By Zahra Bhatti
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“There are three things extremely hard: steel, diamonds and to know one’s self.”
Benjamin Franklin
For centuries man has been trying to understand human nature, different religions and schools of thought hold different opinions. But what exactly is human nature and how would you explain it in simple terms? And can human nature be changed?
Stating the standard definition of human nature is the ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are common to most people. Humans possess ability to think and reason, to feel, have intelligence, personality, attitude, morality and creativity.
For realists human nature is selfish, prone to war and works for survival while on the other hand, liberals (modern and classical) believe humans to be rational thinkers and its nature to be optimistic. All this time I have read philosophy, it’s been all about trying to figure out human nature thus making it more complicated day by day for us people.
In Islam, human nature has been discussed in terms of good and evil, free will and accountability but that doesn’t mean that free will is absolute, it has its limits. As it’s been said in Quran; “And you do not will except that Allah wills.” Meaning your will is connected with the will of Allah and nothing happens only with the individual’s will.
Moreover, Human beings display both good and evil side which shows that the humans are capable of both good and evil deeds. However, the soul is not inherently evil, but it has the budding for evil. Furthermore, humans are inherently good but they also have the potential to commit sins which make them accountable for the choices they make and will determine their life in the hereafter.
Moving on to other religions, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism all believe in free will and accountability. The belief that humans have the capability to reason, the ability to choose between right and wrong, good and evil.
In my opinion, human beings are the most civilized and modified creation of God. Humans possess both body and soul, making them dualistic in nature. I think that human beings were created in perfect physical form, a brain with complete ability to think and innovate, a pair of eyes, arms, legs and a pumping heart that never rests. And this makes me think that what more can a man ask for and how can he question his own existence?
The answer to this can be that a man is eager to know what makes him so special, so selfish, so competitive or so cooperative and self-sacrificing in life. After all, curiosity is a part of human nature. But should we blame our self-seeking behaviors, sexual desires or the thirst for power on human nature? I don’t think so. It is up to us to control our desires and needs. Maybe the attachment of the humans to the worldly things have strayed us from our path and the true meaning of life. We are not sent here to this world to suffer or to hurt, sufferings are just part of this learning process, without losing anything or anyone how can we learn to love, care or know the importance and significance of people and things in our lives.
Answer to my second question is, but wait a second, why would you want to change human nature? Is it because we have inclination towards war and violence? If yes, then you must also know that we humans also have inclination towards cooperation, support and self-control. We are born with all the potential and capabilities, as the saying goes “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” So it’s entirely up-to us humans to decide what we ought to be. If the human race is willing to remember their past, no matter the circumstances, our values and morals will control change; we will be able to always prevail.
Humans have failed to realize that his creations are not making him any happier or wiser. One has to change his attitude towards life in order to understand his true self. What makes human different from one another is the way we make our decisions in life and the path we choose. Remember, Human nature isn’t complicated, people are.
About Author:
The author is an aspiring writer and researcher that writes about social, political and global issues along with emotional issues that are not touched otherwise. She is a researcher at the National Defence University and has done her Masters in Social Sciences from Bahria University. Her majors in Research is International Relations.