“That which makes us human, also makes us inhuman.”
– Captain Walker (April 2013)
Accepted human capacities fall in the following domains:
- Aggression & violence
- Jealousy
- Malice
- Greed
- Possessiveness
- Love
- Protection of loved ones
- Experience of pleasure
- Thinking
- Creativity and innovation
- Loyalty
- Understanding
- Adaptation
- Sentience
.. and the list is by far incomplete but pretty much describes what it is to be ‘human’. However, possessiveness combined with jealousy and love (or lust if you will), can form a dangerous mix that can lead to aggression and violence. Capacities to protect loved ones, to innovate, think and create can lead to justifications for unfair actions against others who are perceived to be threatening.
Our human capacities come from our need for survival – they are all hard-wired into us by the Blind Watchmaker. How we manage the mix of capacities when they become expressed is the important issues. At times we may feel ashamed that those capacities put us in common with others who are most certainly human but behave in an inhuman way.
It may bring us some temporary comfort if we simply label those humans as ‘monsters not deserving to be part of the human race’. But to do that is to deny that such capacities exist in humans. It’s only their release that matters.
The most important part of being human for me are the capacities to understand and wilfully adapt, to changing circumstances that we may not have anticipated. But note that those capacities can be used to wage war or to mass destruction of humans and their creations.
Will our capacities be used to enhance our human existence or make us more at risk from ourselves? The choice is actually yours. Change begins with you.