We see the world, not as it is, but as we
are, or...as we are conditioned to see it.

The Myth of Human Nature

In a society that is predicated on competition

and really, very often the ruthless exploitation
of one human being

by another
the profiteering of other people's problems

and very often the creation of problems for
the sole purpose of profiteering

the ruling ideology will very often justify
that behavior

by appeals to some fundamental, unalterable
human nature

So the myth in our society is that people
are competitive by nature, and that they're

individualistic, and that they're selfish.
The reality is quite the opposite.

We have certain human needs.
The only way that you can talk about human

nature concretely is to recognize that there
are certain human needs.

We have a human need for companionship, for
close contact, to be loved, to be attached

to, to be accepted, to be seen, to be received
for who we are.

If those needs are met,
we develop into people that are compassionate,

cooperative, and who have empathy for other
people. So, the opposite that we often see

in our society is in fact a distortion of
human nature, precisely because so few people

have their needs met.
So yes, you can talk about human nature but

only in the sense of basic human needs that
lead to certain traits if they are met, and

a different set of traits, if they're denied.