What We Get Wrong About Human Nature
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2024
- What does it mean to be human? Join me as I explore the many interpretations of human nature across various philosophies and delve into the true breadth of human possibilities.
Thanks to @COLORMIND.mp4 for lending his voice and ideas to the skit!
The list of artists used is in the outro.
Introduction - 0:00
Philosophies of Human Nature - 3:05
Musical Chairs Battle Royale - 9:25
Human Possibilities - 12:36
Outro - 19:23
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Music:
@ForeignManinaForeignLand
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Sun (prod. salmon the ghost)
outro music: Cedar Womb by joe zempel
CZcams: / @joezempel
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/3vVDn...
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Sources & Resources:
theanarchistlibrary.org/libra...
theanarchistlibrary.org/libra...
anarchy.works/
The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow
Happy new year! Those of you who have been here from the very beginning may recall that I've already done a video on the subject, back in 2020. That video is now unlisted (but still accessible through one of my playlists). With over two years of experience making videos now, I realised I had a bit more to say and I wanted to say some of the things I already said differently. Hope you all enjoy it!
Barely 12 seconds into the first video of the first 11 days of new year and Drew already hitting us with a full on identity crisis. Lets get into it.
Idk, i think they’ve given us a really good idea to consider: Arguing any case on the basis of “Human Nature” quickly devolves into fallacy. Each argument presented as “Human Nature” is just an examination of the trending behaviors in a societal and cultural overlap. So if we’re arguing “human nature”, we’re revealing something about ourselves, not Humans overall.
"The world will descend into chaos without the state!"
"... did the state tell you that?"
While there's no shortage of philosophers of Anarchism, quite few can put into words this incredibly complex theme and make it sound easy to understand and listen. Love you.
Empathy for others especially in the group is such a basic human emotion that is even primary to mammals and other animals in general and quite possibly all of life.
I think Empathy is a fundamental block for life, but division reduces that. The further Alien a thing seems to be, the less imulsively-empathic something becomes. Fear kicks in with the Alien, and further examination grants points of connection in order to increase empathy.
In-groups and out-groups. All the way down.
May I suggest looking up the course Human Behavioral Biology by Robert Sapolsky? Those insights changed my outlook on humanity.
What do you mean when you say alien? An alien as in a being from another planet, an alien concept?
I’m confused as to what you mean.
I would not conclude all life my friend, that's a broad assumption and leap which portrays single called organisms as either exempt or not alive, furthermore animals which developed with a seperate form of neurological evolution sometimes lack emotions to begin with.
Love how I get two notifications for Andrew; one for being mentioned in the description and one for post notifications. It's like two alarms 😅
The musical chairs bit was brilliant
Glad you enjoyed it!
I was thinking (before empire started talking) that one could sit on the other one's lap. There ARE enough seats for everyone!
Yeah the likeness of mr. Beast in the first announcer and the sardonically unself-aware plug in for the charity had me rolling!
Empire was a construct, an illusion. Empire never was. Civilians were. Mom Dad and kids. Dad dad and kids, mom nom and kids, single female student, single male Apple Store employee, dentist, police officer and kids, teacher and kids… An entire society. There was no empire here.
This is a solid analysis. I am reminded of the quote from the introduction of Davids Wengrow and Graeber's The Dawn of Everything; "It follows that arguing about whether humans are fundamentally good or evil makes about as much sense as arguing about whether humans are fundamentally fat or thin."
EDIT: Wow! I did not notice The Dawn of Everything was a source for the video when I wrote the comment, but now I can see how some of the themes came up in the video. Again, I really dig the excellent analysis.
The gentleness of the vocal delivery in combination with the beautiful art truly makes this channel stand out. Amazing work!
The belief in a rigid human nature is one of those bedrocks of hierarchical thinking that falls apart on closer inspection yet is so easily promoted.
When we hear news about a catastrophe the focus lies heavily on the institutional response as well as opportunistic crime. The reasons for the crime and the many acts of kindness and cooperation are little more than footnotes, if that.
Hmm… Strangely enough that narrative does sometimes change when a disaster happens in a developed country. I wonder why.
Disaster in a developed country or a well organized plan of violence? I noticed different countries warring right now.
I think the in out group means survival or it’s opposite a horrific death of utter torture.
There is no place left to go.
"I am because we are" is a beautiful phrase.
It's charming but very shallow
@@user-yj3nu5gr9p how so?
'I am because we are' is a loose translation of Ubuntu. In Zulu Ubuntu, Ngumuntu Ngabantu or in Shona Munhu mhunu nekuda kwevanhu, literally translates to a person is a person because of other people. I cannot exist as a person without the society around me. The philosophy itself is not shallow because people are actually living it.
@@tmaposa2229 You can definitely exist as a person without the society around you.
@@tmaposa2229 Foolishness. Methodological individualism tells us that groups never act- only individuals within groups. Every action is based on an individual’s subjective interpretation of reality- no group has ever killed another group only individuals choosing to kill other individuals. Collectivism can never be true because our actions are always the product of individual choice.
Our greatest evolutionary strength is our ability to cooperate. Does that make it part of human nature? I would say yes.
Humans evolved like no other species to develop an intricate and complex form of communication which is language. Our languages are evidence of a very long time of cooperation that became more and more sophisticated. Language is used by all species, yes. However, I have a sense that it was our use of it as a deception, by which I mean that the inherent limitations to language could be exploited because of the power it has over us. The British enforced english on all colonised indigenous peoples on the lands they stole.
Plato said that human laws became essential after we broke from the natural laws that had formerly limited the scope of our civilizing. Oligarchs desiring to spend billions on colonizing Mars is the apex of that alienation. 🤓
I think you are too optimistic with regard to Mars population. Humanity won’t have the numbers.
Re read your text. Got ya. 🙂
Beautiful; thank you.
We are born of one breath, one word
We are all one spark, eyes full of wonder
‘We are not hateful creatures,
We are good. Our goodness screams for peace.
Everything that’s happened can be felt.
Each mouth deserves to speak
Whichever words come to it in the throws of truthful feeling.
But instead
We plunge to numbness.
It’s much safer, safety’s so appealing’
Radical Empathy, Kae Tempest.
I struggle fully accepting that humans have an engrained nature towards empathy, I struggle with the logic of that, but I adore the sentiment. So much of what we think is natural is only necessary because we are forced into action and belief. Beneath the confines of the systems of our upbringing, there is an empathy and a desire for peace that is constantly crushed and rejected because it is so difficult to enact in our societies. Thank you for this video, so far it’s been great, I’m sure it’ll be enlightening by the end :)
Why do you think there's no ingrained empathy in humans? dolphins are also empathetic and they still rape eachother to death. This "either or" view of nature being good or bad is limiting when in reality life is all genres at the same time.
@@xxCrapNamexx I agree. Human nature (and all of nature to that point) is neither moral or immoral it is amoral. Nature is survival and animals and people will do anything to survive- good and bad. Every genocide has started with a majority believing that their survival was threatened by the existence of another group. Humans make decisions based on their interpretation of how best to survive. This is why value is subjective. One person feels they must get rich to survive and the other feels they must institute socialism. Both want survival, but their subjective and individual experiences determine what they think the best solution is. Human nature is individualism.
Great video! I learned about the Akan philosophy of personhood in college and it's really great to hear about the parallels found in other distinct cultures! The Kropotkin quote was sick too!
Just a quick note that while the notion of "ubuntu philosophy" is first developed in the 50s. Ubuntu is an age old cosmology, carried within oral history traditions. Its earliest refrences in text appear in the early 19th century.
Xx from 🇿🇦
always love your work
Thanks for the reference. I'm familiar with Ubuntu as a name for the Linux system, but had no idea it was a philosophical term. It's a wonderful concept and something people should be more aware of.
holy shit the musical chairs bit is insane
thank you for summing up Animism so well, i hadnt realized that that was the right word for how i feel
As an aspiring author I relate to this discussion so much. I have so much anger for what we do to our world but we also create art, literature, we make huge selfless sacrifices for those we love, we are curious and want to explore and it feels wrong to perpetuate the "we are cancer/virus" narrative or saying that we are forever doomed to be soulless consumers. There's so much more to humanity, we all just need to learn and help each other learn how to nurture those better sides of ourselves.
We ARE inherently capable of strong community, making of beautiful creation, so never trust someone who tells you otherwise. They are lying to you and themselves.
Damn, that section at 9:25 is waaaaaayyyy too real, especially the Chairs for Africa. Modern life has truly turned into an absurd, brutal caricature of itself
We seek safety but at the same time we are the reason none of us are safe.
I’m currently living abroad, but your videos make me SO excited to move back home and start my own community based projects! I know it won’t be easy, but even just the idea that we could get more in touch with the environment we live in and the peoples that live beside us gives me the encouragement to try! All power to all the people 💕
Such a sane wonderful idea…
I am crying actual happy tears at the optimism inherent in these these truths. Thank you for reminding me, in my old age, of the possibilities for human greatness.
We'll never know unless we try!
9:25 mr beast reference!!
Your channel is what turned me towards anarchism. Your videos paint what I’d consider to be the best possible future outcome for the world, not utopic but tangible, positive organization of human society. Between solar punk and commons and library economies and liberation from oppressive powers, it’s just too good of a potential to settle for alternatives that shrug at injustices or hierarchies as necessary
Always wonderful to get another of your videos! Thanks, Andrew!
Video after video, you exceed expectations. I think it's really great to cover topics multiple times over because you synthesize your ideas and find new ways of discussing said topics. Much love :)
Your videos are like poetry. ❤
Thank you, mr.! A delightful work as usual!
That’s a great first image to use and another great video as always
I really love the art used in your videos and love that you credit them at the end.
Yet another banger. Thank you for posting
Just discovered your channel and my god, I can already tell I'm going to be obsessed. Hope it keeps growing!
This was gorgeous! Thank you so much...
Great video as always comrade!
Inspirational my dude 🙏 you make the complex common sense in the best way
this is a great video. loved it all, and as always i love what you do
I really loved the in depth analysis!
love you videos, and how this one put a lot of thoughts into actual words and inspiration. wish you the best
I really needed this dose of hope. Thank you.
you listing names is so impressive. i love your video and am happy to learn some more on your channel
Fascinating essay, your understanding of HUMAN NATURE is very intellectual, yet you used simple words to articulate your ideas and thoughts in a straightforward manner. Keep it up!
Great stuff as always
some amazing artwork in this one!
All power to all the people ! Thank you again for another great video!
Very powerful! Thank you!
Well said, this was amazing. Thank you.
İt's 3.30 AM, I'm hitting a blunt cause I can't sleep and this is just what I needed. The more I listen to amdrewism 's videos, the more I think this is my favourite channel on yt
Your videos always cheer me up.
This is excellent. So many critical ideas here, elegantly articulated yet they hit like a freight train.
YESYESYES Tayo COLORMIND.!!! Great job!!!💙💙💙
Very well put! Keep it up!!
Thanks much. Your channel is amazing.
Your video essays always manage to hit hard.
Maby your best Work jet, thank you for sharing, much Love❤️
Human nature is heterogeneous on the small scail while being remarkably homogenous on the large scail.
There is tremendous variability between people, but every kind of person is found in every group (that does not select for sertan traits).
Polotical disposition within a culture is largely reducible to psychological disposition.
Arnald Shroder talks alot about these topics in his podcast "Fight Like An Animal", specifically try "the nature nerture death spiral" series.
ooo love this breakdown
@@COLORMIND.mp4 Its pretty much direct quotes from shroder
That podcast is so unique. I also like the "Biology of the Left-Right Divide" episodes. It explains how the brain's neurochemistry affects your personality traits, which affects your political goals.. and if you support violence to achieve them.
And unfortunately, people who like dominance hierarchies are more likely to support violence, while egalitarians support pacifism.. guess who wins.
Still, he thinks that we can escape this situation once we're aware of our natural impulses. Obviously, social structure affects hierarchy as well and he discusses that too.
banger as usual!!
"Reciprocity, not extraction." Excellent video essay! The Musical Chairs Death Battle was smack on target, and the Chairs for Africa as the sponsor!
thanks for your work!❤️🏴🖤
16:03 mmm, yes, splendid and indeed scrumptious use of captions, please do carry on
2 wolves and one wolf tells me to like and subscribe! thanks Andrewism!
Great video!
Andrew as another Trini, hearing you on an FD Signifier video was fucking badass. Really makes me consider doing this myself. Thanks for existing.
At this point I just assume that anyone who claims that humans are "naturally" selfish, greedy, violent, evil etc. is simply projecting. Consider yourself judged, misanthropes.
I don't like that often misanthropes are hypocritical cause often they exclude themselves in the "all humans are bad".
If the capacity for evil exists within humans to begin with, who is to say that even after the revolution, after we have achieved a so-called "peace", conditions will not falter to plunge humanity once again back into the current hellscape we are currently in?
In the end you have a feedback loop, millennia in scale. If the selfish, greedy, and violent parts of humanity gained prominence once, no matter how many times it is overridden, it can gain prominence again. Humanity's capacity for peace means nothing unless those parts are somehow permanently stamped out, or we will be at odds with ourselves forever.
Until you can solve that problem, consider yourselves judged, optimists.
You are in denial of biology then lol, you are projecting your own moral biases onto nature
I love this perspective
"It won't happen overnight," I know. But I do yearn to find folks who are truly understanding and want to have hope. Maybe I've been too long grinding through the gears of a patriarchal, end-stage Capitalist world, displaced countless times c/o generational trauma that keeps coming around...
Thank you for your truly beautiful insights into the world. It makes the pain a little less. Feeling disconnected, maybe that's my problem, as I'm trying to balance fear and trust. I'll give it another listen. I think I need it.
Peace
closed captions 🔥
I love the artwork you use in your videos. Also, the speech Empire gives is kinda epic, it sounds like something from the Iliad. It suppose it's such a scary threat because he got what he wanted (for now, at least).
I love the graphics!
Thiiiiis is what I needed with my lunch. Thanks!
Enjoy!
Science is showing more and more that human nature is cooperative. When we cultivate safety and trust, honesty and generously, the possibilities are endless. Roxy Manning is an amazing resource on reframing this narrative in deep connecting ways.
This is some really deep shit. These perspectives are needed especially today. Really enlightening stuff. Thanks.
thanks for your videos for giving more perspectives and words (animist for example) for the things i stand for. i don't think i would describe myself as an anarcist, but that is maybe because of miscommunication and the we have different understandings of the word. but that is most conflict
You should read up on it. It does not mean chaos.
First video I've seen. Really curious what your ideas are about this topic. I always found this interesting.
I think man has a preferred state. The human brain wants certain things socially that lead to concepts like rights. Being a group species. We need each other. Human nature to me, is really just a simplistic reduction of what the brain does or prefers. It's the brain. Most prefer peace. Most prefer stable families. Most prefer freedom. A lot of what we think is bad is really just the few taking advantage of the many. Taking advantage of our nature.
Thank you for the video
The African head sculptures are amazing
How many came here from the Second Thought video? 🙋🏾♂️
Another banger
I've always believed it is our altruism that has allowed us to survive the worst that those in power throw at us.
Happy new year.
That was an amazing video
Ppl talking about human nature definitely number one gripe for me and you couldn't have done a better job unraveling the many fallacies out there
I love you and your channel
I'm currently reading "The dawn of everything, a new history of humanity" which covers the same theme and i was so excited to be able to watch your video on the topic!!
Well I guess I've just discovered a new book I want to read thanks to you, friend!
You are good at accents! It took me a few sentences to realise you were doing the fake accents in the musical chairs (except for the Haiti character and the commentator I think - done by an African American), I can detect some of your natural vowels slipping through there. I would still love to know where your accent comes from, like I have said in another comment (I do not expect you to have read it) it sounds like a mixture of a Caribbean accent and Welsh.
Thank you! Yeah the second commentator and Haitian character are done by COLORMIND. I'm born, raised, and living in Trinidad, so that's where my accent comes from
@@Andrewism It is amazing how similar some of your vowels are to Welsh, in words like, well, "word" for example.
@@Andrewism And hello from New Zealand. I was first exposed to Trinindad, like most people I expect, as a pre-schooler listening to my father's steel drum band record. Sorry, it is such a cliche I guess, but I love the sound, always have. About the only other thing I know about Trinidad is that the two main ethnicities originated in India and Africa.
I appreciated the point about how it's impossible to make observations about general human behavior when we live in an overtly capıtalist system. I have noticed that context is often removed from discussions- like ' x happened and that is bad ' why did X happen? Why was that bad? Who defines what is bad and good and what even is X? I feel like there are so many questions people never ask.
A question I have for you, if you have time, is how do we pass on information about societal reorganization in a thoughtful way? One of your videos talks about how we should avoid sharing information that is a liabilıty to others, and obviously there have been bad actors in the past who prevented large scale systematıc change by passing information on to authorı tıes. What are your thoughts on navigating the need for unity and openness & the need to protect ourselves, eachother and the mọvement?
Thank you for this video! I am so excited to see what videos you have planned this year. Your videos are always masterpieces imo.
In one former video you quoted an ecologist who said that what makes something into a parasite is essentially a disruption in it’s natural environment, so what then transformed humans into a virus etc etc.
To take that a little further, basically all substantial evidence we have points to humans being a social species with an inherent desire to care for and help others. Secondly no one I think would disagree that a society with values like community and love and connection is a bad thing yet we can all agree that a human nature of selfishness and greed is bad. So I would ask what disruption occurred to make human nature selfish and greedy
The entirety of the Human Experience cannot and must not be merely I fight you and you fight me.
Love this video! It addresses one of the more exhausting assumptions that tends to underlie all far-right ideology: the belief that humans are "naturally" selfish, greedy, pointlessly hierarchical, and cruel. I tend to approach this as a biologist, pointing out that cooperation, altruism, and community generally form the basis of social animals, from primates to ants. Evolutionary biology doesn't favor individuals of social species who are selfish, greedy, pointlessly hierarchical, and/or cruel.
While members of the far-right like to pretend they're all facts, no feelings, in their analyses of the world, even empirical evidence of modern and historical human societies doesn't support their views.
If that were the case, you would see that social animals are indeed not as hippie-like as you make them sound. Take other apes, for instance: tribalism is something that exists in all animals, but in primates, it can lead to actual wars, such as with chimps. Additionally, apes are capable of inflicting extreme pain and suffering on each other with their hierarchies; Franz de Waal notes it with chimps (in his book Our Inner Ape, he reports a case of one male crushing the testes of an older one and leaving him to bleed out and die, within a zoo, where they are notably more tame), and Robert Sapolsky notes it with baboons (with his studies on stress levels in apes). Gorillas, as polygamous species, follow suit, with the silverback monopolizing mating resources and harming other males to prevent competition.
But then there is the counter example of social grooming (even though the apes with higher status are groomed more often) as a bonding event within groups, exogamy, and of course, bonobos who are much less violent and use sex as a means of solving issues, fitting the bill of a hippie status, hence their nickname as such.
Humans are capable of following through each of these behaviors. We are complex and have hormones and social needs and cues that guide behaviors. As such, it would seem that we need to take into account the capability of both types of behaviors instead of focusing on one or the other for political reasons. It is my opinion that much of it could be subject to the social milieu in which we are born, yet there will always be that biological factor that underlies behaviors that needs to find a responsible outlet, something our society has failed to account for.
@@andrewbowen2837 "Source: my asshole"
9:25 suddenly mr. beast. this weirdly seems like something slightly more absurd than what he already does
but only slightly
12:15 After hearing the name I absolutely lost it while riding the tram, good job!
17:15 The word "mythology" is very apt here, since "mythology" (or "myth") can be thought of as this kind of pre-science, pre-philosophy package of stories, which explain everything. Morality, ontology, cosmology, social stability, politics, education, religion (in the modern sense), the meaning of life - all of that comes undifferentiated in myths. And the most important is that you are in this story as well - so, living mythically, you look at the sun, and remember the origin of the world, the cycle of human life, what is good, and, most important, what you should do next.
Similarly, when you look at a self-help video, or an ad, or an election speech, you know who humans are, how your country came to be, how the market created this world around you, and your place in all this - that next you should work harder, spend more, and go vote for the reasonable candidate. Then, when your cycyle of life progresses, you'll give your children education for a good job, and you yourself will retire, and reap the benefits of your earlier labor. For that is living in harmony wiith human nature.
Alternately, unlike the chump from the previous paragraph, you could be one of the winners, the go-getters, with a natural human bloodlust, competitiveness, and the desire for more, which drives progress and innovation. For that is living in harmony with human nature too.
Dang... With all this moral progress, it still seems like the old-timey myths were somehow better than the new ones, when it came to human nature🤔
Thank you.
One could argue that it is human nature to steal from others.
And I would answer that yes it is human nature to hunt and to gather.
The problem is our current system that allows others to own excessive unused assets and then calls it a crime when someone other than the owner chooses to use them.
4:00, you are a shining beacon of REN, Andrewism.
I'm gonna be paraphrasing here but something that Dr. Gabor Maté said that I find absolutely true: human nature cannot be defined by our behaviour, since there is a huge spectrum of behavours possible for humankind and great variation between individuals. Human nature is defined by our needs. And our behaviour is influenced by the extent to which our needs have been met or not met. A healthy and happy human being who has all of their needs met has no reason to do bad and will naturally want to do good.
I watched an economics video recently that said economics is a science that seeks to solve the problem of infinite desires vs limited resources. But there is science that shows that humans get very little happiness out of money and things once their needs have been met. How do we find ourselves trying to find a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. I don't know anybody with infinite desires, it is only the sick few who think they can own anything and everything.
First Nations people had a concept for it called Wetiko.
commenting for engagement because more people need to hear this...
nice brother!
The Last Good Andrew
2:14 I will admit that my Misanthropy comes from sense of defeat, humans seemingly just can't change. We're always fighting, murdering, raping, pillaging, conquering, dying, and betraying each other. How do we escape this? How do we correct the human condition to burn away our evils? Is there even such a choice? Are doomed to hurt each other over and over until our inevitable extinction? There's just too much pain our world.
I wish to live in a world where brothers need not kill each other for the petty whims of dictatorial despots and where women need not fear men who can not control their own urges, a world where we have moved on from fearing trans people and world where our lives have some meaning instead of our capitalist nightmare.