The Flaws of Human Nature -- How To Universally Understand Humanity
Updated: Mar 7
"Its Our flaws that make us Human, not our perfections." -- John Duran
Introduction
After contemplating much, I've found plenty of flaws in our human nature (nature being who we are intuitively; our natural selves). I have thus attempted to create a list covering the most I can remember. See this as some food for thought:
· Faith: We tend to be more drawn to beliefs than facts, and facts won't necessarily change our beliefs. We can easily believe in something without the means necessary to know it’s real, i.e., without doing research. And, thus, we easily fall into blind belief and live in complete illusions or half-truths.
Furthermore, some of us praise the concept of faith, when it is far better to know, than to believe. That's true at its best when it's actually possible to confirm the factual validity of our faith (not necearily religious faith). After all, why is there a need to believe, when one can try to know? Faith is no proper substitute for knowledge and shouldn't be treated as such. And for those who don't have time or power to research, we can at least keep an open mind.
· Passions: We can easily be the slaves of our own desires. Because of them we're able to be manipulated, deceived and lose our freedoms. It's all because of this inner burning inside of us, whose fulfillment gratifies us for the short term, and whose dependency lead to greed.
Although it is a desire, it is also a variant of suffering, like wanting to drink something after hours of not doing so. It's not to say that it does not fulfill a certain functionality, like the one I mentioned earlier (short term fulfillment). When we are passionate about things beyond our realistic reach, our suffering is both long and intense. That's even if such torment can be easily avoided by avoiding the worship of fantasies.
But the monotony of realism, although provides as security, is too boring for the ideals which we cannot achieve.
· Egos: Let’s admit it, it can be hard not continuously have our egos be pat by others, as long as we depend on external validation. The more we pat our egos, the more limited we become in our perception of the world around us, as we focus on ourselves more, and on the agony of others, less.
And when we see that someone or something is better than us, instead of learning from them to be better and improve, we can easily get jealous and become depressed because we realize that we are not the number one at something.
The egoes can be the gates of delusion, of making us think we are bigger and more important, in the grand scheme of things, than we actually are. However, it is a necessary evil, for without a sense of self, there will not be a good sense of self-esteem as well, and this could lead to us underestimating ourselves and our potential.
On the other hand, those willing to commit harakiri to repent for their sins are, in a way, too good for this ego-driven world, if they are ready to sacrifice their own lives in the name of a morality greater than themselves.
· Emotional Dependence: Our need for attachment can exist as a double-edged sword. Because of this need we can easily trust and be attached to someone else, to the point they may have control over us in which we are not aware of. And so we are deceived by our illusions of safety and, sometimes, autonomy, while in the reality we are enslaved by a higher, yet hidden, authority. Be careful not to bond to those who do not deserve your trust.
The biggest strike it can bring to us is when the object of emotional dependence dies. It's something which is, you know, only natural in this finite existence. It's the ultimate tragedy of romantic love, and one that can be solved through rational self-love. It is sad not because of the experience of death, but because you know, resurrection is impossible, and thus, they will never come back.
Attachments are there to be broken by the executioner that is time. For time is a great teacher, but one that kills of all its students.
· Thirst For Power: While power is necessary for the general order of the social construct, it is easy to become addicted to a concept many of us see as success (and thus, positive). As we climb the ladder, we are introduced to a new drug that may eventually defeat our conscience and make us addicted. This is called corruption, and sadly, it is not rare in our world to have people defying their sense of justice over the good feeling of having authority, wealth, and social luxury. Speaking of which:
· Addictions: Human nature is built in such a way that it can be easily addicted to certain substances. In fact, anything that makes us feel good, can addict us. Habits and people, too. The more addicted we are, the less control we have over our lives, as we give way to the source of addiction to satisfy us. That, is while in practice it can cause harm to ourselves and, at times, others. Addiction, however, has its evolutionary role.
According to Dr. Christopher Johnson:
One thing I tell many of my patients is that their addiction — in the very early stages — likely developed as a coping mechanism to protect them from painful emotions or as a practical strategy to enable them to handle extremely difficult life circumstances. In other words, their addiction developed in order to help them survive.
· Suicidal Tendencies: Have you found it grim that the most powerful species on Earth, the human race, which dominates the planet, can easily suffer from high suicide rates? But what role does suicide play in the grand scheme of things? One that goes beyond esoteric purposes such as redemption or terrorism?
What good does suicide bring? And I'm not even speaking about soldiers who hugged grenades to protect their comrades. If everything in existence is planned from the very beginning, why, then, would there be a plan for the voluntary end of life?
Of course, we have free will, which is expressed by our freedom of choice. And it is, in the end, our decision. The decision to continue, or the decision to find ourselves in a metaphorical state of darkness. But the conscious choice seems to be very counter-productive to the biological imperative of survival, just like being addicted to something that could reduce your overall lifespan.
· Lack of Awareness: Many of us can easily forget the general picture we are set in, and therefore we might cause problems and make mistakes that could easily be prevented if we just waited a little before taking action and thought the best we could about the various consequences our actions may lead to.
It is even worse when we deliberately choose to remain ignorant when we have the opportunity to be more knowledgeable than we currently are. Knowledge therefore has the power to prevent unnecessary suffering once applied for that purpose.
· Emotional Drainage: If I didn't suffer from emotional exhaustion, I could become a better writer than I am today. I could write pages after pages of books, articles, and poems every single day if only I had all the ideas I needed. Far more than the massive amounts I already did.
This is why, unfortunately, I am aware that I need to stop, and confine myself to rest. Just think of all the productivity we humans could have if we didn’t suffer from such exhaustion! We would become better writers, industrialists, engineers, and so forth. Consider how much further we could have progressed as a civilization than we currently are!
Conclusions
These are the major flaws I have learned about so far while writing this article. We humans, by the power of these flaws, are very limited, easily-manipulated beings. We can easily become slaves to just about anything, and most especially to that which brings us gratification... Hehehe... suffering, by the very things we desire.
This does not mean, however, that we cannot improve and be stronger and more capable. These flaws can be worked on. Improve in the fields that deserve our efforts, should we train our bodies and minds hard enough, in discipline and/or asceticism.
Develop your rationality! Develop your character! Work on these flaws and you might find life more bearable.
