6 properties that define human nature

6 properties that define human nature

On a hike about the Isla del Sol in Bolivia a few years ago, I asked myself for the first time how many animals go for a pleasure - not to hunt or feed, not to find protection or warmth, but to enjoy walking.

I asked the question on Quora for rather unsatisfactory results. The question reappeared in our recent Abel-Tasman hike and led me to the question of which other properties are unique or largely limited to humans.

This in turn led me to an old edition of the New Scientist magazine and a fascinating series of articles about the six things that do all people. Some are obvious, others are amusing. Everyone triggers a intoxication of recognition and a sense of belonging.

1. Be playful

You may have heard that people and dolphins are the only ways that mate for pleasure. This is, perhaps not surprisingly, it is not true. Several other animals have sex if reproduction is impossible or unlikely. It is interesting that only a few other species in general are as playful as people.

Alt = "Uros-swimming-island-titicaca lake"> Atlas & Boots Women dance on Lake Titicaca in Peru

All mammals play, says New Scientist, but no other species pursues such a wide variety of entertainment or spends so much time to have fun.

We not only enjoy physical activities (sports, games, dancing and even tickling), but also play with language (jokes, make music) and use our imagination. We carry our childlike sense of playfulness to adulthood, which is rare for other species.

2. Be scientific

As children, we learn to recognize patterns. We could identify and group all red lego bricks or recognize that a two -part stone is sitting over another two -part stone. We find that we constantly sort the world into categories, predict how things work, and test our predictions.

alt = “”> Atlas & Boots Local binding reeds to lay foundations on the floating islands of the Uros in Peru

This, says New Scientist, is the real being of science and shows itself in everything, from the determination of time and calendars to our use of units of measurement and our striving for cosmic knowledge.

3. Be legislative

Many animals adhere to simple rules of conduct (often in terms of territory and hierarchy), but none has a sophisticated system of rules, taboos and etiquette like that of man.

Without studying every community in the world, we cannot say with certainty whether each formal law has every single formal law, but people tend to have rules. These rules always contain behavior in three key areas, a sign that legislation is of fundamental importance for human nature.

The first is the relationship: the rights, goods and the status that you are entitled to, and also the obligation that you have towards your relatives (e.g. a daughter who inherits the country from her mother, or a father who is legally obliged to take care of his son).

Security is in second place: everyone takes care of security, so every culture has rules that regulate when someone is allowed to kill or injure another person.

4. Be a connoisseur

For most animals, a meal is only a meal: a way to get your body so that you can live on. For humans, a meal can be a matter close to the heart, a work of art, a vehicle of seduction, an event in and of itself. Friends gather to break bread while families at the dining table tell and argue.

Of course it is not just our attitude to the food that distinguishes us. Cooking, one of the greatest inventions of mankind, made a big difference.

Alt = “Nacht-von-Dreesserts”> Atlas & Boots Kia is considering three desserts

The primatologist Richard Wrangham from Harvard University says that cooked food that offers more calories and less chewing was the key innovation that made it possible for our ancestors to develop into intelligent, social creatures.

He notes that chimpanzees spend more than six hours a day with chewing; People, less than one who leaves more time for culture and development.

5. Be secret in terms of sex

It was a visit to the breeding center on San Cristóbal on the Galápagos Islands, which changed my opinion about turtles. Until then, I saw her as wise and gentle creatures that slowly and carefully trudge through life. After the visit, they turned into huge, horny creatures that had loud, grunting and unattractive sex in public.

Of course, this does not distinguish them from other living things except people who prefer sex privately. One could say that this is due to centuries -old social conditioning, but scientists suspect a deeper reason. Secret pairing takes place between species with a lot of competition between the males, says Clive Wynne, Professor of Psychology at the University of Florida.

Donald Symons, anthropologist and author of The Evolution of Human Sexuality, says that men consider sex as a precious good and therefore “secretly enjoy him to avoid desires”.

HARVARD professor Steven Pinker agrees: "This is for the same reason that everyone who has something to eat during a famine is probably consumed privately."

In short, it is not shame that drives the secret copulation, but envy and competition.

6. Be cadded

There is a rather unfriendly comment by a columnist about the British actress Keira Knightley: "If you want to make friends with a woman, ask her the question: 'What do you think of Keira Knightley?' In the resulting electricity from galler and disgust."

alt = "Travel skills: speak to strangers"> Atlas & Boots locals meet in Café el-Fishawy in Cairo

It is true: people use gossip to consolidate relationships, says Robin Dunbar, author of grooming, gossip and the evolution of language. He believes that gossip is the human equivalent for primate care.

We have too many relationships to maintain them through time -consuming care, so we talk instead: "Gossip has developed to oil the bikes of social interaction," says Dunbar - a maxim that applies to all of school children to the most powerful leaders in the world.

It is interesting that gossip is not inherently negative. In his research, Dunbar found that negative comments were far less common than harmless observations on a topic. Essentially it is not that we like to complain; It's just that we like to talk. Unless, of course, it's about Keira Knightley.

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