What it means to be human

A book I read recently talks about how the speed of our natural (physical) evolution has not kept pace with socio-economic and ecological changes. The example would be our instinctual fight-or-flight response, which fails to register creeping environmental and social issues, resulting in the “boiled frog syndrome”. Hence, it becomes the task of socio-economic, psycho-cultural and techno-scientific evolution, which can adapt more quickly, to compensate for these natural gaps and ensure our survival.

I wonder whether applying constraints to our natural instincts isn’t in many ways the very definition of what it means to be human. Civilizations have been built because we have managed to impose order (rules, codes of conduct, taboos) on ourselves. Notwithstanding all the abuse of power that has resulted, this has also allowed us to organise ourselves as complex societies. Human society has always been about restraint, as have many of the religious traditions of the world. Our legal and moral/ethical systems (which can also evolve relatively quickly) are among the ways we enforce restraint over many of our instincts.

The dangers of being alienated from nature should not be overlooked. Viktor Frankl, the existential psychologist, writes about this from his Nazi prison camp experiences – how, by the time they were released, they were numb to the beauty of nature, having been cut off for so long. Likewise, I have seen this among township-kids in South Africa, who fear nature (even just taking a walk in the woods), because it has become alien to their experience of what is a “normal” and “safe” environment. We need to maintain physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual connections to nature.

Perhaps the difference between humans and animals is that we are conscious of our ability to bring about our own extinction. This is what gives us an incentive to curb many of our natural instincts (which are to exploit, consume, conquer and pollute without thought for future generations). Also, the rules have changed. We are a pioneering species (aren’t all species?) and we have been remarkably successful. But we are not the first species to have achieved this. The difference is that other species have unconsciously failed due to their success (the boom and bust scenario), whereas we can foresee and avoid that endgame by adapting.

Finally, the spiritual dimension of the human experience cannot be ignored. Once again, however, this is often about using the power of choice (our intellect, will or consciousness) to deny or control our natural instincts. We choose forgiveness over revenge. We decide to engage in charity over selfishness. There may be another evolutionary reason for this. Jung claimed that our ability to seek and find meaning in our lives is what makes us human, and modern existential psychologists find that “relationships” and “self-transcendence” (doing things for others, for the common good) are among our main sources of meaning.