this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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Human nature is an essentialist myth.
There is no single behaviour or set of behaviour that applies to all humans everywhere at once.
There is only the way we are specialised and how the systems we live in shape us think and act.
We smile when we're happy, we frown when we're sad. We come out the womb crying before anyone teaches us what that is. We naturally learn how to drink milk, with little prodding to do so. Crawling happens naturally, walking happens naturally. Talking too, although it is learned through observation so I can see your point there, but also, it's natural to learn through observation
We all show pain when we stub our toes. We all look for water when we're thirsty. There's also behaviors that are natural that don't show up in everyone. I don't see why they have to be that consistent across the board, right? Some people will naturally show more anger, while others - for no discernible reason - just don't.
And I'm not denying learned behaviors don't happen either. We can clearly see how both can happen if we just observe human interactions and their cause and effect honestly.
The idea that human nature is a myth was perpetuated by Marx out of a desire to reform human behavior through the state. He used the assumption that humans aren't natural agents to justify exerting full control over how people behave. This isn't my opinion by the way, I'm telling you what Marx said. He also did little work to justify the assumption, with no scientific or philosophical basis beyond his assertion that it's true
Strongly disagree. There are common trends and themes all throughout human history. This does not mean that every individual human behaves a certain way, it means that large enough groups of humans do.