Human commonality, or human nature

Plato's theory of ideas believes that when we talk about a thing, the reason why we can define it is that it is different from other things because each type of thing has the same thing as across the vast time and across the barriers of thousands of miles. The commonality of human beings, or human nature, lies not in their intelligence, but in what Russell called "prudence", that is, calculating the consequences. The reason why people care about consequences is that people always consciously pursue long-term and even eternal meaning, always limit the animal nature of life and death, and set aside benefits to give dignity to all around them. The consciousness that these benefits cannot be measured is human nature.

The values ​​of human beings originate from the sigh of "birth year is less than 100", and from the law that "people are good at their words when they are about to die". Facing the wasteland that used to be a palace, and facing the lord of Tanglin, who is now a melon farmer, we put aside the idea of ​​being a high official, making a lot of money, occupying everything in the universe, and turning to the eternal spirit and truth. Doubting like Descartes is whether it is beeswax in front of you, whether you are sitting by the fireside... In the end we have an epiphany: thinking exists, and we at least exist who think. The result of that thinking, the spirit extracted from generation after generation of thinking, is the highest value we should pursue and defend. So whenever we read about the sage who was stabbed to death by the sword but also defended the triangle on the sand table, the warrior who sacrificed his life for righteousness, even the "pedantic" Song Jun who was moral and unwilling to attack the enemy crossing the river, we can feel it. The power of human nature, the warmth of human nature, the values ​​of human nature. We can also proudly say to those who idolize Dengtong and others: I despise your idols, and I am proud to worship Archimedes. Wealth cannot be brought into another world, but the development and protection of truth and spirit, so that they can be passed on to future generations inexhaustible, is the result of our pursuit.

Our humanity also includes compassion. As animals, we all seek to achieve the realm of Marx's "unchangeable constraints and free development", but on the way to the pursuit, we will still have the dream of having 10,000 loaves of bread, holding only one loaf of bread, Pythagoras Like Sri Lanka, he ate half of it and kept the other half for his friends who were in distress. Or if the knight does not kill the fallen opponent, and the pilot does not shoot the enemy on the parachute, this is not only "merit", but also because everyone will be aroused innate compassion when facing the weak when they are strong. Just like the current regime, no matter how right-wing, it maintains the dignity of every citizen to live.

Just as the definition of "prudence": willing to endure a moment of unhappiness for the benefit of the future. We may think that neither the pursuit of the eternal truth nor the compassion for the weak are separated from the animal nature of man, for their purpose is: to cause chaos in society so that the rules will not change in the future; when I am unlucky Dignity can also be guaranteed; the issue is complex, but the question of value and sympathy is definitely not the wanton pollution of the oceans and deforestation, the brazenly stealing the wages of migrant workers who are no longer lucrative by arrears, and enjoying the "infringement of personal property". "But regardless of all the reasons for those who embezzle public resources to do evil. Whether human nature is sublime or secular, it is all so fragile, it may only take a single thought to break it, but it is its fragility, the seemingly humble and pedantic beauty, that is more worthy of us not forgetting human nature.

From Plato to Descartes, we all say: I think therefore I am. However, if there is no humanity, when a person is just a "thing" that only obeys the instructions of maximizing profit like a computer, what is the "I"?