Dec 2014
"We have two natures. An animal nature and a human nature. Our animal nature is derived from 40 million years of ape history. We are 98.9 per cent chimp DNA. Chimpanzees are territorial, hierarchical, patriarchal and they are competitive-aggressive. We, as social beings, are territorial, hierarchical, patriarchal and competitive-aggressive. But we have something else. The chimps can’t break out of that… [but] human nature breaks boundaries. Our human nature says, You know what, I am going to be free… We are constantly pulled between our animal nature and human nature. We are torn between the two. And it is not resolved in anyone’s lifetime."
I am more afraid of the animal nature of the human than I am
of anything else
show me someone sitting and learning and I will cheer
show me someone playing an elaborate game and I will applaud
show me someone loving and I will weep
show me someone controlling themselves and I will hold up my fist
but show me someone rabid, lustful, forceful, and animalistic
to the point that watching them is like watching an angry dog
and I will cower- there is nothing more terrifying
than someone who has lost their own humanity
because humanity is not our ability to feel- no, anyone can do that
all animals feel
humanity is our ability to understand how and why we feel
and to act on that
humanity is not our ability to love, it is our ability to act with love,
and even when you hate someone and wish they were dead,
it is the ability to choose, despite the rage inside you, to hold them
and to let them cry in your arms, even if they haven't paid their
share in the bills, even if they yelled at you last night, even
if they didn't pick up your daughter when you asked them to,
even as they fall further and further away from you, when their
mother dies, you know exactly what to do
and you let them cry, because humanity is the ability to rise above
feelings, to not let them rule you,
and it is the ability to act as though no one else can do it
to respect their emotions as if they have no control
because maybe they do, maybe they don't
it is your duty to hold them, that's what humanity is,
to hold them,
and to love them anyway.
I am more afraid of the animal nature of the human than I am
of anything else
show me someone sitting and learning and I will cheer
show me someone playing an elaborate game and I will applaud
show me someone loving and I will weep
show me someone controlling themselves and I will hold up my fist
but show me someone rabid, lustful, forceful, and animalistic
to the point that watching them is like watching an angry dog
and I will cower- there is nothing more terrifying
than someone who has lost their own humanity
because humanity is not our ability to feel- no, anyone can do that
all animals feel
humanity is our ability to understand how and why we feel
and to act on that
humanity is not our ability to love, it is our ability to act with love,
and even when you hate someone and wish they were dead,
it is the ability to choose, despite the rage inside you, to hold them
and to let them cry in your arms, even if they haven't paid their
share in the bills, even if they yelled at you last night, even
if they didn't pick up your daughter when you asked them to,
even as they fall further and further away from you, when their
mother dies, you know exactly what to do
and you let them cry, because humanity is the ability to rise above
feelings, to not let them rule you,
and it is the ability to act as though no one else can do it
to respect their emotions as if they have no control
because maybe they do, maybe they don't
it is your duty to hold them, that's what humanity is,
to hold them,
and to love them anyway.
