Human vs Animal vs Vegetable vs Rock (Part 2)

To begin, I will remind you of the two principles I'd like to shortly (and certainly insufficiently) discuss in this post. The first is that humans have a power (or capacity) to do unplumbed, immeasurable, and unimagined things (whether greatly good or greatly bad). The second principle is that humans are fundamentally good. With that I must say that this, I hope, is my last speculative post before I start drawing on more practical circumstances in life. Sorry for all of you who prefer the concrete. If you prefer, you can take my two principles as granted and wait for subsequent posts. Moreover, I apologize for my tardiness in posting this; unfortunately writing blog posts is not my only commitment in life, and I like to think of it more as a hobby than a commitment. In any event, here is the highly touted and long awaited "first post of substantial content" in The Form of Life project.

The 20th century was a century in which we witnessed, in a tremendous way, the great extent of human power. I cannot help but think that humans are now remarkable creatures of flight in which sound barriers are broken and man can (and has) tread on extra-terrestrial surfaces. Medical advances are made so that we can deny pandemics and cure people of illnesses that used to be decidedly fatal. The beauty of the human mind has been realized even in huge skyscrapers made for cities. I am personally fascinated by it every time I drive downtown, and at night it can be especially beautiful. The point here is that life is at least more impressive and easier because of these things and in some cases it is entirely better. This is no doubt due to the incredible power of the human mind.

However, with the increase of technology, the 20th Century has provided us with fascinating ingenuity in regards to genocide. More people have been killed, in more efficient ways, than in any century prior to the 20th at the hands of humans. The world had never experienced something that could be rightfully designated a "World War." And after what was thought to be the War To End All Wars, there was another World War. I propose to you that any war of this magnitude, and efficient killing techniques, is only made possible by the great technological advances that were created by the minds of humans. Think for one moment about the awesome power of destruction that is found in an atomic bomb... I could go on with this point and the one above point about the great good that is brought by the human mind. Those points alone could be made into a book. But for my purposes I find that to be unnecessary. I am not against technology, I only want to suggest that not all technology is good (and there are many examples of things that were created with explicitly evil intentions). And most of all I want to bring out the reality that this is done by the incredible and not yet fully realized power of the human person.

What is the point of all this? The point is that there's something about humans that makes them capable of much more good and much more bad than any of the other creatures on earth. And this is made clear by the simple fact that we have been able to harness our minds and the natural world in order to produce incredibly fascinating results. Theologically, this is rooted in Genesis 1:26, "Let us create man in our image, in our likeness." God is able to create and he makes man like him--able to create. There are many answers that explain in what ways we are like God and in his image, but one of them is for sure our ability to, in a special way, participate with God in creating. It is because of this tremendous ability to create that producing great good and great bad is not new to humans, and most likely the trend will continue.

So this leads me to bring up the question about why it is obvious to me that people are fundamentally good. Why would I think this? Have I not heard about all the murder in the 20th Century? But it's really quite simple. We are good because we exist as human beings. This is not so apparent to most people, and it most certainly is not a simple point, but -- as humans -- we exist in a manner that is different than any other thing that exists. So, by existing as humans, we bring something unique to the world that only we as humans can. Although this can be manifested in doing great things, the fundamental goodness of humans is found in the reality that we have the capacity to do good beyond that of any other creature on the face of the earth.

To me, this is all that is needed to show that we our fundamentally good. For Aristotle, the essential quality of something is what makes it a distinct kind of thing. And as humans, we are earthly beings with an unrivaled ability to deliberate between good and bad (or even good and better) and choose according to that deliberation. So what makes us fundamentally good? It is not that we do great things, but it is because we have the capacity in us to do great things. If you are human, this is true for you (even if you never have or never will use this capacity). If someone else is human, this is true for them as well. You deserve to be respected as someone who can, at any moment, bring a great amount of good to the world, even if you are not currently doing that. And you should treat others with the equivalent respect that you believe you deserve.

So, if we are all fundamentally good, why do we call some people bad? Because they have decided to use this capacity to pursue bad things instead of good things (or simply good things instead of the best things). By pursuing bad things or lesser goods on numerous occasions they have developed a tendency within themselves to continue doing these things. This is what I call a good person "becoming" bad. Although a human being can never completely lose their capacity to do good, they can obscure this capacity so that they tend to do and pursue bad things even more. Alternatively, by pursuing good things we can develop a tendency in us to pursue good things even more. This is what goes into "becoming" good. For in this regard we can understand what Christ says in Mark 10:18, "No one is good—except God alone." These are the points I would like to discuss in my next post.

Sorry this is so long; thanks for your time. Let us pursue greatness beyond what the world has yet seen!