The Nature of Man

The nature of man. Sigh. This was one of the most complicated topics of conversations and debates, which often end up in fights and disagreements. Similar to which came first, the egg or the chicken. Which would you believe in, evolution or creation. Another sigh.

Yet, learning comes in unexpected means and in unexpected places. So was my realization of the nature of man, relatively. I learned it while watching the movie transformers, when Ironhide asked Optimus Prime this: “Why are we fighting to save the humans? They are violent and a primitive specie. Optimus replied, “Were we so different? They are a young species. They have much to learn. But I see goodness in them.” It was in this conversation that I grasped what a human being is compared to other species, and his nature.

For me, human are products of evolution. I believe in that. Our ancestors used their intellect so much which resulted in the civilizations we have had, from the simple Neolithic Mesopotamia to the very complex Industrial Age. Together with the technology which it brought was the complexity of man’s laws and mores and morality. I also believe in that part. It is our nature to find answers to everything, and then blame it on a supreme being when we could no longer explain it. Thus began our religions. The more I believe in this. Yet there are things that are other-worldly. Another dimensions, they say. Well, there certainly are beings like that. I’m inclined to believe in that.

Relative to the other members of the animal kingdom, we are a young species indeed. Our technology’ progress has advanced well and is now fast-paced. And so are our lives. I agree to the notion that we have a knack for things that are harmful to us: power and longer life. In our pursuit to attain longer lives, we are actually making the future of our own specie short-lived by polluting our home. We certainly use power to control our environment. Its either we use it for good or evil. We put ourselves higher than the other animals, that we are different from them. That we alone think. Is that so?

This is indeed a complicated topic that I don’t even know where I’m leading to and much more how to end this writing. Smile. No, a grin. Perhaps I will end this with what I answer to my students every time they ask me about man’s existence. If we think we are different from other species just because we are sentient, don’t forget that we started changing our environment only a mere 10,000 years ago. Compare it to the four Billion years of our mother earth’s existence. And, let us not forget, beyond that 10,000 years, it was not humans who roamed and dominated this earth.