The Human Race...

Lack of empathy? Humans are one of the only species on Earth capable of empathy. That's why we have such complex societies.

I think our greatest flaw is our the ability to have more abstract thought then other living organisms.

I also think that, that is our strength.

why is abstract thought a weakness?...

Greatest flaw, "lack of application of our inate ability to empathize". Sorry for that. One doesn't always say what one intends to say. Forgive me please. You are absolutely corect. peace, bybee

I think I missused the word "abstract"


What I meant was our thoughts and ideas.
I don't know if that explained what I meant though, if it didn't, I'm sorry, not really sure how to explain what I mean.

Sorry it's late, I hope I made it worth the wait. Firstly I'll address my ideas, then I'll comment on some of the posts.

What do you think are our greatest flaws?

Without pause or fail I will always believe that Ego is the greatest human flaw. We all love to consider ourselves great and unique creatures that are irreplaceable by every stretch of the word. We think that through some great miracle we are the only one of our type. Each of us a beautiful and unique snowflake. The unfortunate truth is that we?re all just human beings, creatures of flaws and qualities that are indicative of any natural creature on the planet. We all have habits, rituals, quirks and qualities easily represented in any other human. So why and how do we delude ourselves into believing that we?re one of a kind.

I?m by no means saying we all have thousands of doppelgangers out there mirroring our every movement and gesture, but we aren?t quite so special as we allow ourselves to believe.

Truly our primary goal as social creatures is to find a quality we share with other creatures so we can form cliques of our own. Without these similarities, that we sometimes seems to ignore, we would crumble as civilization and even as primal tribal beings. So why is it upon introspection that we all are so in love with the idea of being the individual? Is it that important that we must blind ourselves with our own lies of individuality? It couldn?t possibly take that much for us to come to terms with this aspect of ourselves and accept that we are, all of us, just sheep in the flock. Ones wool as alike as any others, merely roaming among the herd.

Now, don?t go insane. I know you are the exception that proves the rule here. So think on this, exactly how many of you being the exception that proves the rule would it take to prove my point? 70%? 10%? I mean are we egotistical enough to believe that the ideas we are having about this question are the first of their kind? It just doesn?t get to be that easy. If we still strive to prove ourselves the individual, why not craft a unique language known to only you so that you may exist outside the flock, a few weeks of solitude may prove to be just the medicine needed to treat this blind ideological folly.


Our greatest strengths?

Survival ism. Not just a Nine Inch Nails song or a Darwinian idea, it?s what we as individuals are greatest at. We will always truly excel when the odds are stacks against us. In this fashion we are like roaches. None of us wish to die, no matter our age, gender, discrimination, qualities, etc., we all long to survive deep inside somewhere that will not be denied. Can we come to terms with it? More than likely we can, however it is not something we can deny.

As a creature we fulfill our needs in the order in which we perceive them necessary. Food, sleep, procreation and survival are all things constantly weighing against us. Fight though we might to escape them within our social bonds we all succumb to bestial influences when pressed.

This is not simply a quality of strength but of great and forceful resolve. So don?t misunderstand my points in the issue. It is an amazing quality that burns within us all. We will press ourselves to the point of breaking before giving up and releasing ourselves into deaths arms. The sheer power and authority of such a desire is a marvelous gift. When pressed we will surely fight the good fight and more often than not emerge victorious.

Survival ism.




I can agree that your post seems to come right of a comic I'll also say that it seems an honest shot. To my mind a flaw is something we can not use as a strength merely because of what is inanely present within it. Strengths must work the same way. Only in selective and idealist conditions may our own flaws and strengths become our power and weakness. (Very comic book -esque situations too, I must say.)

Though Darwinism was not a subject I intended to segway to, it is something that could easy crop up in arguments with or against me. A very insightful postulation. Kudos!



I don't know that I see empathy in itself as a strength at all. It truly is not absent entirely in the animal world, simply more easy ignored. I don't know that it would every be something in my mind to define us as especially amazing creatures, I think our wit and thumb do that for us impeccably well.

Could you help me understand why empathy is such an important quality in your mind?




I think the flaw is empathizing to much. We Pander to one another more than flies swarm to s***. A little less empathy and a lot more tough love would do this world a wondrous service.

Thoughts, ideas, please post.

Again, sorry for being late, you know that kind of thing happens.

One egg+one sperm=one person. A unique, one of a kind person. We are not all alike. Some of us may be likened to sheep and some of us may be likened to rogue elephants. Some unique people of modern times have had totally diverse lives. I think of Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin and the like. Then, I think of Mohandas Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During WWII the story of the three Navy Chaplains, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish who gave up their life jackets so that three more sailors could live. It is empathy that allows us to live in close quarters with one another and take care of the needs of others by taking less for ourselves. Almost every mother has spent countless hours putting her children's needs before her own. A young fellow that lived in my neighborhood died to save his wife's life when their boat capsized. We are all here to do our best with what we have. It is in the sharing of ourselves that we show our true humanity. You have made some good points. peace, bybee

Our greates strengths include our ability to love, create, and invent. Our ability to learn and adapt to our surrondings. Our greatest flaws are our constant need to consume and compete with one another. The ingrown need to consume in excess of what we need and instead of adapt to our surrondings, we alter it to fit our wants and needs and not care about what is killed our destroyed in the process.

greatest flaw - staying awake too long on forum sites (addictions)
greatest strength - being able to actually stop (self-control)

good points from everyone. OP presented primary message very well. In one way we are all part of the flock, if you want to look at things that way. But the world would self-destruct, people would go berserk with each other, if we were not able to feel that we are special. We are at least as good as all the other sheep. Actually, I'm better at this then they are. But they are better at 'that' then I am. Without this, humankind would take each othe out. We raise our babies to feel good about themselves, to have confidence, and good-self esteem. Once that is acquired, naturally it will be offputting to those who have not acquired it. And the power plays
and manipulation go on and on and on. Simple thing like playing poker. How much of that is 'reading' the other person's behavior, versus the luck of the cards you have in your hand. Life is a game, with a big playing field, and each individual in their own way plays to win - to outwit, outplay, outlast. Sowweee, no million dollahs.