On Beliefs #3

What is human nature?

We are all just animals, sometimes clearly reasoning animals. So what is the basic characteristic that are difficult if not impossible to train out of us? But what is our individual reason for doing anything?

Opportunistic animals, we always want a equal or better life that our peers, other citizens. Well at least a blood good life. But it is mathematically impossible to all be equal or better, or above average. This makes us naturally greedy. We are typically eager to get a leg up above the herd. That makes us aggressive.

We are all programed to eat and to reproduce. When food is plentiful, many of us are programed to get fat, something some sixty percent of the population need to correct. Some of the others 40% either do not have the drive, biology, money, or address these motivations, either through direct control or by redirection. Displacement of the motivation toward making money, greed, or some indirect, all absorbing endeavor, work or career. Those who are all work are also obsessed, but their obsession is a social accepted, even preferred characteristic.  This makes " obsessed" as a common characteristic, it is just what we are obsessed with a quasi choices.

We need a set of words to describe good and evil, and those affects which is more sever that good and bad or harm. There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. The stoics say that nothing can spiritually harm me other than myself and my thinking. We need a word to describe hard on a spiritual level, non physical level for good and harm. It is only our spiritual self that has ethics, virtue. Our body does what it does, but it is the reason, logic, that is a chip of divinity. It is this duality of our nature, a reasoning animal and sometimes instinctive animal of our nature that we must also account for. 

And lets not forgot the ego, I'm right, you are wrong attitude, and we all have a issue with time, past, present, future, rush, not enough time, and then we die. Embrace impermanence, and living in the now. We have issues with attachment to things and people. We create expectations and delusions of how things should be. We develop desires for things, people, places, wealth, fame, concepts, comfort, security, safety, relationships, etc. We can let all that drop, live in the now with no attachment, and looking after only those things that are truly up to us. 

We can paint on a purpose of working together for a better future, but that is not held by all. As ideology comes into play with more people on earth, the difference become apparent. Islam vs Christian vs Communism being the most obvious ideology conflicts.

Enough