HUMANITY’S TROJAN HORSE: THE MAN AND HIMSELF
Humans are credited to be one of the most advanced and complex species in the entire universe. The ability of consciousness, creativity, and, choice (relatively) makes the human race special and just explicitly different.
Through humans, various civilizations, inventions, and innovations have come into being. The evolution of man has seemingly brought ease and betterment into the daily living of man. Some will, however, argue that such betterment has only been limited to a minor percentage of the human race.
On this premise, everyone tries to get into that little percentage, and some will stop at nothing. Hence, the prioritization of the self over all others. This births our individuality, including the love of the self and prioritization of the self in whatever context or circumstance. This can as well be referred to as selfishness.
WHERE DOES IT ALL COME FROM
The selfishness present in humans can be viewed from an evolutionary perspective.
Darwin’s theory of natural selection explains that the organism best suited to an environment survives. So, organisms would do whatever it takes to fall into that best percentage to be the best and survive.
The concept of “Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins sheds light on this phenomenon. In a way, we have been genetically modified to do whatever is necessary to be part of the best to ensure our survival. The habits of the early man to do what is necessary for survival has been stuck in humanity, and it is still manifesting itself today.
Our seemingly altruistic acts and habits are all in a bid to help ourselves. Our altruistic acts are done because of some sort of reward to the self at some point. This also transcends into humans being social beings. We form a community with others because it benefits our aim to survive.
There is also the religious (Christian) perspective on human nature. In the book of Jeremiah 17:9, the bible quotes, “The heart is deceitful above all, and desperately wicked: who can know it” (KJV).
Christianity proves a point that man is naturally evil, and that evil can only be eliminated through the redemptive power of Jesus Christ in man. It further explains that the world can only be truly perfect when Jesus Christ establishes himself in the heart of men and establishes his kingdom in the world.
Karl Marx’s Historical materialism, which posits that all systems and institutions present are a result of the economic system and activity, would probably highlight that the cause of individualism is simply a result of the prevailing economic system, which is Capitalism.
Capitalism is an economic system where the means of production are in the hands of private ownership for the sole purpose of making profit.
I believe capitalism does promote and maximize selfishness, and the consideration of only the self, but if indeed capitalism was abolished for a more utopian system would selfishness be extinct? I do not believe so. What if capitalism was only viable because it is the only way for human selfishness to be kind of lawful? Maybe man’s love and adoption of capitalism was in a bid to satisfy and promote his selfish desires; maybe capitalism did not establish selfishness but maybe selfishness loves and promotes the viability of capitalism for its purposes.
Like the case of the chicken and the egg, there might be a dilemma of which comes first between selfishness and capitalism, but what is certain is that there is a cycle.
In a more scientific approach, a little psychology and neuroscience would be needed.
B.F. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning can help explain a bit of behavioural psychology. Skinner explains that our picking up of behaviours depends on either reward or punishment that is gotten from such behaviours.
When we perform an action and we get a pleasurable reward, we are more likely to repeat such actions and turn them into habits, but if we get negative consequences for such actions, we tend to stop performing such actions. When we perform a pleasurable action, our brain gets rewarded with the hormone ‘dopamine’.
https://pin.it/5tdoWHb
Dopamine is a hormone and neurotransmitter in the brain synonymous with pleasure. When our brain receives a push in dopamine, after we carry out an act, we feel rewarded (with pleasure). The brain pairs the reward with the pleasure-producing act and pushes us to continue the performance of that action. This is how most habits are formed. This is why we tend to drift towards pleasurable actions, and why we crave such activities.
Dopamine is also (like) motivation. The feeling of pleasure we get when we work and get paid is simply dopamine in action. It is simply what pushes us to continue working because it is through working, we can get money and our possession of money gives us pleasure because we can get what gives us pleasure. So, the brain pairs up these actions to the smallest process of getting out of bed every day and going to work to receive money in the long run, which would cause pleasure. It is what pushes us to perform difficult tasks (either right or wrong) just to receive pleasure. This is how rewarding and pleasurable acts get repeated and reinforced, which is simply because of the pleasure that is gotten from it either in the short-term or long-term. This is what get people hooked on dangerous habits (dangerous to society and self), just because of the pleasure gotten from those habits.
WE ARE NOT ALL THAT DIFFERENT
Humans can have very selfish and individual desires, which they plan to fulfil without consideration of their fellow humans or whatever form of destructive consequence that might result from their actions. We try to justify our sometimes-overarching individuality.
In a public speaking class, that I took last year, one of the topics discussed was ‘understanding audience psychology’.
It was made known in that lecture that the best way to get the attention of your audience is to discuss issues that are of immediate concern and relevance to them. To drive home this point, the lecturer noted that we were all self-centred and we mostly concentrate on things that are of benefit to us.
He was also quick to note that self-centeredness is fine but selfishness is where the line should be drawn. I do not see any difference between self-centeredness and selfishness. The fact that a self-centred individual is prospectively a selfish individual simply indicates that the transition to selfishness is only just a matter of time and some factors.
Like the lecturer, we might all try to subtly or lucidly deny the fact of the innate affection of the self. A few days ago, I made a post on my Whatsapp status and I noted that “All animals are equal and some animals are more equal than others”, which is a famous quote from George Orwell’s satire, Animal Farm. An acquaintance responded with the words, “If there is equality, how then would the exceptional stand out?”.
At first, I saw that as a very selfish take. Why must some be exceptional; can we not all be equal? After a moment of reflection, I painfully realized that I do not want equality, because all my life, I have struggled and tried to be “exceptional” in a bid to “stand out”. This is true of most of us. We want to be different and exceptional from the crowd. We want to be viewed in a novel and positive light. Maybe our individuality and selfishness are silent dragons that are slumbering in the caves of our hearts, secretly controlling our actions to fit them to our desires.
Most times, altruism is false. Our selflessness is only a step toward our selfishness. When we act altruistically to others, we do that so we get acceptance and inclusion from others, and sometimes we do that so we can call in a favour from others.
Hilariously, in today’s world, we build relationships for selfish reasons. The basis of our relations is what we stand to benefit from others. Some time ago, a group of top executives in the Nigerian banking, educational, and technological sectors came as guest speakers to an event organized by my hall of residence. It was an event tuned towards life after school, and a point all of these guests seem to find very important was the capacity to build social capital (which was referred to as relationships with people who can be vital towards career and financial development). I was taken aback upon hearing this, but this is something most of us consciously do, and it proves how filthy we are with selfishness. We make relationships because of their seeming benefits to us now or in the future without consideration of the other party. This subtle but powerful outlook shows how hardwired we are to prioritize ourselves over others.
It is even more obvious in religious settings. One of the core messages of Christianity is Unconditionality, which is about doing good to others without the purpose of a reward. But most who call themselves Christians (at least some whom I have observed in this part of the world) perform these seemingly altruistic acts with the sole purpose of receiving a reward. Most people give monetary donations to the church simply for the sole purpose of receiving financial blessings, and not to help financially. Even the small acts of attendance are sometimes overly tainted with selfishness.
As noted earlier, it might seem that the innate affection for the self is a requisite for the survival and progression of the person, but it seems to be also of consequence, both to the individual and to society at large.
If only we could love our neighbours as we loved ourselves. How immensely different would the world be?
Due to individuality’s attachment and proximity to man, selfishness is present in almost all sectors of life. Humans manipulate others to their benefit, and this is a vicious cycle that does not stop. We have learnt and perfected the art of exploitation. Humans manipulate and exploit each other’s selfishness and the prospective ability to be selfish for their selfish reasons. Most of this is done by exploiting our very being. Our primal desires and biology are dangerously manipulated even with obvious negative consequences. This is something that I believe affects every living individual. Do you want to know how others might be seemingly manipulating you?
Follow this profile to get notified when the next article drops.
Want to understand the context of the writer? Read this
