The Thoughts of We

How to be Less Human, is a concept that has a lot to do with personal growth and dealing with self-reflection. In many ways, the phrase has been around since the beginning of time, although perhaps not in the form we know it today. Apologizing can certainly be a useful tool for improving relationships, but it does not address the true source of the problem: ourselves. That said, the phrase is helpful for helping us to think through our own humanity and see where it is lacking and how we can improve it.

One of the things that I have come to understand as the root of all human problems is that humans are not inherently good, nor are they inherently evil. We are all capable of doing wrong, of being selfish, of blaming others, and of acting selfishly, just like everybody else. This is perhaps why it is so hard for some people to admit their own faults and mistakes-they act as if there are something inherently wrong with them because they made a mistake or didn’t say enough or too much or anything. But in fact, nothing could be further from the truth-perfection is neither inevitable nor perfect, and neither ourselves nor others are perfect. There is always room for improvement. How to be Less Human can therefore begin to recognize this fact and accepting that we are not perfect but that there is a grain of humanity in all of us, a grain of real goodness that we can work toward, rather than allow to escape us, hiding in the shadow of our worst behavior.

It was after listening to a talk radio show by the well-known personality Les Moonvesky, in which he compared the way in which people act in an ethical dilemma to the way that a glass of water changes its color when it is under a lot of pressure, that I really began to understand How to be Less Human. When somebody says, “You shouldn’t argue with that,” as Moonvesky did on his radio show, he is saying, “You should not argue with me.” The act of arguing is a microcosm of the forces that push and pull at all of us, pushing and pulling us toward either more of what we crave or away from what we don’t want. And as the famous adage goes, “You cannot get more of anything you once had,” that also becomes quite true in the case of how to be less human, having everything you’ve ever wanted and then losing it all.