WHAT DARWIN SHOWED
WAS THAT THERE
IS SOMETHING LIKE
A HUMAN NATURE.
IT WASN'T PLANNED BY GOD, AND
IT COULD HAVE BEEN OTHERWISE.
IT'S CONTINGENT, BUT
THERE IS SOME WAY
THAT OUR ORGANISM WORKS.
ALL HUMAN ORGANISMS HAVE
EVOLVED TO WORK A CERTAIN WAY.
AND NOW WE WOULD SAY
THERE'S A DNA CODE FOR WHAT
IT IS TO BE HUMAN BEING
AND IT'S BEING UNRAVELED.
BUT I THINK IF
SOMEBODY SAID THAT, I
THINK THAT WOULD ALL BE WRONG.
BECAUSE THAT'S
ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS.
AND WHAT DARWIN AND THE
GENETIC CODE IS ABOUT
IS ABOUT HUMAN ORGANISMS,
ABOUT HOMO SAPIENS,
ABOUT THIS ANIMAL.
AND THERE IS SUCH A
THING, AND WE ARE IT.
BUT HUMAN BEINGS
ARE SOMETHING ELSE.
THEY'RE A CULTURAL CREATION,
A CULTURAL INTERPRETATION
OF THIS ORGANISM.
FOR INSTANCE, IN THE GREEKS'
TIME, TO BE A HUMAN BEING
WAS TO BE A POSSIBLE
HERO, OR A BAD THING,
TO BE A SLAVE OR A VILLAIN.
AND SO THERE WERE HEROES AND
SLAVES IN ATHENS, AND VILLAINS.
THERE WEREN'T, FOR INSTANCE,
ANY SAINTS AND SINNERS.
IN MEDIEVAL TIMES, THE
SELF INTERPRETATION
OF THIS ORGANISM
AS A HUMAN BEING
WAS THAT HUMAN BEINGS CAN
BE EITHER SAINTS OR SINNERS.
AND THEN THERE WERE SAINTS
AND THERE WERE SINNERS.
PEOPLE BECOME WHAT THE CULTURAL
PRACTICES INTERPRET THEM TO BE.
THERE COULDN'T HAVE BEEN ANY
SAINTS AND SINNERS IN ATHENS.
NOT JUST THAT THEY
WOULDN'T BE RECOGNIZED,
THEY WOULDN'T EXIST.
IF THERE WAS SOMEBODY WHO
ALWAYS TURNED THE OTHER CHEEK,
THEY WOULD JUST BE CONSIDERED
A POOR, SLAVEY SLOB THAT
LET EVERYBODY WALK
ALL OVER THEM.
THEY WOULDN'T BE AN
UNDISCOVERED SAINT.
AND THERE WERE PEOPLE IN
MEDIEVAL TIMES WHO WERE STRONG
AND WHO WOULD BE
ABLE TO LEAD OTHERS
AND TO MAKE EVERYBODY LOOK
UP TO THEM AS THEIR LEADER.
BUT IF THEY DID
THAT, THEY WOULD BE
SINNERS BECAUSE OF THEIR PRIDE.
THEY SHOW UP AT THE
BOTTOM OF DANTE'S INFERNO,
BECAUSE THEY THINK THAT
THEY'RE SELF SUFFICIENT
AND THAT PEOPLE SHOULD ADMIRE
THEM AND SING SONGS ABOUT THEM.
WHEREAS NOBODY IS
SELF SUFFICIENT,
EVERYBODY DEPENDS
ON GOD, AND ONLY GOD
IS WHAT YOU SHOULD
SING SONGS ABOUT.
SO THERE WOULDN'T HAVE
BEEN ANY GREEK STYLE
HEROES IN MEDIEVAL TIMES.
THOSE GREEK STYLE HEROES
WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY BAD,
PRIDEFUL SINNERS.
THE MORAL OF THIS IS
PEOPLE CREATE HUMAN NATURE,
WHAT IT IS TO BE A HUMAN BEING.
AND IT CHANGES.
IN OUR CULTURE, IT
CHANGES EPOCH BY EPOCH.
SO THERE'S ONE AFTER THAT.
AFTER THE MEDIEVAL
COMES THE MODERN,
WHERE TO BE A HUMAN
BEING IS TO BE
AN AUTONOMOUS, SELF
ORGANIZED, RATIONAL BEING WHO
DECIDES ON THE
PRINCIPLES ON WHICH THEY
ACT AND IS LUCID AND MATURE.
KANT DEFINED MATURITY AS
BEING A RULE INTO YOURSELF.
AND FROM KANT'S POINT
OF VIEW, THE CHRISTIANS
WERE JUST IMMATURE,
BECAUSE THEY SERVED GOD.
KANT SAID THAT WITH
THE ENLIGHTENMENT,
MAN REACHED MATURITY,
HUMAN BEINGS
REACHED MATURITY BECAUSE THEY
SAW THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO
OR WEREN'T OBEDIENT
TO A HIGHER AUTHORITY,
LIKE GOD OR LIKE THE
MONARCH, BUT THAT THEY
WERE THEIR OWN
HIGHEST AUTHORITY.
ANOTHER STORY ABOUT HUMAN
NATURE, WHICH AN EXISTENTIALIST
SAYS IS JUST ANOTHER
INTERPRETATION.
KANT SAYS OF COURSE,
THIS IS THE TRUTH
AND IT'S ALWAYS BEEN THE TRUTH.
THE OTHER PEOPLE JUST MISSED
IT, BUT NOW WE KNOW IT.
AND THEN AFTER KANT COMES
THE FINALIST VERSION,
THE ONE WE'RE IN NOW, THAT
HUMAN BEINGS ARE BEINGS
WHO ARE ABLE TO GET THE MOST
OUT OF THEIR POSSIBILITIES.
AND THE HIGHEST
THING WE CAN DO IS
INVENT A WORLD SO
OPEN AND SO FLEXIBLE
AND A CULTURE SO
OPEN AND SO FLEXIBLE
THAT EVERYBODY CAN DEVELOP AND
REALIZE THEIR OWN POSSIBILITIES
AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
ALL THE OTHERS WOULD HAVE
CONSIDERED THIS OUTRAGEOUS.
THAT WE ARE SUPPOSED
TO EITHER SERVE
RATIONALITY OR GOD OR
THE STATE OR SOMETHING.
