Humanity.

• Lan wrote on 2010-12-07 23:15
  In this would there are horrible people, cruel people, people capable of deeds so terrible that most people would feel sick to their stomachs just thinking about them. There have been great tragedies in this world caused by human greed or jealousy, and even to this day humans are mistreating other humans and creatures.
  
  Yet despite all of this there are kind humans capable of great acts of kindness than most people can ever dream of. There are those who dedicate their whole lives and all their possessions towards the well being of others people or of animals. In the good their are bad, and in the bad there is good.
  
  And yet many times when people act like humans (make mistakes or do stupid things) people keep generalizing, saying humans are a plague of the earth, or I'm ashamed of being human.
  
  But really, you shouldn't. You are not like that crazy person who raped or murdered dozens of people and most people are not like that either. So why are you ashamed of being a member of the human race? Sure we make mistakes, sure we have a capacity for great acts of evil, but those are what makes us human. Our faults and how we deal with them. Embrace your humanity, because for every evil deed, there can be an even greater good deed :)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  (Why did I write this? I'm a cynic and a pessimist :/)
• Sleeperdial wrote on 2010-12-07 23:28
  You inspire me. Makes me want to live another day, instead of simply getting through it. (Is also a cynic and a pessimist.)
• EndlessDreams wrote on 2010-12-07 23:41
  I laugh at those people who say humans are the plague of the earth, and human will destroy earth or whatever. Such shear arrogance. For some reason, some people think that the universe revolves around humans, and created the idea that an invisible man in the sky that created the universe solely for us. We even have the arrogance to think that we can "save" the planet, and "save" the endangered animals...
  
  George Carlin puts this topic well:
  [video=youtube;eScDfYzMEEw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw[/video]
• Lolicon wrote on 2010-12-08 05:36
  I'm too lazy to think about these things. But still, humans are pretty much the king of the world. If not, then Vice President.
• Cucurbita wrote on 2010-12-08 06:55
  Humans have no reason to destroy the planet or itself.
  
  First of all, we need to explore the psychological aspects of humanity.
  
  1. Humans are mammals. All living beings follow one single iron rule that dictate all our other actions: survive.
  2. For humans to survive, they must live together in society and communities in cooperation.
  3. In order to maintain an established community, social norms are created.
  4. As survival is the main reason for the existence of greed and competitive nature of humanity, some are pushed beyond what our social norms allow.
  
  Anything else is purely conditioning.
  
  People aren't "good" or "evil". They are empty slates born with only one goal: live.
  How they live is decided by how they are conditioned. And our society as we know it today dictate that everyone must be conditioned to be good, for the sake of being good (but overall, the ulterior motives of these rules are that it leads to a solid community and therefore better survivability).
  
  People who are truly good and care for others without benefits are those who were conditioned to be that way.
  People who stray from such a path and become criminals are those who were conditioned to be that way.
  
  Most of us, however, behave based on the benefits of our actions. Which also returns us to my original point. There are consequences and rewards for almost everything we do. We chose to act based on the rewards.
  
  

  Quote from Jerain;240693:

  I'm too lazy to think about these things. But still, humans are pretty much the king of the world. If not, then Vice President.

  
  
  Dolphins are confirmed to have much greater intelligence than human beings. The only downside is that they have no method of making records of their learnings. If humanity passed our knowledge purely by teaching it face to face, we wouldn't have gotten this far.
  
  Dolphins can communicate with each other, and can even teach each other. But they can't write, and their communication is limited to sounds. If they had hands and lived above water, they could very well easily be the dominant race on the planet.
  
  They're intelligent enough to have sex for reasons besides procreating and even have thoughts of suicide.
• Intex wrote on 2010-12-08 08:12
  I'm ashamed of being human because I wish I was more.
  Just like the term "only human" means imperfection.
  
  
  I'm glad we're complex and can think about such issues but I hate dealing with them.
  However I would never willingly become ignorant or blind.
  Why do we even need to think about environmentalism, war, or murder?
  Why can't I only worry about the weather?
• Adelynn wrote on 2010-12-08 22:19
  I agree with what you say. There are all sorts of of people in the world.
  
  I find it interesting that some of the people who tell us not to generalize a certain group of people, like gays, or blacks, catholics (basically anything that can be called a "group") still manage to generalize the entire human race. Food for thought.
  
  I try not to generalize, and while I admit I will fail sometimes, I try to catch myself so it won't happen again. It's interesting to think,though, that some of the so-called stereotypes for groups of people end up being true, but even then, there's a bigger picture that needs to be looked at.
• Zid wrote on 2010-12-09 17:47
  I suppose that the person who embraces his or her humanity and is a good person means there is no shame, only ultimate acceptance in the imperfection and puts forth all their efforts to live with it.
  
  True, there is reasons for both "good" and "evil". However, with how far humanity has become, it matters less on the survival of ourselves and more on so what the decision to live your life is.
  
  There is a difference in living sadly and living happily.