displayed on December 2, , when Spanish athlete Ivan Fernando Anyway gave up a victory in a race to do the right thing. It suggests that societies will need to overcome a fundamental threshold shift in values in order to be able to absorb certain features of human nature. Throughout all the commotion hundreds of people decided to run back towards the bomb to help out the injured runners and bystanders. One man did a horrible thing, but a whole country reacted in an amazing way after the tragedy. And why are we the only domesticated mammal that wages war? Courtesy of Alexander Georgiev Harvard anthropologist Richard Wrangham has revived an age-old question about the roles of violence and kindness in the evolution of humanity. Since the beginning of time there have been acts of evilness in the world. Bring cruelty and prejudice and bias and hatefulness and indifference and all the other interrelated expressions of how despicable, destructive, and deplorable we can be into an unblinking public discourse. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. How can the same species that will readily snap photos and trade gifts with their supposed enemies also readily slaughter each other by the millions?

We need a culture less obsessed with power and honor and more concerned with mindfulness and dignity. On that day two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring an estimated others Marathon Bombing Victims.

Others' failings help us brush our own failings under the rug.

cruel behaviour

What happened in our past to select for these traits? Sure, we might feel envious when confronted with another's accomplishments, but what are those accomplishments and our resulting envies and indeed the sum total of accomplishments and envies when set against the vast, dark, beautiful cosmos?

Humanity kind or cruel

Schadenfreude is everywhere. We breed a kind of peacefulness, at least for the in-group. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy. Sure, we might feel envious when confronted with another's accomplishments, but what are those accomplishments and our resulting envies and indeed the sum total of accomplishments and envies when set against the vast, dark, beautiful cosmos? Perhaps we aren't perfect, but "did you hear about Lindsay Lohan's drug charges? In times of tragedy, such as the Boston Marathon bombing, there are always people running towards the danger to give a helping hand. Why are we, in short, so incredibly bitter? Hire Writer Another show of kindness was displayed on December 2, , when Spanish athlete Ivan Fernando Anyway gave up a victory in a race to do the right thing. Courtesy of Alexander Georgiev Harvard anthropologist Richard Wrangham has revived an age-old question about the roles of violence and kindness in the evolution of humanity. That seems to me to be the ultimate explanation for why human groups — particularly clearly in small-scale societies — do not have alpha males. Man, I sure am better than her! What happened in our past to select for these traits? A book by a prominent Harvard anthropologist offers a fresh approach to answering these questions. The idea that humans are a domesticated species is as old as Aristotle , and was also considered, but ultimately dismissed, by Charles Darwin.

Carl Sagan captured this thought best: "The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena.

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Humanity: Kind or Cruel? Essays