Monday, January 4, 2021

Towards The Light

A day featuring many points of light. Not the least a headline in The Straits Times about the remarkable increase in money given to various charities in the nation over the last year, and this despite the financial strictures faced by so many.

Many years ago I was of the opinion that human nature was essentially selfish, indeed, given to cruelty. I still think we are capable of selfishness and outright cruelty, especially when the climate of a society becomes so warped it allows of such. But I've come to believe that altruism is central to our nature, and have become more aware of the evidence to support this claim from a number of fields. I suppose that I no longer subscribe to the doctrine of original sin.

Hope I'm right. (The problem is, of course, that folly and downright stupidity are also central to our nature. I've not changed my mind on that one.)

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