(Warning: Heavy) Thoughts on humanity

[briankoontz]

It takes a lot of ignorance to blame "human nature" for outcomes which are dependent on many factors only lightly related to human nature.

Take the current examples - most of the military conflict in the world at the moment is in Africa and the Middle East. This has nothing to do with "human nature" or the "racial nature" of the people in those regions but has a lot to do with outside money and weapons coming in to try to control the regions for their resources.

Many Africans are starving or close to it, so they pick up a gun and kill whoever the warlord tells them to instead of not having anything to eat. Not "human nature".

World War II was a big wake up call for the world in terms of the newly destructive power of modern weaponry. Ideology wasn't the problem there - ideology can only be carried so far if all you have is a squirt gun. Ideology was an excuse for power-hungry people to exert domination, just as the US military machine does in current times under the ideology of capitalist market fundamentalism. Noone really believes in totalitarianism, but there's no better system than totalitarianism for providing tremendous pleasure to people who love power.

Even in the heart of the global empire, in America itself, most Americans are not capitalists. It's not "American nature" to be assholes.

The world is made up largely of servants and slaves, and we powerless people are at the mercy of powerful forces. That's why wars happen. If we are able to control our own lives, finally, everything will change for the better.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

The only part of this that's "heavy" is my own weariness with this kind of sentiment. Sheesh, you're not the first person to think humanity sucks, and you won't be the last. Get over yourself.

I think this is appropriate:

 

[Kieve]

Suggested reading: "The Island" [http://www.rifters.com/real/shorts/PeterWatts_TheIsland.pdf] by Peter Watts.

I can't really describe it without spoiling things, but it's a short read and well worth your time. Bottom line being, humanity isn't more horrible than anything else in the cosmos.

Pretty much everything has already been said in the first page, but as depressing as the human species can be sometimes, there's a lot of good out there too, if you're looking for it.

 

[BytByte]

This thread encapsulates why humanity is pretty freakin awesome. There are people who want to give up and only see the negative side, while there are others who take the whole picture of humanity into account. I like us and the good we have done and CAN STILL DO is far better than what some rotten apples have done.

 

[barbzilla]

I found this repeating slideshow of pictures from the Battle for Stalingrad. I felt the hope beginning to dissipate from me just watching it.

It got me thinking: In countless bloody battles like Stalingrad that have occurred throughout the centuries, fully grown humans have been reduced to their very worst qualities. They have allowed confrontations to transform them into twisted, brutal parodies of their former selves. Conflicts boil over borders like an all-consuming plague as these savage butchers systematically destroy everything in sight fighting over land. Earth. The only home they've ever known in their lives. And at the end of it all, those who survived have forgotten who they were.

I could probably poke my head out the fucking window right now and hear someone getting into a fistfight over something utterly inconsequential. And this isn't even Glasgow. The vicious cycles of xenophobia, ignorance and violence don't seem to want to end.

I cannot stand the idea of this race reaching other planets and civilizations in its current condition. What would they bring, what could they bring to other races besides their own poisonous, lethal dogmas? Their diseases? Slavery? The same mistakes of their past would be repeated ad nauseum, on an increasingly large scale.

During my time here I have started thinking that the most noble act the human race could commit would be to end itself entirely. It would be an act of selflessness and mercy to anyone else out there in the cosmos. Otherwise, since starvation and disease don't seem to be killing enough of the population, war will probably pick up the slack. Again and again.

Anyway, I might as well ask people what they think. Do you find yourselves feeling this way? Ever snapped and wanted to "kill all humans", as the saying goes?

-----

TLR version for the bone-idle: The human race - Do we need it?

Yes, but no. Allow me to explain.

I do get those feelings sometimes, so I can say yes, but I do not believe in the cause because there is hope. Mankind has been evolving for many many years, the evolutions have been minor, but they are existent. The trend in said evolution is towards greater intelligence. I know it doesn't seem that way, but the average will always seem like the average to people looking at it from the inside. If you look back at the past there are fewer and fewer acts of true intelligence the further back you go (unfortunately there isn't any definitive proof to what I am saying, however the mere fact that we have so many groups dedicated to abolishing mistakes of the past lends me confidence).

You might ask what purpose intelligence serves in the hope for humanity. Truly intelligent people tend towards being more peaceful and aware of others needs/feelings. You could counter that with the fact that it is intelligent people that invent destructive objects, but that is at the behest of the people paying them (who tend towards lesser intelligence). Your average scientist works in a field that interests them under the payment of the people with the money. The people with the money tend to be sharp, but not truly intelligent. They put the dollar above a person, but I am getting sidetracked.

There have been studies showing that the more intelligent a person, the less prone to violence they are. Though it isn't universally true. There are some very intelligent people who are quite violent (see Pol Pot). If we are tending towards intelligence in our evolution, there will eventually come a time where we are not such barbaric people. This time is most certainly not now, but it will eventually come. It is during that time that I hope we are ready to visit other places.

TLDR: The more we grow as an intelligent race the more in touch we are with the things and people around us. Eventually we will not be the grotesque and barbaric people we are now.

 

[Movitz]

The Threadstarter seems to forget something:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVESMxs4rbA

 

[Racecarlock]

You don't want humanity to die, you want stupidity to die. Whether that stupidity is the kind that causes tyranny and thousands of deaths and lots of oppression or the kind of stupidity that causes people to whack each other in the balls and turn up treadmills high enough for them to fall off.

That's understandable, at least. The alternative is that all of the actually smart people like you, me, and most of the people on this forum would also die. And that would suck.

 

[Cheesepower5]

I was having a bad day, but it's hella' heartening seeing everyone sticking up for our kind here. It's easy to pass any group off as undesirable or inferior. That you guys have all thrown away that temptation and taken the good with the bad is admirable, to say the least. And TC, I hope you're just in a rough spot and get over this way of thinking soon. I really do, because those bad times are going to end and if you're still thinking this way then - that's kind of depressing. Enjoy what you can, don't worry how good we are as a species. Nothing is perfect, so live up to what you can.

 

[deathbydeath]

You don't want humanity to die, you want stupidity to die. Whether that stupidity is the kind that causes tyranny and thousands of deaths and lots of oppression or the kind of stupidity that causes people to whack each other in the balls and turn up treadmills high enough for them to fall off.

I appreciate this.

OP, don't be such a nihilistic nancy. Sure, people are stupid, we've been that way since Adam and Eve started to experiment with their meal habits. That's how we roll.

One thing that really irritates me is when people finally realize that something is shit, they won't fucking stop. Sure, Hitler. Sure, sex trafficking. Sure, Youtube comment sections. Sure, those all exist, but hasn't it occurred to you to remove your nostrils from the garbage can and cast a glance at the damn roses on the other side of the sidewalk? To start, here's an image [http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr41ffw0jr1qhxie4o1_r1_1280.jpg] I yoinked from the link WanderingFool posted.

Here's an idea: If you aren't a fan of all the shit going down in the world, then change it. Be that person everyone brings up as a counterpoint when someone like you starts bitchily waxing philosophical on human nature and shit. Stop whining and get shit done.

 

[BrassButtons]

One thing that really irritates me is when people finally realize that something is shit, they won't fucking stop. Sure, Hitler. Sure, sex trafficking. Sure, Youtube comment sections. Sure, those all exist, but hasn't it occurred to you to remove your nostrils from the garbage can and cast a glance at the damn roses on the other side of the sidewalk? To start, here's an image [http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr41ffw0jr1qhxie4o1_r1_1280.jpg] I yoinked from the link WanderingFool posted.

That story is awesome

I know someone who did something sort of similar. There was a kid in her class whose hygiene wasn't exactly great, and the kid was also known to come from a somewhat poor family. She realized that maybe they couldn't afford soap. Not wanting to make the kid feel bad by drawing attention to this, she bought little gift packs of soaps and lotions and things and gave one to every kid in the class. The kid's hygiene was better after that.

 

[Vault101]

> OP and several other people rant about how pitiful, disgusting, and (specifically) violent humanity is
> they lament about how awful it is to see humans act so abhorrently destructive to one another
> they end rants by saying they want to destroy all humans


The whiny-toned hypocrisy of this thread is quite humorous.

starchild arpoved logic!

seriously though thats why I find self proclaimed misanthropes are just stupid/whoiny/LOOK AT MEEEEE I'M SO EDGY annoying...jerks

 

[Vigormortis]

> OP and several other people rant about how pitiful, disgusting, and (specifically) violent humanity is
> they lament about how awful it is to see humans act so abhorrently destructive to one another
> they end rants by saying they want to destroy all humans


The whiny-toned hypocrisy of this thread is quite humorous.

starchild arpoved logic!

seriously though thats why I find self proclaimed misanthropes are just stupid/whoiny/LOOK AT MEEEEE I'M SO EDGY annoying...jerks

I know exactly what you mean. But, to be fair, I'm a self-proclaimed misanthrope. Well, half of one. My other half is a combination of a hopeless romantic and an optimist.

I know that sounds conflicting. And, it is. But it's what I am and it's how I view humanity; individually and as a whole.

Which is why, when someone asks me, "Do you trust me?", I respond with, "I trust you to be human."

Either way, you won't see me starting forum threads to complain about humanity.