"Sittin on the dock of the bay"

I can't get my mind out of the thinking. Can thoughts be completely stopped, can one truly stop thinking? I don't believe so, as hard as you try. It can be rather tiring to be thinking all the time. But if the idealists are correct, reality only exists in thinking, and things don't exist unless you are perceiving them as such. But then again, the realists could be right, and things could exist whether or not your mind perceives them. Either way, I cannot seem to get my mind to stop thinking at the moment, and I'm thinking about people.

What exactly makes us the way we are? And I, being a religious man, believe that everyone is born with a knowledge of good and evil. But is it that simple? Are humans naturally born knowing what is good and bad, or is it learned from parental figures, and other people we, as children, look up to? I almost don't want to believe it is either. Because I don't want to believe that, say, a man was born on a desert island, abandoned, and left to fend for himself. Forgetting the physical limitations of such a situation, the man grows up to a man. I don't want to believe, that were he discovered, he would know nothing of ethical behavior or morality, and he would be a monster of sorts. On the other hand, if we were born with the knowledge of good and evil, how is it that some men can 'become' so evil? Was Hitler born with the knowledge of good and evil? Did he know that all he was doing was evil? If so, why did he do it anyway?

There is so much more that goes into such a topic. Human Nature, as philosophers have described it, is "ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that all 'normal' humans have in common". But if that is true, what is 'normal'? Does that exclude all those born with a mental illness? Do they not have what Human Nature? And if all 'normal' humans had these attributes, why are people so different from one another, on a very mental, emotional, and physical scale? If I was thinking something, the person next to me could never ever have that same thought, and yet we are all supposed to 'think in common'. Does that make Human Nature a false topic? No, I don't believe so, but then what is Human Nature? What makes us Human?

Going further, is everything we do strictly for our own benefit, or does anybody honestly act for the sake of others? I'm saying this on a very general scale, as I know there has been acts of pure selflessness and love. But, generally speaking, do humans act for themselves or for others? Do we treat others kindly because we honestly care about them, or are we more worried about our own consequences? If there was no Heaven or Hell, or no religious beliefs or moral standards, would people be good anyway? Is that part of Human Nature, to be kind and loving? It's a strange topic.

And if we were naturally loving, then how is that people still hurt other people? Do we lost our Human Nature sometimes, or is Human Nature non-existent? Are we all just people, brought up a certain way and taught certain things, and so therefore we are sub consciously acting that way? Or is there a spirit, a thing that we cannot describe, that tells us right from wrong, a 'conscience'? But then you must answer, where is our conscience when we act wrongly? Do we ignore it, and do what we want regardless of what it is saying? But then, why do we insist on defying it? What part of Human Nature is that?

What philosophy can't explain, religion seems to do for us. Satan, or an evil spirit of some sorts, 'tempts' us to make a wrong choice. And we know it is a wrong choice because our 'conscience' tells us so, or our spirit. Is that just religions way of explaining it, or is it true? I am a religious man, you must understand, I do believe in God, and Satan, and all of these things. But it still cannot explain the workings of Human Nature, because all people do not believe those things, nor are they expected to.

And it seems like Humans can agree on one thing: They are very much driven by greed, or the gaining of personal wealth. So much so, that many people's lives revolve solely around that. They go to school because they want a higher paying job, they want a higher paying job so they can buy more 'stuff'. They want more stuff, because it makes them look better socially, or they are higher on the social status latter. Which, actually, is another Human creation. We seem to want to label things, or to put people in groups. Is it because it is easier to understand it that way, or is it a deeper carnal desire that can't be explained? Why must we categorize things?

Science explains that the only way the brain works, is by categorizing things. We see things, label them as red, so that when we see something similar, we can describe it as 'red'. Otherwise description could not exist. So is that why we categorize Humans as well? We see someone who's labeled as 'rich', so that when we see a person in a similar position, we can describe them as 'rich'. Is that so? If it is, why do we develop antagonistic relations with people of different social status's then us? Why must the rich hate the poor, and vice versa? I know that that is not always the case, and that brings us deeper into the discussion. What makes some people do things that other people do not, even if they are in the same situation? If you fire a gunshot, a deer will run, any deer. But if you fire a gun at a human, the response can not be accurately predicted. He could get angry, and pull his own gun. He could run. He could call the police, the ambulance. He could do a great number of things, because all humans don't think the same. Then what, I implore, is Human Nature?

And if we were to continue this stripping down of Human behavior, we would simply seem to compare the Humans to animals, which also cannot help me in this study. It is already known that Humans (by humans own standards) have advanced far beyond that of an animal, whether they were put on the earth that way, or have evolved that way.

It truly could be to deep for me, as a child of fifteen, to comprehend. And must I talk more about this, I would simply boggle my own mind.

But I must say: I've had a truly magnificent life. And I truly believe that people are good, all of them. I believe that Human Nature, is the Nature to be loving and good, but we sometimes lose that. That is truly the study, then, isn't it? How is it that we lose Human Nature, or the natural act of loving. Of understanding. And caring. What happens to us? What happens to some of us, that makes us care not for others? That makes us seek only for or own gain? And is that all part of Human Nature as well? I don't know.

I cannot continue this study in one blog. I must continue on with my life, I must go enjoy all that I can about this wonderful world we live in. But I am continually seeking and studying. I know that people are good, the world is truly a benevolent place, whether people want to believe it or not. I'm out to prove that... Even though It sounds like a completely ridiculous thing to try to prove. I know, it does. But I am a person full of Passion I can't describe for such things. And I will study, seek, and find until I know all that I can.