Human Nature

“We have created a Star Wars civilization, with Stone Age emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology.”

― Edward O. Wilson, The Social Conquest of Earth

It was easy to grasp the lesson that humans are social creatures and that I must learn to thrive within my community. But understanding people and their nature was much more difficult. What I eventually learned about human nature changed my thinking on many issues. I wish I understood human nature better earlier in life.

Understanding human nature is important because it fundamentally affects our behavior and choices. It has implications for morality, relationships, work, sex, and other important facets of living. Different beliefs can lead to different actions and results. Insight into human nature increases success in turning good intentions into good results.

Humans have a nature like any other animal. Our nature includes mental processes, personality, emotions, motivations, instincts, and behavior. An understanding of human nature should include more than just knowing its components. It should include understanding why we have a certain nature, what guides its expression, and how to change or control it.

The Blank Slate Mistake

The blank slate view of human nature was an early influence on me. This is the view that people enter the world with the same ability to learn and adapt and without a pre-determined or set nature. We are a “blank slate,” molded by interactions with the environment, particularly by education.

It was the dominant view of human nature for a long time, with many intelligent proponents. It may have started with the philosopher John Locke said that a newborn mind was a “white paper, void of all characters.” Other philosophers such as Mill and Hume pick up the idea and argue that the mind is built from experience. Psychologist such as psychologist B.F. Skinner took the ideas further, suggesting ways to mold human behavior.

It is an appealing view of people. Without the constraints of an innate nature, reason, intelligence, and planning could control our destiny, individually and collectively. People could solve many of society’s problems by changing the environment. You could create a new man by controlling experiences and education.

This malleable view of human nature proved to be fundamentally wrong. It took me years of experience and learning to realize its weakness. I wasted time learning ideas that did not enhance my understanding of myself and others.

My views on human nature changed significantly after learning about the scientific advances in evolutionary and behavioral biology and psychology. It provided the theory and evidence that humans are far from blank slates. Human nature is more complex and less changeable than I had assumed.

In this view, evolutionary processes produce a genetic inheritance which is a significant and powerful systematic cause of our nature. While our nature may substantially innate, it is not immutable or uncontrollable. There is considerable variation among individuals. Environment, including culture, influences behavior. It is not all nature and no nurture. But we cannot ignore the biological aspects of human nature if we want to be a better person. It is necessary to understand what we are working with.

Insights from Evolutionary Biology and Psychology

Evolution provides a compelling model for understanding human nature. It explains why humans, like all animals, have an innate nature. It rests on the premise that evolutionary forces influence human behavior as they do physical characteristics. Much in our nature – sexual desires, empathy, love, desire for status, sense of fairness, cooperation, etc. – exists because individuals exhibiting those characteristics produced more offspring. It is a simple, brutal process which, over millions of years, has produced the mix of behavioral and psychological characteristics we call our nature.

We have long understood the evolutionary process for physical characteristics. We know about Darwin, random genetic variation, natural selection, and the origin of the species. Research on Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos Islands has documented how natural selection favors finches with beaks better suited to the seeds in their environment and how beak size changes in response to changing seed availability. Other examples document the evolutionary process and show that evolutionary genetic change can be rapid.

The simple logic of the well-developed evolutionary model applies to human behavior and psychology. Evolutionary psychology studies how evolution affects behavior, emotions, thinking processes, and personality. Our psychological characteristics result from the same evolutionary process that produced opposable thumbs and large brains. The evidence is compelling and scientific progress in this field has been remarkable.

Evolution has no direction or endpoint. It does not progress toward more complexity or intelligence. Evolution does not care about our happiness or the greater good. It does not know the future. It is what happens when mixed and mutated genes confront the environment. What works will more likely pass to the next generation.

The process can produce mismatches. For example, environmental changes can turn strengths into liabilities. The evolutionary process will tend to correct the mismatches. But sometimes adaption is too slow and the environment changes too fast. Species can become ill suited to their current environment.

Scientific theory success rests on its predictive ability and the absence of contradictory evidence. The evolutionary biology/psychology model has become quite good at explaining and predicting human behavior. I have become convinced that we are born with an innate nature that emerges early in life. Our behavioral tendencies, emotions, thinking processes, and instincts profoundly influence how we act.

Our inherited nature is not good or bad from a moral perspective. Its primary test is reproductive success. There are aspects of human behavior, our strong tribal tendencies for example, which benefited us in the distant past. Yet today those same tendencies can be counterproductive when living in a diverse, global world.

Culture has a strong influence on the moral qualities of our nature and its expression. There is a good argument that moral codes developed to control our nature when there are mismatches or excesses between that nature and the needs of today’s civilization.

Complicating the understanding of nature is its variability. Like physical characteristics, height for example, human nature exists on a continuum. We may share many aspects, but the mix between individuals can be considerable. That can make it difficult to see what is common among us.

Our innate nature is not all powerful and deterministic. The environment influences our psychological predispositions and their behavioral expression. Nutrition, significant childhood events, and the social environment all have an effect. This is the ongoing nature versus nurture debate. I do not discount environment, especially in its influence on the behavioral expression of our nature. Instead, I have come to see it in a supporting role rather than the lead actor.

An essential complement to this view of human nature is the conviction that individual decisions, coupled with cultural constraints, moderate behavior even if our underlying emotions do not change. We may want to harm someone but do not because it violated our moral code and society’s law. Experiences, learning, and practice can reinforce good behaviors and suppress bad ones.

We have free will, even if we use it infrequently. We are not entirely robots programmed by our genes. But it has become clear to me that our hard-wired nature is more potent than I realized. We may not change our nature, but we learn to control it.

Viewing human nature as a product of evolution makes much observed behavior understandable. Desires and behaviors, from sex to status seeking to empathy to fear, have a context and a cause. Behavior can be viewed more objectively from this perspective. Behavior became less of a mystery for me.

Knowing what we are up against makes a substantial difference in how we choose to live. It led me to be more empathetic and understanding of behavior I may disapprove of or may hurt me. It helped me be more sympathetic to people struggling to control their nature and more understanding of my struggles. Actions that once seemed senseless are now more understandable even if they are still wrong or ineffective.

Personality

Personality is an aspect of human nature that deserves special attention. Elements of our nature, such as sexual desire, fear, empathy, hunger, and pain appear common to most people. But personality seems special, even unique, to individuals.

Personality affects how we think about the world, what we like and do not like, and how we interact with others. Personality reflects the variability among individuals in how they express aspects of human nature. For example, some people are more agreeable than others. Some can be risk takers while others are cautious.

The same questions about the origin and molding of human nature apply to personality because it is a part of that nature. How much of our personality are we born with? How does the environment affect it? What personality traits can we change?

Personality has been well studied. The most common high level personality framework is the “big five”: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Also well-known is Carl Jung, who identified eight psychological types. Katharine C. Briggs and Isabel Briggs Meyer further developed Jung’s views into the famous Myers-Briggs test for personality types.

Research on twins shows the major influence of genes on personality characteristics and the limited effect of shared environment. More recent genetic testing studies have strengthened these conclusions. Genes are not the only determinate of personality, but they are a substantial factor.

My observation is consistent with the research. Temperaments and personality differences emerge early in life, as most parents will confirm. While personality may develop during childhood and adolescence, basic personality characteristics seem largely set by adulthood. I have seen people mature with age, learn control, and moderate behavior. That has happened to me. I am much better at controlling my temper. But my basic personality and those of people I know seem quite stable.

Part of thriving is learning to control those parts of our personality that are destructive and undesirable. Likewise, people can learn to strengthen positive personality characteristics such as empathy. Fearful people can learn to be braver, and risk-takers can learn to be more careful.

We can learn to behave in way contrary to our natural inclinations. Actors learn to play a role even if their personality is quite different. It is often a necessary part of being able to work with others and be part of the community. But that learning does not necessarily change how people feel inside and the personality they default to when they do not have to act or are under stress.

I am an introvert. The extroversion/introversion dimension is one of the five big personality characteristics. Testing shows I am very introverted. That has not changed throughout my life. I cannot imagine anything that would turn me into an extrovert. However, for decades I did not understand why I was like this. Strongly introverted people are a distinct minority and it easy to feel out-of-step and wonder what is wrong.

Understanding the considerable influence of inherited biology on personality is vital in the search for happiness. I may not like that my basic personality is largely fixed and I wished at times that I was different. But accepting reality has helped me accept myself and make the most of what I have.

I do not waste time trying to be something I am not. Instead, I focused on moderating behavior, which I can control, to improve my life. One can learn how others perceive us and what we need to do to work well with them. We learn how to act against type. I have learned to act extroverted when I need to.

Our personality also affects what we are likely to be good at and what will be difficult. We can choose professions that better fit our personalities. We will be more successful and happy with a good match. People tend to be good at what they like. For many, work is a significant part of life. Choosing the right vocation can make a dramatic difference in our happiness. I have always sought jobs that include enough of what is a good fit for my personality to keep me happy at work.

Some peace and calm came with a deeper understanding of personality. In addition to accepting myself, I became better able to accept the personalities of others. I now understand more why people act the way they do and how I can interact with them most productively. That has been a tremendous help for my relationships.

The Influence of Emotions on Behavior

Emotions are a fundamental part of our nature. They are the actuating mechanism for much behavior. Like personality, the more we understand this aspect of our nature, the better we can modify our behavior, become better people, and be happier.

Most people make moral judgments quickly based on feelings. We “know” right from wrong, virtue from vice. Few take the time to reason through ethical decisions. Instead, we do what feels right.

This view of ethical decision-making is not new. Several moral philosophers, notably David Hume and Adam Smith, argued that moral judgments arise from emotions. “Reason is and ought only to be the slave of the passions” is a well-known Hume quote, suggesting we use reason to inform us but that our emotions motivate us. Hume and Smith argue that sympathy or empathy is a crucial emotion driving many ethical decisions. Our ability to empathize with others leads to many widely accepted moral values such as fairness, loyalty, honesty, and cooperation.

Our capacity for emotions appears primarily biological. Research has shown a commonality across cultures for basic moral behavior with ties to our emotions. Moral intuitions regarding care, fairness, loyalty, authority, sanctity, and liberty show up in nearly all cultures. Weightings may differ between cultures, but there are clear common threads. Researchers have observed similar behavior in other species, such as chimpanzees. All this suggests that there is an innate component to the emotions which lead us to follow these values.

The interaction between environment and emotions is complex. Emotions are often situation specific. While we may be born with the biological mechanisms for emotion, the triggers for emotion are clearly environmental. Anger and romantic desire typically follow some environmental clue.

Having emotions guide so much behavior is logical from an evolutionary perspective. Feeling-driven choices are easier and faster than following a deliberative, rational, and fact-driven process. We rarely have the time, or the philosophical framework, to make daily behavioral decisions based on sound analysis and applying a priori moral principles. No one must teach us how to feel, that comes easily. In most cases we simply act without thinking.

My approach to behavior, mine and others, changed as I understood the origin of emotions and how they influence actions. I used to be frustrated frequently when people did not act calmly based on reason and facts. Like Spock on Star Trek, human behavior often seemed illogical to me. Once I realized that reason commonly takes a back seat to feelings, the world made more sense. That improved my self-awareness and altered my approach to working with others.

This insight makes me more skeptical of my reasoning. Frequently people construct rational arguments and select the appropriate facts to support what they “decided” by feelings. I cannot assume my rational arguments are uninfluenced by emotions. That healthy skepticism sets a higher standard for my reasoning.

Implications of a Biology-based Human Nature.

There are big implications if biology has a large, if not dominant, role forming human nature. If genes have so much influence over behavior, what does that say about free will? How free are we to act when neural pathways and hormones constantly push us in one direction?

What about culture and public policy’s effectiveness in changing human nature and behavior? If culture cannot change our underlying nature, must culture forever battle the dysfunctional expressions of human nature? Is that a battle culture can win?

Much of our moral code rests on our more positive sentiments, such as love and empathy. But if empathy is simply part of a successful gene propagation strategy, how does that affect the morals that arise from it?

These questions do not have simple answers. But it is important to my happiness to keep working on solutions. As a practical matter, those solutions should take advantage of the positive aspects of our nature and control those detrimental to happiness and thriving.

Applying What We Know About Human Nature

Understanding human nature is necessary for thriving because we live with other humans. It is the dominant feature of our environment. Every day we must navigate through this complex world of other people following their natures while simultaneously dealing with our own. Human nature is a powerful force we cannot ignore.

The difficulty is, as E. O. Wilson notes, we are stone-age creatures in a space-age world. Therefore, happiness rests partly on effectively addressing the mismatch between our neolithic nature and the needs of the modern world.

Virtue and habit are effective ways to address this mismatch. It is impractical to think through every action to control the dysfunctional parts of our nature. But by adopting and regularly practicing broadly accepted virtues we can develop good habits. These habits can reflexively guide us toward good behavior. In time virtues and good habits become part of our character. Our emotions do not disappear, but we are better at controlling them.

What I now understand about human nature has changed what I consider controllable and what is not. It has changed my tactics for changing what is controllable. That understanding is part of the practical wisdom that Aristotle saw as an essential virtue. Now I approach decisions with a deeper understanding of what I am working with and better knowledge about how to be effective in getting a good outcome from my good intentions.

Despite the problems our nature poses for living well, I am optimistic that people can overcome them. Recognizing the situation is half the battle. I have seen people change their behavior. I have learned to change my behavior. It is all about applying knowledge, reason, and logic to get the best from our natural inclinations.