NATURE Are human beings natural creatures? This is another one of those questions that I can't seem to make up my mind about. In my first book, The One Thing (published in 2000), I offered the following pronouncement on the subject:
No matter how artificial an object may feel to us, it would have to be occurring outside the universe to be accounted as unnatural.
And just a few short weeks ago I posted a rather long essay (The Human Condition) that was centered on the knotty problem. We have natural urges, to be sure, like eating, eliminating and reproducing, but we also do some things that feel very unnatural, like the way we build things, highways, skyscrapers, planes, trains and automobiles. And the outer space thing? Forget about it. For years now I have mulled over another question that is related to this one: if we are indeed natural creatures does that make what we do also natural? I don't know about you, but to me it seems strange in the extreme to think of a rocket ship as natural. But there are those who argue that it is (myself included, at least one side of me). The fundamental point is simple (and very persuasive): if something that humans do is not natural, at what point does it become so? Are humans naturally curious? Who would deny it? Even animals are. Is it natural for us to explore and learn? Again, we feel compelled to answer in the affirmative. Yes, it is natural for us to behave like this. But if this is true, then why is that which we learn (like how to build a space ship) not natural? For the life of me, I cannot think of an answer. Yet, at the same time, I find it nearly impossible to accept. How in the hell could a space shuttle be natural? And yet, I can't deny it, at least in any kind of rational sense. And the more I think about it, the less I am able to say that anything we do is unnatural. If we are truly natural creatures, how could it be? What is really disturbing is that this reasoning also applies to the so-called bad stuff, like murder, rape, incest and so on. If we are natural creatures, then so is all the ugly stuff. The most heinous crimes that we hear about from time to time are perfectly natural. How could they not be? They're committed by natural creatures. They are every bit as natural as a predator hunting down and killing its prey. They may be forms of behavior that we find reprehensible and clearly punishable, not to mention egregious affronts to our aesthetic and moral sensibilities, but they are not unnatural, as we so often say they are. What they really are, to be purely technical about it, is unsociable. So next time we hear about some dude (or dudette; women are no longer exempt from committing atrocities) chopping somebody to pieces we should not talk about how unnatural it is. We should, instead, speak of its degree of unsociableness. It is highly unsociable to do such a thing. But it is most definitely not unnatural. And here's another ramification. As heterosexuals, we should stop calling homosexuality unnatural. It is absolutely impossible that it could be so. It is being practiced by perfectly natural human beings. All sexual preferences are natural, heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, celibacy, whatever, even (and I absolutely cringe at this one) bestiality. Some choices, to be sure, enjoy greater social acceptance than others. But just because you are a heterosexual does not mean that someone who is not is unnatural. It only means they have different tastes than you. (As a confirmed heterosexual, you have no idea how hard it is for me to say this, but from a purely philosophical perspective I honestly feel that I don't have any choice.) In short, everything going on with human beings and their attendant society, from technological achievements to individual behaviors, is as natural as a sunrise or a hurricane. There is no logical way we may conclude anything else. It is absolutely impossible for natural creatures to create something that is unnatural, from a space ship to a complex array of behavior patterns. It'll Put the Fear of God in You, Boy
|
