Rational Understanding of Human Nature

[Ilya Shambat]

There are people who believe human nature to be any number of things,
ranging from economic self-interest to collective action for benefit
of humanity to supporting life on earth. To have a rightful
understanding of what it is that one serves one needs to have a full
picture of what it is that one is dealing with. The rational
understanding of human benefit is based on a rational understanding of
what is the human being, and that is as follows:




A being that has evolved as oneself, as part of one's species, and as
part of life, will have orientation toward all these things. And all
of these - self-interest, humanity-interest and life-interest - are
valid parts of human nature that will be found, to different extents,
in different people and at different times in their lives.




Which means that a truly rational conception of human being will
realize all these directions and provide a workable framework that
each can be pursued, with mechanisms in place to maximize benefit and
minimize destructive effects.




All of these aspects of human nature, and accompanying interests, have
been described by different philosophies, each of which seeing one
part of the picture and confusing it for the whole. We see self-
interest dominating objectivist and capitalist philosophies, humanity-
interest dominating humanitarian and socialist philosophies, and life-
interest dominating environmentalism. From a rational standpoint, all
these describe a part of the picture and are right to affirm that part
of the picture as much as they are wrong to deny others.




Thus, the rational conception of human being will value the life-
interest enough to put into place mechanisms to disincentivize
blindness, short-sightedness and brainlessness that comes from
inattention to natural aspect of life - practices such as burning down
Amazonian rainforest to create ranches that last for two years then
turn into desert, or flooding the atmosphere with gases that cause
overheating and floods. Instead it will put into place mechanisms to
incentivize prudence and ingenuity, such as creating technologies that
maximize utility while minimizing waste and environmental destruction,
and creating clean energy technologies that will give people
everything they have now and more at a much lesser damage to the
planet.




The rational conception of human being will also recognize the vast
contributions of people who were driven, not by self-interest, but by
interest in the well-being of humanity: people such as scientists and
teachers. Not only is most of what business sells based on science - a
humanity-oriented, government-funded, altruistically valued, endeavor
- but without government science, government Interstate, government
Internet and government education, the economy would be a fraction of
its present size. Most of the contributors to knowledge that is at the
root of what people have were interested in benefiting humanity, not
in advancing self-interest, and it is important that people be
reminded of this from time to time as many tend to forget.




Finally, the rational conception of human being will recognize
people's right to self-definition and self-interest - what is known as
personal freedom - and have a framework in which people can advance
their personal freedom without killing one another.




It is in understanding these aspects and providing a framework in
which they can function that true rationality can be accomplished and
true benefit of humanity can actually be served.

[Zerkon]

In article <ca1cb8f2-f972-4054-ad9d-
b6d695...@ri8g2000pbc.googlegroups.com>, ibsh...@gmail.com says...

> To have a rightful
> understanding of what it is that one serves one needs to have a full
> picture of what it is that one is dealing with.
>

One needs to 'have' and then understand the picture frame. A full
pitcher does not hurt all that much either.

> ...people can advance their personal freedom without killing one
> another.

As long as some people believe they have a 'rightful understanding'
while others do not, groups of people will continue to kill other groups
of people.

[Dare]

"Ilya Shambat" <ibsh...@gmail.com> wrote in message news:ca1cb8f2-f972-4054...@ri8g2000pbc.googlegroups.com...

>
> It is in understanding these aspects and providing a framework in
> which they can function that true rationality can be accomplished and
> true benefit of humanity can actually be served.

Who/What provides and decides this "framework"...and How?

[Ilya Shambat]

On May 6, 12:38 am, "Dare" <clydad...@gmail.com> wrote:
> "Ilya Shambat" <ibsham...@gmail.com> wrote in messagenews:ca1cb8f2-f972-4054...@ri8g2000pbc.googlegroups.com...

>
> > It is in understanding these aspects and providing a framework in
> > which they can function that true rationality can be accomplished and
> > true benefit of humanity can actually be served.
>
> Who/What provides and decides this "framework"...and How?

Check http://sites.google.com/site/ilyashambatwritings/integrative .

[iL_WeReo]

My nature is your nature.

[Ilya Shambat]

Not necessarily. There are any number of natures with which people are
born. My take here is that a being that has evolved as himself, as
part of his species and as part of life will have orientation toward
all these things, with different people having different mixes and at
different times of their lives.