Human Nature and The Purpose of Life

A Theory on Human Nature and on the Purpose of Life

Introduction

A general discussion on the basic nature of man would clarify the general purpose of life. A theory on human nature would give us a bigger, better picture of the general purpose of life.

My observations on man have led me to a theory that human nature has two aspects, two sides which I call the animal aspect/side and the moral/spiritual aspect/side.. I will refer to our animal aspect/side as the lower nature of man and the moral/spiritual aspect/side as the higher nature of man. (Please see the diagram at the end) I will first discuss the animal aspect/side, the lower nature of man.

I. The Lower Nature of Man

The lower nature, being part of our animal nature, generally follows two basic laws of nature, two fundamental laws of evolution. One law has to do with developing “survival mechanisms, survival instincts” so the individual can and must survive as long as possible. Such instincts are normally called instincts of self-preservation, instincts necessary and useful for the survival of the individual organism.

Thus, physical instincts like hunger and thirst tell us when it is time for us to eat and drink. If we had no such instincts and only eat when we remember to eat or want to eat, then we will have serious health problems with our digestive system that will eventually endanger our survival.

Emotional instincts like pain make us avoid getting hurt, whether physically and/or psychologically while the emotional instinct of pleasure make us do again what we feel is good to us physically (like eating good food) and./or psychologically. Fear is necessary to also avoid dangers that threaten our lives while anger helps us to protect and defend ourselves. Such instincts of fear and anger are also part of the “fight or flight instincts” when we face danger.

The mental instinct of “curiosity”, “common sense” and simple mental analysis are self-explanatory in that these mental instincts help us to know what is good and bad for us in the environment, help us find better ways of getting food, avoid getting hurt, how to protect ourselves, etc. Strictly speaking, simple mental analysis is not an instinct like physical and emotional instincts. I used it as part of "common sense" and in a loose way to mean an almost instinctual mental reaction to something harmful or useful to us.

What is not so self-explanatory is our mental instinct to over-generalize. If we accidentally eat a poisonous mushroom and become very sick, the trauma makes us tend to over-generalize that most if not all mushrooms are dangerous. Therefore, you strongly tend not to eat any kind of mushrooms anymore. It is a mental instinct that helps us not to take risks, not to endanger ourselves. This mental instinct covers all things that we encounter, including personal and/or social relations. Thus, for instance, if a woman experiences abuse, betrayal, injuries, etc. from a boyfriend or husband, she develops a trauma and then she has a strong tendency to over-generalize that most if not all men are bad, abusive, polygamous, etc. She then has a strong tendency to avoid getting personally involved again with any man.

Another law of nature, another law of evolution that governs human nature has to do with the survival of the species as a whole and not just the individual organism. Thus, we have for example, the physical instinct of sex with the corresponding emotional instinct of lust. These instincts are very, very strong. In fact, in my observation, it is the second strongest instinct after hunger. Nature made the instincts of sex and lust very strong to ensure the survival, the preservation of the species. If there was no sexual instinct or if it is weak, the human race would gradually be an endangered species and eventually become extinct.

Jealousy is also an emotional instinct that helps to ensure the survival of our species and many animals as well. Jealousy helps a person to protect, to strengthen a relationship or break it if the partner is not faithful, is not trustworthy. The protection and strengthening of a relationship is important in having a kind of order, a good system that avoids quarrels, anarchy in personal and social relations. Quarrels and anarchy in social and personal relations, lead to lesser bonding of people that correspondingly lessen the chances of the survival of our specie. Furthermore, jealousy protects and strengthens the family bonding that is important in the rearing of children, thus ensuring better survival of the specie. If there was no instinct of jealousy, any man or woman can simply have multiple partners and there would be a lot of confusion. Consequently, the family as a basic social unit necessary to take good care of the children will weaken, will be endangered and eventually will collapse.

The emotional instinct of pride, of ego is another natural instinct that helps the person to protect and defend himself/herself emotionally. It is the counterpart on the physical side, of the instinct to protect and defend oneself if he/she is physically hurt. Such physical instinct is commonly referred to as “self-defense”.

The emotional instinct of parental protection of the children is another instinct that directly helps in ensuring that the young will survive, grow, mature and thus, the continuity of the species.

The physical, emotional and mental instincts of our lower nature grows, develops automatically. In another way of saying it, it has been programmed by nature. Thus, as we are born, the instincts of thirst and hunger automatically come out for our survival and growth. As we become teenagers, the instincts of sex and lust automatically comes out in accordance with nature’s program of ensuring the preservation of the species. As we become parents, the parental instincts to care for the young and to protect the young from danger, also automatically comes out.

In the sense that the first group of survival mechanisms/instincts is geared towards self-preservation, such physical, emotional and mental instincts tend to make us selfish. The second group of instincts connected with the survival of the species tend to make us think first of the interests of the family above everything else.

II. The Higher Nature of Man

Let me now discuss the higher side/aspect of human nature – the moral/spiritual aspect/side. It is this side that makes us different from and above the animals. We have higher emotions like love, trust, respect, sense of right and wrong, sense of moral and social responsibility, empathy, etc. that help us not just to focus on our own feelings particularly our animal instincts, but to feel what others feel, to give due respect to the feelings of others. Such higher emotions make us love, care and help others beyond our own feelings and interests as well as beyond the family’s feelings and interests. Thus, to love a person is to think on how to make the other person happy and how to help her/him grow, develop, mature. When we think of doing something that would affect others, our sense of right and wrong, our sense of responsibility help us to feel and do the right things for others.

Correspondingly, our higher emotions are complemented by our higher mind – the mental abilities for scientific, systematic and creative thinking, for deepening and broadening our knowledge of what is right and wrong as well our knowledge of our moral responsibilities to ourselves and especially to others. These higher mental abilities have the general function of helping us understand more and more the nature of the world we live in, the laws governing it, how to live rightly and harmoniously with others, with Mother nature and how to creatively express such knowledge and feelings through the arts.

The higher mental abilities help us to find out the right use vis-à-vis the wrong use of our higher emotions and lower animal instincts. Some examples are the following:

1. The lower physical instinct of hunger must be controlled and then guided by our higher mind so we will be eat the right amount of food (to avoid gluttony) and the right kind of food (to have a balance diet) so we will be healthy.

2. Our higher mind must control and guide the sexual instinct and lust so we will only have sex with the right higher emotions (with love, trust, respect, sense of responsibility, etc.) and with the right higher ideas like being psychologically and financially prepared to be married and have a family.

3. Our higher mind must control and guide the lower emotional instinct of anger so we get angry only if there is a real, serious basis like seriously and deliberately being fooled, molested, abused, exploited, oppressed. We should not get angry over simple, trivial matters or honest mistakes. We should not get mad over honest misunderstandings but instead use our higher mind to resolve such misunderstandings by an honest exchange of feelings and ideas.

4. Our higher mind must control and guide the lower emotional instinct of jealousy so that we get jealous only if there is a real, serious basis. If we see our love-partner talking to a friend from the opposite sex and enjoying such talk, we should not get jealous. It is normal for a person to have friends from the opposite sex. It is normal to enjoy talking with friends. People with a lot of insecurities tend to be very jealous right away without systematically analyzing the situation. Our higher mind teaches us to be scientific and systematic in our approach to social and personal problems.

5. Parents must use their higher mind in controlling and guiding their lower parental instincts to protect, defend and provide for their children. Some parents tend to be overprotective to their children and thus, their children become dependent on them even after becoming an adult. Parents should control such lower emotional instincts and teach their children to learn to think by themselves, learn to decide by themselves and learn to take responsibility for their ideas and actions, particularly when they become adults. In providing for their children, some parents tend to give so much and spoil their children. As a result, their children become lazy and selfish, learning only how to receive and not how to give to others.

6. Our higher mind must control and guide our tendency for over-generalization after a very bad experience, after a trauma. In the case of eating a poisonous mushroom and being abused by bad men mentioned earlier in this article, our higher mind will teach us that there are poisonous as well as delicious, nutritious mushrooms, that there are bad men as well as good men. We should only avoid poisonous mushrooms as well as avoid only bad men. We should eat delicious, nutritious mushrooms as well as make friends with good men. We should not reject all mushrooms nor should we avoid all men.

7. Our higher mind must control our emotional instinct of ego, of pride. Our higher mind teach us that we should protect and defend ourselves emotionally when we are on the right side, when we are actually abused, exploited, and oppressed. In such circumstances, it is right to uphold our pride, our dignity. When we are on the wrong side, we should control our ego, our pride and instead, humbly acknowledge our mistake, apologize, repent and correct our mistake.

8. Our higher mind must also control and guide our higher emotions. For example, it is not enough to have premarital sex with a person we love but we must also have the right ideas about it like being financially ready to face the real possibility of begetting a child. We must also have the right psychological preparedness to have a family or else the woman and/or child will suffer psychologically. This is what we mean by knowledge of moral responsibility in this case. In short, before engaging in premarital sex, we must have the right higher emotions as well as the right higher ideas. In fact, when we are psychologically and financially ready for sex with our love-partner, then it is only proper to get married and eventually build a family. In this sense, premarital sex is unnecessary and wrong.

Sometimes we hear people talk of heinous crimes like merciless killings, rape, incest, etc., and oftentimes, we hear comments like, “Such people are animals!” ("Parang mga hayop sila!") This comment refer to the idea that our lower nature/side, our animal nature have overcome completely, totally our higher nature/side, our moral/spiritual nature.

When people make mistakes and say, “I am just human”, they mean that their higher nature was not able to control their sexual instinct and lust from their lower nature/side, i.e., their animal nature.

Our higher nature is concerned not only in developing the individual person’s higher human potentials but also sees that the development of our own potentials are closely interlinked with helping our fellowmen develop their potentials as well. In this sense, our higher nature tends to be unselfish, people-oriented especially towards the poor, the deprived and the oppressed.

Aside from our higher emotions and our higher mind, we also have free will – the freedom and ability to think and do what we want. Unlike our animal nature that has no freedom because it is governed by instincts of self-preservation and the preservation of the species, our higher nature has that freedom to choose a certain kind of thinking and action. On the moral and spiritual aspect, our free will gives us the freedom to think and do what is right or wrong, what is good or bad.

Beyond scientific observations, it is my spiritual/paranormal knowledge that our higher nature comes from our Soul, that divine spark within us. That Soul comes from God, our Father Above. Yes, God out of His infinite love, created us and gave us a soul, the composition of which is exactly the same as God. Thus, it was said, “we were made in the image and likeness of God”. This refers to the Soul and not the body. This soul has unlimited potentials. Unlike the qualities of our lower nature that automatically develops, the qualities of our higher nature coming from the soul, are just potentials which we must develop by ourselves because such qualities do not automatically develop. Thus, we must learn to develop our love, trust, respect for others, our sense of and knowledge of moral responsibility to others, our sense of and knowledge of right and wrong, etc.

III. Human Nature and the Purpose of Life

Human nature therefore has two basic aspects/sides – the lower, animal nature that tends to be selfish due to the need for self-preservation and the higher, moral/spiritual nature that tends to be unselfish. Thus, human nature has two conflicting tendencies that are also constantly interacting. In relation to these two basic aspects/sides of human nature, the following are the corresponding two general aspects of the purpose of life.

A. We must continuously develop the qualities of our higher nature towards what is right, good and unselfish/noble. They do not develop automatically. Many holy and good men, spiritual teachers, prophets, etc., in the past can help us develop such qualities by having written the right ideas and good values in life. The holy and good men in the present have likewise shown and taught the right ideas and good values. The higher nature can also have wrong, anti-people, exploitative, oppressive ideas like in history, ideas of slavery, superior race of Hitler and racism in general, inevitability of social structures with a few rich and many poor, etc. Such wrong, evil ideas make people use their animal nature in a wrong, evil way. Thus, the importance of developing the knowledge of what is right and wrong, what is good and evil, what is selfish and unselfish/noble. Furthermore, the need to develop in using our free will to do what is right, good and noble.

B. As we develop the qualities of our higher nature towards what is right, good and noble, we see that the right solution to the conflicting basic tendencies of our two natures -lower and higher - is for the higher nature, equipped with the right, good and unselfish/noble ideas and the will to follow such ideas, to have more control of and to give more guidance to our lower nature. Our higher emotions and mind must eventually control, master and guide our lower physical, emotional and mental instincts for only then can the lower instincts be used in the right way as in the examples I have given.

When the developed good, right and unselfish/noble higher nature controls, masters and directs the lower nature of man, then man becomes good, righteous and unselfish/noble. Then he will follow God’s will, he will love, care and help his fellow men. Then he will become truly and fully human. Then, there will be a “New Heaven and a New Earth”.

Danilo “Piwi” Aragon/2002