Final Paper 2011
What does it mean to be human? This is an age-old question that we are still struggling to answer. Human nature is an extremely complex concept. There are many different theories about what it means to be human. Each individual person probably has their own definition about human nature or has adopted a theory. For many weeks now, we have been studying human nature and the characteristics of it. We have been introduced to many of these theories and seen evidence of these theories. We have read several different perspectives - journalistic, linear, non-linear, academic and the like - from various authors. They all try to answer the same question: what does it mean to be human and to be of the human condition?
All of the authors that we have read have each defined human nature differently. Some said that human nature was to be in sync with nature, whereas others said that human nature could not be separated from human biology. Many of the authors that we have read said that we feel the need to pass on our history to our children and that we need to learn from our past instead of run away from it. Multiple authors also agreed that it is in our nature to have a culture and to need to interact among ourselves. We have a need to socialize with other humans. Some of the authors said that humans are innately curious beings and that we are very emotional. A few of the authors that we read said that humans are easily influenced by each other. The one thing that all of the authors that we read agreed with, was that human nature is extremely complex.
Human nature is a subject that we humans do not know much about. Human nature is something that we have speculated about for thousands of years, but as of yet, have not reached a definite conclusion. This class has stretched us to try to define human nature ourselves. We have seen many perspectives of human nature that the varying authors have presented along with the evidence that they have for their theories. We have tried our best to reach our own conclusion about human nature. Many different questions are raised by this topic. The main question at the heart of human nature is: what does it mean to be human and of the human condition?
In The Origins of Virtue, Matt Ridley suggests many things about human nature. He says that some of the defining characteristics of humans are our: social interaction with each other, communities, cooperation, the fact that we like to learn (have endless knowledge), mutual aid and trust, and the complexity of the brain and ourselves. "How would you characterize the behavior of [humans]? One of the first ideas that would come to mind is 'social: lives in large groups with complex inter-relationships among individuals'" (Ridley 7). Ridley believes that the socialization that we humans do is unique - that other animals do not socialize the way that we do. We enjoy being in the company of others and do not like being alone very often. We are social creatures.
Ridley also says, "What makes human beings different is culture. Because of the human practice of passing on traditions, customs, knowledge and beliefs by direct information from one person to another, there is a whole new kind of evolution going on in human beings - a competition not between genetically different individuals or groups, but between culturally different individuals or groups" (Ridley 179). We compete against each other in order to survive. However, in order to better our cultures and ourselves we also have to cooperate with one another. "The human mind contains numerous instincts for building social cooperation" (Ridley 262). "Cooperation is a frequent feature of human society; trust is the very foundation of social and economic life" (Ridley 57). Cooperation between different cultures and peoples enables us to accomplish many things at once that would otherwise take a long time to complete. Thus, cooperation is actually a selfish thing to do.
Ridley also writes about the limitations and possibilities of how humans live. Some things that limit us, according to Ridley, are our complexity, our conformation to our society and culture and that we are herd-minded. On the other hand, we have the possibilities to constantly adapt, expand our knowledge and understand ourselves (and our nature) better.
Ridley's academic approach shapes his larger points: cooperative instincts are actually selfish behavior, humans live in complex societies and humans are unique compared to any other animal. Ridley assumes that the reader knows that humans are complex and that we work together, but that we do not know why we work together and do not have a deeper understanding of our behaviors. He believes that information and truth is gleaned through the exploration of all possibilities and the deduction of truth, reason and knowledge from there.
Margaret Edson agrees with Ridley in her play Wit. Edson's unique play suggests many surprising things about human nature: we care about what others think about us; we fear our dwindling time on earth; we thrive when we are in communities; we crave knowledge; and we overcome barriers. In the play, Vivian is having a conversation with a doctor, who is, in fact, ignoring her, explaining all of the amazing things that she has accomplished in her life. She is trying to prove herself to the doctors and to validate the reason for her existence to herself. Vivian also faces the fact that her time on earth is coming to an end. She says, "You cannot imagine how time … can be … so still. / It hangs. It weighs. And yet there is so little of it. / It goes so slowly, and yet it is so scarce" (Edson 30). There is no better way to describe what little time she has left on earth. It seems to drag on because she is weak from her cancer and treatment but she has such little time left to live. She also wants to spend time with people and have that social interaction; however, she is not receiving any social interaction from her doctors or nurses. She might have lived even longer if she had had social interaction from those around her.
Vivian later goes on to have a conversation with her nurse, Susie. Vivian tells Susie, "I always want to know more things. I'm a scholar" (Edson 54). This is our true human nature. We always crave knowledge; to know something that others do not know. We want to be mentally "ahead" of other people. We also are a very determined species. E.M. Ashford tells Vivian that living "is ultimately about overcoming the seemingly insuperable barriers separating life, death, and eternal life" (Edson 14). When we face obstacles in our lives, we overcome them. It is not in our nature to just give up and stop living. Humans think their way out of adverse situations. This is what Edson had Vivian do. She had Vivian reexamine her thoughts and beliefs.
Edson approached her story as a play. Her larger points - that life is always changing, always transforming us; and that we keep getting caught up with the big picture when, sometimes, we need to stop and smell the roses for a while to appreciate what we have in our lives - are reinforced by relating to the reader/audience through experiencing what she is experiencing. They are also reinforced through making Vivian's emotions and thoughts more realistic because the readers are able to live her life with her. Edson assumes a couple of things about her readers: that they understand how to read plays and that they are good at deciphering complicated poetry. Edson also assumes that the only way to find truth, or what you really want and need in life, is to face death - to live like you are dying.
The third author that our seminar class read was Anne Truitt. In her book Daybook, Truitt suggests many defining characteristics of human nature. It is our nature to constantly change our minds, to need to be accepted by others and to understand ourselves. For example, Truitt writes, "My hope was that if I did this honestly I would discover how to see myself from a perspective that would render myself whole in my eyes" (Truitt 4). Truitt wanted to understand herself better and to see things from a different perspective. Truitt also says that we need to express ourselves. She writes, "I have trouble expressing my feelings" (Truitt 210). However, with art life is different for Truitt. She says, "Art is an extension of self", it is an expression of self (Truitt 92). Truitt had difficulty expressing herself to people. However, when she created art, she easily expressed herself. Truitt went on to write, "I also know that I have to guard against allowing myself to be defined, either by myself or by others, in traditional, sociological terms" (Truitt 110). She believes that we all are easily influenced by each other. She believes that we conform to the world around us and that we should just be ourselves and not conform to the world.
This is a limit that we put on ourselves - judgment. We also limit ourselves by being alone, being selfish and living in our past rather than the present. However, Truitt also says that we have many possibilities. We can find deeper meaning in our lives and our world. We have the potential to understand others and ourselves better. We can learn from our experiences while not living in the past. We also have the possibility to change ourselves and make a better world and society.
Truitt's diary style of writing reinforces her larger points: that we all need to express ourselves in some way but that expression can vary from person to person; that we all need to have a reason to live; and that we all need to understand ourselves. Throughout the book, Truitt assumes that her readers have an artistic background or are at least able to understand things from an artistic standpoint. She believes that we need to see things from different perspectives and see them for what they truly are in order to be able to find the truth and what we really believe.
The last author that we read was Robert Capon. His book Between Noon and Three is all about the grace of God. One of the things that Capon suggests about human nature in his book is that we are not perfect and that we all need grace. However, he also says that humans have a hard time believing in grace. "How nice to think of what it would be like if, in the thick of my sins, I were told that I stood uncondemned by a love that would not let me go" (Capon 112). We humans have the nature of trying to understand concepts that are impossible for us to comprehend, concepts such as grace. We compare everything in human standards. How can we compare God in human standards? The Bible says that God's ways are not our ways and that God is far beyond what we can comprehend. Similarly, Capon wrote, "The world the Father sees and loves is the world he sees in his only-begotten Son" (Capon 233). God loves us so much that sent His only-begotten son to die for us so that we could live eternally with Him. "For while we were yet sinners, Christ died for…us" (Capon 179-180). We cannot even begin to understand God or His reasons or ways. Yet it is human nature to be curious and to want to understand everything. It is also human nature to want to be accepted by others. Capon said, "We all long to establish our identity by seeing ourselves as approved in other people's eyes" (Capon 162). It is only natural for us humans to establish an identity and to be accepted by others. Capon believes that the only important thing is that we are accepted by God and that we need to accept God in turn.
Capon says that we limit ourselves. He also says that our understanding limits us so much so that we cannot live to our full potential. Our need for knowledge and to understand everything also limits us. On the other hand, Capon says that humans have many possibilities. He says that we can be closer to God. We can understand others and ourselves better. He also believes that we can change ourselves for the better. Capon believes that we can all live in harmony with each other and with God if only we would try to do so.
Capon's journalistic style of writing reinforces his larger points. Some of his larger points are that grace is unfathomable to humans, grace is so simple but we complicate and misunderstand it, and that we put human "limits" on God even though God is limitless. God is unfathomable to us and so is everything that he does for us. He wants us to be able to come and live with Him forever so he offers us grace. We think that there has to be a catch in there somewhere, so we do not believe that He is being serious. Thus, we put limits on God and make what He does much harder. Capon's larger points are true, but not everyone believes him. Capon assumes that all of his readers have some sort of religious background and that they all know about God and His offer of grace. Capon also believes that God is truth. In order to find the truth, we must first find God and understand Him to the best of our abilities.
All of the authors that we have discussed have many different thoughts about human nature and how to define it. These authors also had many viewpoints on the limits and possibilities of the way that humans might live. Some of these viewpoints are similar to authors that we have read in the first half of this semester. Edson and Capon extend each other's argument. Edson and Capon both write about grace. Edson writes that people do "not need to hide from God's judgment, only to accept God's forgiveness" (Edson 41). Capon completely agrees with this statement. In his book, he writes about people that just need to accept God's grace instead of run away from it. Similarly, both authors write about God creating humans. They say that God created us because He loves us.
Ridley complicates this argument, however. Within The Origins of Virtue, Ridley explains that we were created through evolution; that we were created by chance. He writes, "We are survival machines - robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes" (Ridley 19). We are selfish individuals, created through evolution, and our sole purpose in life is to pass on our genes so that they can live. Steven Pinker agrees with Ridley. He believes that we were created by evolution. "Everyone knows that in biology a living cell can only come from another living cell" (Pinker 28).
Truitt, Morrison, Limerick and Silko also complicate and extend each other's argument. Truitt says that we all want to leave something behind, something to be remembered by. She wrote, "Ordered into the physical, in time we leave the physical, and leave behind us what we have made in the physical" (Truitt 60). Morrison, Limerick and Silko would also agree with Truitt in that we want to leave a legacy whether it be to our family or to strangers that we do not know personally. No one can ever be sure of what lays beyond death and it is nice to be able to give something to others that means something to them (Truitt 157).
Overall, I have enjoyed reading these books. Some I liked more than others and some I just did not like at all. A few books were easy to understand and relate to whereas other books did not keep my interest and I had to struggle through the readings. I agree with Ridley in that we are a complicated species and that we are all trying to find meaning and reason in our lives. I also agree with Capon when he says that we are all sinners and that only God's grace can save us from our sins.
Anne Truitt's Daybook stretched me a little bit more than what I am used to. I found it hard to always relate to her, even though I am an artist myself. In addition, some of the things that she said I could not relate to because of my age (for example, her being a mother and having a full-time job). I was very interested in how she perceived the world, however. I expected her to perceive it differently than she did - at least even more abstractly than how most humans do. Even though this book stretched me to think differently, I was interested in it.
Edson's play Wit was the book that stretched me the most. I had a harder time understanding all of the meanings behind Edson's work. I have never really read and analyzed a play before, so that was different for me. I also do not like to decipher poetry and there were many of John Donne's sonnets in the play. They all had a different meaning behind them but I did not always understand that meaning. I got very frustrated with trying to figure things out at a deeper level. I thus was only able to understand the meanings that were at the tip of the iceberg. I did enjoy reading this play and seeing the characters develop over time, especially Vivian. I enjoyed seeing the reformation of her want for a personal and socially interactive life when before she had none. It really added depth to her character and effectively displayed part of true human nature.
Edson, Ridley, Truitt and Capon each define human nature differently in their books. What does it mean to be human and of the human condition? Human nature is an extremely complicated concept. There is no definite definition for human nature yet, as there are countless theories of it. From reading these four authors along with all of the other authors in the first part of the semester, I have concluded that there are three main aspects of human nature: physicalities, mind, and emotions. That is to say, humans are independent of each other and have different ways of acting, thinking, and feeling.
I understand human nature to be universal. I think that there is something in every individual that is similar, if not the same. For example, we all have a culture. It may vary from place to place, but the need for social interaction between people is there for everyone. Our minds are also wired in a similar way to one another. Human intellect is built to survive and to adapt to our environment. Our minds are designed to learn languages and to pick up on human behaviors since we were children and throughout the rest of our lives. I do not believe in the blank slate theory.
I also think that to be human is to feel things emotionally. I think that it is human nature to feel things to the core of your being. It is also natural for us to respond to each other in an emotional way. Emotions come naturally to every human being. Nonetheless, I have to wonder why emotions are so much more complicated and intricate for women? I understand that women have hormones that cause them to be overly emotional; however, I think that there is more to the story than that. I think that there is something in our genes or that we are born with our minds being inclined to be more emotional. God caused women to nurture their children. I think that this might have something to do with all of the emotions that women have. Children learn different things from their parents. Kids learn nurturing from their mother. Is it possible that we learn our emotions from our mother as well? I think that this is a highly probable possibility.
Overall, human nature is a complex topic. From my experience, human nature is generally the same for everyone but the little details vary from person to person. Everyone that I know loves to interact with others. Complete strangers will have long conversations on an airplane or a bus. Humans are a very social creature by nature. I have also seen from experience that humans are innately curious. We want to find out about something even if it is dangerous to us. It is also human nature to have a culture and to be influenced by this culture. This is where we each are different in our nature. We each think differently and believe different things. We are easily pressured into conforming to our society and changing ourselves for others. Humans like to live in peace with each other and with nature. Therefore, we are constantly changing and adapting to our environment. Our world is continuously changing around us, as well. Thus, our nature is constantly changing and adapting. We will never cease to change. No one has summed up human nature as well as Jean-Jacques Rousseau: "We do not know what our nature permits us to be".
All of the authors that we have read have each defined human nature differently. Some said that human nature was to be in sync with nature, whereas others said that human nature could not be separated from human biology. Many of the authors that we have read said that we feel the need to pass on our history to our children and that we need to learn from our past instead of run away from it. Multiple authors also agreed that it is in our nature to have a culture and to need to interact among ourselves. We have a need to socialize with other humans. Some of the authors said that humans are innately curious beings and that we are very emotional. A few of the authors that we read said that humans are easily influenced by each other. The one thing that all of the authors that we read agreed with, was that human nature is extremely complex.
Human nature is a subject that we humans do not know much about. Human nature is something that we have speculated about for thousands of years, but as of yet, have not reached a definite conclusion. This class has stretched us to try to define human nature ourselves. We have seen many perspectives of human nature that the varying authors have presented along with the evidence that they have for their theories. We have tried our best to reach our own conclusion about human nature. Many different questions are raised by this topic. The main question at the heart of human nature is: what does it mean to be human and of the human condition?
In The Origins of Virtue, Matt Ridley suggests many things about human nature. He says that some of the defining characteristics of humans are our: social interaction with each other, communities, cooperation, the fact that we like to learn (have endless knowledge), mutual aid and trust, and the complexity of the brain and ourselves. "How would you characterize the behavior of [humans]? One of the first ideas that would come to mind is 'social: lives in large groups with complex inter-relationships among individuals'" (Ridley 7). Ridley believes that the socialization that we humans do is unique - that other animals do not socialize the way that we do. We enjoy being in the company of others and do not like being alone very often. We are social creatures.
Ridley also says, "What makes human beings different is culture. Because of the human practice of passing on traditions, customs, knowledge and beliefs by direct information from one person to another, there is a whole new kind of evolution going on in human beings - a competition not between genetically different individuals or groups, but between culturally different individuals or groups" (Ridley 179). We compete against each other in order to survive. However, in order to better our cultures and ourselves we also have to cooperate with one another. "The human mind contains numerous instincts for building social cooperation" (Ridley 262). "Cooperation is a frequent feature of human society; trust is the very foundation of social and economic life" (Ridley 57). Cooperation between different cultures and peoples enables us to accomplish many things at once that would otherwise take a long time to complete. Thus, cooperation is actually a selfish thing to do.
Ridley also writes about the limitations and possibilities of how humans live. Some things that limit us, according to Ridley, are our complexity, our conformation to our society and culture and that we are herd-minded. On the other hand, we have the possibilities to constantly adapt, expand our knowledge and understand ourselves (and our nature) better.
Ridley's academic approach shapes his larger points: cooperative instincts are actually selfish behavior, humans live in complex societies and humans are unique compared to any other animal. Ridley assumes that the reader knows that humans are complex and that we work together, but that we do not know why we work together and do not have a deeper understanding of our behaviors. He believes that information and truth is gleaned through the exploration of all possibilities and the deduction of truth, reason and knowledge from there.
Margaret Edson agrees with Ridley in her play Wit. Edson's unique play suggests many surprising things about human nature: we care about what others think about us; we fear our dwindling time on earth; we thrive when we are in communities; we crave knowledge; and we overcome barriers. In the play, Vivian is having a conversation with a doctor, who is, in fact, ignoring her, explaining all of the amazing things that she has accomplished in her life. She is trying to prove herself to the doctors and to validate the reason for her existence to herself. Vivian also faces the fact that her time on earth is coming to an end. She says, "You cannot imagine how time … can be … so still. / It hangs. It weighs. And yet there is so little of it. / It goes so slowly, and yet it is so scarce" (Edson 30). There is no better way to describe what little time she has left on earth. It seems to drag on because she is weak from her cancer and treatment but she has such little time left to live. She also wants to spend time with people and have that social interaction; however, she is not receiving any social interaction from her doctors or nurses. She might have lived even longer if she had had social interaction from those around her.
Vivian later goes on to have a conversation with her nurse, Susie. Vivian tells Susie, "I always want to know more things. I'm a scholar" (Edson 54). This is our true human nature. We always crave knowledge; to know something that others do not know. We want to be mentally "ahead" of other people. We also are a very determined species. E.M. Ashford tells Vivian that living "is ultimately about overcoming the seemingly insuperable barriers separating life, death, and eternal life" (Edson 14). When we face obstacles in our lives, we overcome them. It is not in our nature to just give up and stop living. Humans think their way out of adverse situations. This is what Edson had Vivian do. She had Vivian reexamine her thoughts and beliefs.
Edson approached her story as a play. Her larger points - that life is always changing, always transforming us; and that we keep getting caught up with the big picture when, sometimes, we need to stop and smell the roses for a while to appreciate what we have in our lives - are reinforced by relating to the reader/audience through experiencing what she is experiencing. They are also reinforced through making Vivian's emotions and thoughts more realistic because the readers are able to live her life with her. Edson assumes a couple of things about her readers: that they understand how to read plays and that they are good at deciphering complicated poetry. Edson also assumes that the only way to find truth, or what you really want and need in life, is to face death - to live like you are dying.
The third author that our seminar class read was Anne Truitt. In her book Daybook, Truitt suggests many defining characteristics of human nature. It is our nature to constantly change our minds, to need to be accepted by others and to understand ourselves. For example, Truitt writes, "My hope was that if I did this honestly I would discover how to see myself from a perspective that would render myself whole in my eyes" (Truitt 4). Truitt wanted to understand herself better and to see things from a different perspective. Truitt also says that we need to express ourselves. She writes, "I have trouble expressing my feelings" (Truitt 210). However, with art life is different for Truitt. She says, "Art is an extension of self", it is an expression of self (Truitt 92). Truitt had difficulty expressing herself to people. However, when she created art, she easily expressed herself. Truitt went on to write, "I also know that I have to guard against allowing myself to be defined, either by myself or by others, in traditional, sociological terms" (Truitt 110). She believes that we all are easily influenced by each other. She believes that we conform to the world around us and that we should just be ourselves and not conform to the world.
This is a limit that we put on ourselves - judgment. We also limit ourselves by being alone, being selfish and living in our past rather than the present. However, Truitt also says that we have many possibilities. We can find deeper meaning in our lives and our world. We have the potential to understand others and ourselves better. We can learn from our experiences while not living in the past. We also have the possibility to change ourselves and make a better world and society.
Truitt's diary style of writing reinforces her larger points: that we all need to express ourselves in some way but that expression can vary from person to person; that we all need to have a reason to live; and that we all need to understand ourselves. Throughout the book, Truitt assumes that her readers have an artistic background or are at least able to understand things from an artistic standpoint. She believes that we need to see things from different perspectives and see them for what they truly are in order to be able to find the truth and what we really believe.
The last author that we read was Robert Capon. His book Between Noon and Three is all about the grace of God. One of the things that Capon suggests about human nature in his book is that we are not perfect and that we all need grace. However, he also says that humans have a hard time believing in grace. "How nice to think of what it would be like if, in the thick of my sins, I were told that I stood uncondemned by a love that would not let me go" (Capon 112). We humans have the nature of trying to understand concepts that are impossible for us to comprehend, concepts such as grace. We compare everything in human standards. How can we compare God in human standards? The Bible says that God's ways are not our ways and that God is far beyond what we can comprehend. Similarly, Capon wrote, "The world the Father sees and loves is the world he sees in his only-begotten Son" (Capon 233). God loves us so much that sent His only-begotten son to die for us so that we could live eternally with Him. "For while we were yet sinners, Christ died for…us" (Capon 179-180). We cannot even begin to understand God or His reasons or ways. Yet it is human nature to be curious and to want to understand everything. It is also human nature to want to be accepted by others. Capon said, "We all long to establish our identity by seeing ourselves as approved in other people's eyes" (Capon 162). It is only natural for us humans to establish an identity and to be accepted by others. Capon believes that the only important thing is that we are accepted by God and that we need to accept God in turn.
Capon says that we limit ourselves. He also says that our understanding limits us so much so that we cannot live to our full potential. Our need for knowledge and to understand everything also limits us. On the other hand, Capon says that humans have many possibilities. He says that we can be closer to God. We can understand others and ourselves better. He also believes that we can change ourselves for the better. Capon believes that we can all live in harmony with each other and with God if only we would try to do so.
Capon's journalistic style of writing reinforces his larger points. Some of his larger points are that grace is unfathomable to humans, grace is so simple but we complicate and misunderstand it, and that we put human "limits" on God even though God is limitless. God is unfathomable to us and so is everything that he does for us. He wants us to be able to come and live with Him forever so he offers us grace. We think that there has to be a catch in there somewhere, so we do not believe that He is being serious. Thus, we put limits on God and make what He does much harder. Capon's larger points are true, but not everyone believes him. Capon assumes that all of his readers have some sort of religious background and that they all know about God and His offer of grace. Capon also believes that God is truth. In order to find the truth, we must first find God and understand Him to the best of our abilities.
All of the authors that we have discussed have many different thoughts about human nature and how to define it. These authors also had many viewpoints on the limits and possibilities of the way that humans might live. Some of these viewpoints are similar to authors that we have read in the first half of this semester. Edson and Capon extend each other's argument. Edson and Capon both write about grace. Edson writes that people do "not need to hide from God's judgment, only to accept God's forgiveness" (Edson 41). Capon completely agrees with this statement. In his book, he writes about people that just need to accept God's grace instead of run away from it. Similarly, both authors write about God creating humans. They say that God created us because He loves us.
Ridley complicates this argument, however. Within The Origins of Virtue, Ridley explains that we were created through evolution; that we were created by chance. He writes, "We are survival machines - robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes" (Ridley 19). We are selfish individuals, created through evolution, and our sole purpose in life is to pass on our genes so that they can live. Steven Pinker agrees with Ridley. He believes that we were created by evolution. "Everyone knows that in biology a living cell can only come from another living cell" (Pinker 28).
Truitt, Morrison, Limerick and Silko also complicate and extend each other's argument. Truitt says that we all want to leave something behind, something to be remembered by. She wrote, "Ordered into the physical, in time we leave the physical, and leave behind us what we have made in the physical" (Truitt 60). Morrison, Limerick and Silko would also agree with Truitt in that we want to leave a legacy whether it be to our family or to strangers that we do not know personally. No one can ever be sure of what lays beyond death and it is nice to be able to give something to others that means something to them (Truitt 157).
Overall, I have enjoyed reading these books. Some I liked more than others and some I just did not like at all. A few books were easy to understand and relate to whereas other books did not keep my interest and I had to struggle through the readings. I agree with Ridley in that we are a complicated species and that we are all trying to find meaning and reason in our lives. I also agree with Capon when he says that we are all sinners and that only God's grace can save us from our sins.
Anne Truitt's Daybook stretched me a little bit more than what I am used to. I found it hard to always relate to her, even though I am an artist myself. In addition, some of the things that she said I could not relate to because of my age (for example, her being a mother and having a full-time job). I was very interested in how she perceived the world, however. I expected her to perceive it differently than she did - at least even more abstractly than how most humans do. Even though this book stretched me to think differently, I was interested in it.
Edson's play Wit was the book that stretched me the most. I had a harder time understanding all of the meanings behind Edson's work. I have never really read and analyzed a play before, so that was different for me. I also do not like to decipher poetry and there were many of John Donne's sonnets in the play. They all had a different meaning behind them but I did not always understand that meaning. I got very frustrated with trying to figure things out at a deeper level. I thus was only able to understand the meanings that were at the tip of the iceberg. I did enjoy reading this play and seeing the characters develop over time, especially Vivian. I enjoyed seeing the reformation of her want for a personal and socially interactive life when before she had none. It really added depth to her character and effectively displayed part of true human nature.
Edson, Ridley, Truitt and Capon each define human nature differently in their books. What does it mean to be human and of the human condition? Human nature is an extremely complicated concept. There is no definite definition for human nature yet, as there are countless theories of it. From reading these four authors along with all of the other authors in the first part of the semester, I have concluded that there are three main aspects of human nature: physicalities, mind, and emotions. That is to say, humans are independent of each other and have different ways of acting, thinking, and feeling.
I understand human nature to be universal. I think that there is something in every individual that is similar, if not the same. For example, we all have a culture. It may vary from place to place, but the need for social interaction between people is there for everyone. Our minds are also wired in a similar way to one another. Human intellect is built to survive and to adapt to our environment. Our minds are designed to learn languages and to pick up on human behaviors since we were children and throughout the rest of our lives. I do not believe in the blank slate theory.
I also think that to be human is to feel things emotionally. I think that it is human nature to feel things to the core of your being. It is also natural for us to respond to each other in an emotional way. Emotions come naturally to every human being. Nonetheless, I have to wonder why emotions are so much more complicated and intricate for women? I understand that women have hormones that cause them to be overly emotional; however, I think that there is more to the story than that. I think that there is something in our genes or that we are born with our minds being inclined to be more emotional. God caused women to nurture their children. I think that this might have something to do with all of the emotions that women have. Children learn different things from their parents. Kids learn nurturing from their mother. Is it possible that we learn our emotions from our mother as well? I think that this is a highly probable possibility.
Overall, human nature is a complex topic. From my experience, human nature is generally the same for everyone but the little details vary from person to person. Everyone that I know loves to interact with others. Complete strangers will have long conversations on an airplane or a bus. Humans are a very social creature by nature. I have also seen from experience that humans are innately curious. We want to find out about something even if it is dangerous to us. It is also human nature to have a culture and to be influenced by this culture. This is where we each are different in our nature. We each think differently and believe different things. We are easily pressured into conforming to our society and changing ourselves for others. Humans like to live in peace with each other and with nature. Therefore, we are constantly changing and adapting to our environment. Our world is continuously changing around us, as well. Thus, our nature is constantly changing and adapting. We will never cease to change. No one has summed up human nature as well as Jean-Jacques Rousseau: "We do not know what our nature permits us to be".