Human nature is, to me, a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you have the opinion of the cynics: people will try to get the most for the least amount of effort. This makes sense to me. It strikes me as true and I can't ignore it.
However, people are generous, kind, compassionate, loving, intelligent, determined, wonderful creatures. Often the admirable things they do come without cause.
I view these traits in myself, both good and bad. I'd lay down and die for those I love, without complaint or hesitation. But I can be petty and mean. I'm lazy and an opportunist. I'm manipulative and cynical and yet naieve at the same time.
I can't really explain my reactions in certain situations. For instance: ask me for ten dollars, I'll hand it over and never expect you to pay me back (unless it was my parents and they need it back... ; D) Ask me to shovel a driveway and I balk. Is it just because I don't want to put forth the effort? Am I that lazy? Or is it because I only want to give to those incapable of helping themselves? I can't decide. Maybe it's a matter of will. Ask me for something and I will give. Command me and I fight back. For instance- I don't mind helping people with their homework or with studying or whatever. I wrote some dumb jock's poems in Language Arts all through middle school. I do the French homework of the kid who sits next to me in study hall. And I don't mind. Really I don't. In fact, I'm a terrible enabler. However, my One-Act Play and Forensics Coach, whom I admire and respect greatly, asked if I could tutor at the middle school every other day during my study hall. I was grounded from car for a month at the time, so I told her no. Besides, I didn't want to waste the gas, because I don't have a job, etc. It was extraordinarily inconvenient for me, is the point. Anyway, a week later she hands me a schedule and says, "These are the days you agreed to tutor." Considering the Forensics season was imminent and she's not a kind woman to those who cross her, I now tutor every other day. I hate it. I detest every moment of it and it's not that much different than helping someone with their homework. Is it because I felt like I didn't have an option?
What do you think the reality of human nature is? Do you think it's essentially about getting the most for the least amount of pain, or is it about selflessness? And if it's a combination, what's the ratio...?
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