Human Nature

August 04, 2010
1:30 pm Wednesday

Animal behaviors are very fascinating especially when they are playing. I watched the television and got hooked on 2 lion cubs and their mother playing.

Under the mother's watchful eyes, she demonstrated to her cubs how to hunt and how to stay safe in the savannah.

Through playing, she teaches the cubs the basic skills of their survival and that is mainly to hunt. If they're not going to hunt, they will starved to death.

When the mother preys for food and she's done eating it, all of her leftovers will be given to the cubs. If there's a "kill", the mother will call her cubs and let them know that there's food.

When there's an adversary or there's a threat to her cubs, the mother is the fiercest. She will not let anyone hurt her cubs. Such primitive instincts were natural to animals.

We still do have such "primitive instinct" in our genes. However, we deal with this instinct, in a very much fine tuned and subtle way already.

Integral to our human psyche is to live by our principles and moralities; this is one of the "natural instincts" that evolved or developed in us through time.

The way we nurture this instinct during childhood; the way we were taught by our loved ones, the way we were brought up by our environment; all these things set us apart from animals.

This complex learning of acquiring what others do, in a more tedious, sensitive way and then discerning it if it’s good or bad action, separates us from the lions.

We are already beyond the surviving skills of the mother and her cubs wherein we will actively stalk or prey live animals in order to survive or to feed.

To me, doing good things to your fellowmen will only show you the meaning of how advance really the human race is right now.

Probably, it took a very long time to develop it in our system; yet the more you care for others, the more you will feel how intricate and complex life is.

And that made us to be civilized animals; and that made us complex and highly sophisticated creatures. A very unique species that is apart from all the rest.

Life is not just for surviving or just for eating, or killing. It is about helping others and sharing what you have to the underprivileged.


To develop such attitude, I think, it may require a special gift of enlightenment. The primitive instinct of an animal is very simple. You eat when you are hungry, drink when you are thirsty, rest when you are tired, kill when you are intimidated or feel threatened.

Japan earthquake and tsunami 2011

Have you ever seen a lion giving respect to his parents or have you seen a school of fish praying first for food? All these behaviors are not animal instincts. The basic behavior of an animal justifies a sole purpose and that is the "survival of the fittest" principle.

Japan earthquake 2011

We are all stewards of His creatures. Have you ever wondered why when a person kills another person whether it’s for the money, or principle or for justice, he feels like as if he's just like an animal? He's acting as if he’s a lion competing with another rivals for food; or a male dog killing each other for a mate. He expresses anger without guilt. Others show no remorse. If a person shows remorse or guilt then truly he's a human being.

China flood 1999

Savages, like what happened in wars display sheer animal behaviors of men. Ironically, these things were strangely justified and well supported by the so called human intellectuals in our time. No matter how scientific, logical or intellectual the explanation to wage war is, it is plain savagery.

China flood

This just proves that no matter how advance our technology and intelligence in our time is, if the animal instinct that is within us will be unleashed, all the sensible reasonings, validations and even affirmations about the war will be technically supported, just like what is happening today.

Japanese World War II

When you think of good deeds, you think always of the poor. To me, it will somehow slowly strengthen your perspective in life much easier. You will realize that all the things that you have taken for granted are valuable moreso very important to those who are underprivileged. You will somehow feel this serene sense of fulfillment about the advancement of our human race in a very much positive way. And that sentiment is for caring each other as fellow human beings and NOT really about killing each other like animals.

As Michael L. Tan wrote in his Inquirer column,
“Doing good things don’t have to be fancy stuff for philosophy classes. It has to be taught using everyday situations, with more down to earth principles like being considerate of others."

Thanks to the following:
zedge Sripal27,reuters.com, newsbbc.co.uk, pphotographyb.blogspot.com
impactlab.net,upperhuttprimaryultra.netschool.nz, picturesofafricananimals.info
triviumpursuit.com, emersonkent.com, washingtonpost.com, Michael L. Tan of Inquirer