How is Human Nature Determined?

The term “passions” in the book Human Nature arises due to social norms and own personal experiences. The emotional reactions merge “reason” and “will” as components of the self” (Bjorklund, 1998, p.46). The reason is based on my own experiences as I attempt to escape the low-income status by keeping up my faith to achieve my goal; therefore, my reactions focus on themselves. In the process, I focused on other people rather than the societal issues and myself. The result was that I had depression, and consequently, I ignored the people around me as well as the social norms.

The reason I move towards the components of the self to reflect the "soul" rather "self” is that in the business world, "there is native selfishness in human nature” (Bjorklund, 1998, p.47). In the workplace, I have sold my friends out while on the other hand, they have paid back by selling me out too. However, even if the moral fabric is weak, the human nature has successfully fulfilled that "power of the mind" (Bjorklund, 1998, p.47). In addition, people never have enough belief that their demand and desire can produce “the power of the devil, physically and mentally” (Bjorklund, 1998, p.60). In self-development, human nature influences that "devil" around them, because of that, people make enough changes on themselves to fit into the society.

From the psychological standpoint, human nature talks about the foundational "nature and nurture," of a person from childhood and the development to become a fully-grown member of the society. We have imitated each other’s behaviors, and reason has become the social environment that influences "will and conscious reason" (Bjorklund, 1998, p.93). Since the natural and social environment affects human nature, the concern about the social fabric and social life, among people increase the "multiple personalities" in society. The main factor, therefore, is the need for man to "determine his unique adjustments to his environment" (Bjorklund, 1998, p.94). For example, in my own experiences in the company, my only task was simply to imitate the more experienced people I worked with and follow their lead. I was able to become a more valuable employee and at the same time, managed to fit in socially, too.

Furthermore, it is important to note that the self-development process leads us to habits that focus on the groups of people to determine adjustments and the social roles into which the groups of people fit; it is the human instincts in society. In addition, the term “finding one” defines individuals' senses of themselves in the social life. In fact, in childhood, humans manage to shape of the real selves out of themselves.

However, in adulthood, people manage to carve their thoughts and experiences into a cultural complex and social role. Moreover, people develop a "multiple personality" social role, and in the long term, they might not identify who is a real self in them. The social role occurs in such a way that one cannot self-understand. However, when people think back to their childhood or middle school periods, they get a clear reminder of their real self. The elements that become the social situation give us a merged multi-role of ourselves and the point is that we might not see who we are and could not self-understand the "external" force fulfilled social norms in the society. The environment can provide restrictions for human beings in society. In other words, "society not only controls our movements but also shapes our identity, our thoughts, and emotions (Bjorklund, 1998, p.128). The result is we are faced with external conditions place that pressure of us; through the pressure, we get to accept the norms and social environment because of “survival skill” (Bjorklund, 1998, p.152). Therefore, the environment and economic factor are in control of the "unruly nature," but we need to accept all of them. In the human thought, the limited norms help in shaping their lives. Besides, people have tried to change the social environment unsuccessfully because of the power around of them in society.

On the other hand, the "internal" factors determine our behavior and self-control, which is an important basic theme of our moral fabric (Bjorklund, 1998, p.161), because of the moral issues appear that as "angel and evil" in our minds. Therefore, both external and internal factors occupy central places in influencing our behavior in society. In the moral concept, people tend to view themselves differently from others because they feel like they are less likely to conform to the society as they have more resistance toward the expectations and social construct of the society. (Bjorklund, 1998, p. 164).  

Did you like this example?

1069

56