“What makes people behave in the way they do?” A question that has intrigued philosophers for millennia, and helps philosophy departments all over the world to continue to receive their limited budgets. Answer to this question are wide ranging, and have changed throughout time. Religions point to their gods and doctrines to find an answer. Ancient thinkers varied this religious answer somewhat by referring to some immaterial spirit that is found in human nature that makes us different from other animals that inhabit the Earth. Over time the answer to this eternal question came to result in lines of thinking that a person’s race or economic class determined their behavior and thus this lead to Nazism and Communism. The death tolls were horrifically catastrophic in both cases. Also in the twentieth century social scientists began to believe that all human behavior was the result of the environment a person grew up in, and through social engineering the ills of society, such as violence, greed, etc, could all be cured. These cures remain elusive. As technology and understanding of the human brain advanced, theories were put forth that genetics, or DNA determined how a person behaved.
Ultimately, however, the answer to the question of human behavior probably lies somewhere between several different schools of thought. The theory I put forth is that the average mentally healthy person across all societies hold certain beliefs that are written in genetic stone.
During the 1930s and 1940s there were two leaders, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, that had to have different belief systems. These two leaders grew up being taught dissimilar things; also their religious beliefs were nonidentical from one another. As Stalin and Hitler grew to be leaders, they both had different ideas to make their countries better. To do this each leader had disparate political ideologies, to treat their citizens differently, and to set goals for their own leadership, or for themselves to reach. Within their government each leader had made their impact on the world’s society.
The society can be affected because of these precarious situations. If more and more people can’t find the strength to get out of these tough situations, our society will become less diverse. A less diverse society is usually caused because the controller wants others to be like them. They want others to have the same thoughts, do the same things, and act in a similar fashion. This results in common thoughts and actions creating a less diverse society. Hitler was a master at manipulating people’s minds to get them to do what he wanted. Hitler had one plan in order to pay back the war debts of WWI. According to Anna Tollar, Hitler was able to exterminate people because of his power: “There was no one who could stop Hitler from committing these crimes because he made himself seem more superior” (Tollar n.pag.). One can not control another if they do not have authority over them. Hitler’s goal was to get thousands of people thinking on the same page. He did this by gaining power. Nobody would listen, or carry out his deeds for him without some authority. In addition, Hitler also used fear to brainwash and control his people: “Hitler saw that as an opportunity to persuade people by bringing fear into people’s lives so they would obey him” (Tollar n.pag.). Hitler became so powerful that he started using fear to control others. He established
Many topics that have been examined, taught and discussed in RS 121 correlate with the main themes in Jonathan Kozol’s Amazing Grace. These topics in Kozol’s novel relate to many ideas taught in relation to sociological, philosophical and theological theories. For these reasons, Kozol’s novel is a novel that is effectively used as a learning tool in association to the idea of “the other” as well as the content of RS 121.
The Most Dangerous Game was a story made by Richard Connell in 1924, and had a movie adaptation in 1932. The short story tells about a man stranded on an island by the name of Rainsford. He finds Zaroff, a general with a great lust for hunting, who hunts people and Rainsford himself going to be hunted. He then attempts to outwit the general and ends up possibly taking his place. The film tries to encapsulate the excitement and story of the original version with more enticing visual effects and mostly succeeds. Although the film shares many themes and characteristics as the story, it has also changed many key factors.
In attempting to reveal insight upon the first part of this two-fold question, one must first discern the meaning of human nature. According to the authoritative opinion of The Random House College Dictionary human nature is defined as; "the psychological and social qualities that characterize mankind." In assessing the psychological and social qualities of mankind, it was easy to find oneself consumed within the vastness of characteristical qualities for which humanity has been endowed. These qualities range from ignorance to knowledge; grief to joy; from incontinence to self-restraint; lust to perseverance; injustice to
It was easy for people to form ideologies in such ways because they wanted change from their current state after World War I. They praised Adolf Hitler because he promised this change. What they didn’t know was that he would bring more distress due to his violent nature that was soon to be discovered. World War II was then started because of Hitler’s decisions. But, the coming together of people in agreement to his ideologies was inevitable because in the time of need, Hitler proposed a sign of
Human behavior is affected both by genetic inheritance and by experience. The ways in which people develop are shaped by social experience and circumstances within the context of their inherited genetic potential. Each person is born into a social and
The Evolution of Man In this day and age, humanity has continued to expand its knowledge in every dimension and these effects have been dramatically felt by society. The human race has evolved in this aggregate of people that we live in. Our values, beliefs and attitudes are all interictally connected. Take World War One for example, if Gavrilo Princip (the murderer) had not felt that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the victim) was necessary, which then triggered a chain of events that resulted in WWI, then the war possibly would never have happened.
There are fewer hotter and polarizing topics in the United States of America than health care. Healthcare is a modern favorite for news networks and reporters. From the controversy involving Martin Shkreli and price gouging in the pharmaceutical industry, to reports that Americans pay much higher rates than those in other developed Western nations. Healthcare as a concept has been even had a large impact on politics in the country.
There are different types of people in the world, as they all have different behavior, personality, and culture. Everyone has a different view of what makes good people do bad things. It is amazing how such calm and nice people turn into such a bad people. There must be a psychology reason in order for them to turn like this. There are some factors I would like to know and also discuss of why people behave this way. Therefore, a person with different behavior makes them act different and hence, that impacts on a person’s personality which makes them turn from good person to bad person.
Scientists still agree that biology does play a part in human behavior, however. Nature and nurture do not oppose each other in every manner. Today, social scientists hesitate to choose one or the other. As humans, life depends solely on the operating of the body. This is seen especially in children. It is obvious that children share their biological traits, such as hair or eye color, with that of their parents. Heredity also plays a part in their intelligence, how artistic they are, and their overall personality. We all have “potential” inheritances, in which their full development depends on how we are all raised. Both sides
Is behavior learned? It is inborn? What of aggression, intelligence, and madness? There is a crucial relationship between the behavior of humans toward their own kind and the view of life they hold. Interest in behavioral genetics depends on wanting to know why people differ. According to Jack R. Vale, in Genes, Environment, and Behavior, recognition of the importance of hereditary influence on behavior represents one of the most dramatic changes in the social and behavioral sciences during the past two decades. A shift began toward the more balanced contemporary view that recognizes genetic as well as environmental influences on behavior. Behavioral genetics lies in its theory and methods, which consider both genetic and
Human behavior has been a mystery to scientists and psychologists for years. What causes humans to act the way they do? Is it learned by experience, or inherited from prior generations? The human brain is a complex machine driven by numerous intangibles that influence our thinking process directly and indirectly.
Human character and behaviour are not only shaped by the genes that encompass the individual’s genotype. Human character comprising mainly of personality, sexuality, morality and intelligence are the products of genetic determinism as well as external environmental factors. “Single genes can have surprisingly strong influences on particular aspects of behaviour.” (Frank., 2009)
This view is very broad when covering the human personality, and had huge followings at times. Many psychologists agree that we are influenced by instinct and