As presented here for purposes of discussion
Ten Defining Traits:
- Willingness to help family and strangers including nurturing the young: Humanity’s dedication to nurturing the young is large, but not boundless. We often extend credit and assistance to adult members of our families up to the point of no return. Almost everyone will happily lend non-monetary assistance to a needy stranger as well. For the most part we extend courtesy towards others. Humanity, as a whole, is fundamentally friendly and hospitable. Some individuals do practice random acts of unkindness such as road rage, rape, and murder. Those people are fortunately in the minority, but they must be factored into this equation. Wars, however, are institutional aberrations and therefore will not be factored in. Absent the formalized pressures of a war, people will happily function in a more normal and traditionally civilized manner. WinLoseorDraw grades Humanity 9 out of 10.
- Work ethic and ability to buckle down and accomplish a formidable task: Humanity gets high marks for our willingness to work hard and contribute for our entire lives up until decrepitude and advanced old age. Even the very old would prefer to remain useful. WinLoseorDraw grades Humanity 9 out of 10.
- Community Spirit, National Pride, and Respect for the Law: Almost everyone stands for the national anthem. According to prisonpolicy.org, only .7 percent of the United States population is in jail. Of course, not all criminals are in jail at any one time. WinLoseorDraw grades Humanity 7 out of 10.
- Feeding the brain and intellectual growth: Most people watch the news or read. A marketing firm reports that 500 million is spent in the U.S. on personal development every year. Self help is a huge industry. The downside is that people tend to limit their listening and viewing choices to sources that reenforce their personal biases. WinLoseorDraw grades Humanity 8 out of 10.
- Feeding the Body and taking care of one’s personal temple: Most people work, and work is exercise. Many people augment work with regular exercise. Health care is a big part of the average budget. Everybody sleeps, and many people spend time sitting on a couch watching television, but we would die if we didn’t get some rest. WinLoseorDraw grades Humanity 9 out of 10.
- Positive Mental Attitude and Sense of Humor: If we go by the number of commercials advertising anti-depressants, we might make the mistake of giving ourselves a low grade. However, depressions are real reactions to personal problems. Even people who are suffering from depression have a sense of humor and a positive mental attitude. Temporary sadness may disguise our general level of happiness, but, in general, we are a happy bunch, happy to greet each new day. Even the crustiest individuals enjoy sardonic humor. We all like to laugh. WinLoseorDraw grades Humanity 8 out of 10.
- Tolerance of personal hardship: Everyone must agree that our ancestors were hardier than we are, and that humanity has lost a lot of ground in this category. Our houses are independent environments, well insulated and climate controlled. Our transportation is super convenient. The grocery store is only a few blocks away. A recent reality television show offered people the opportunity to live like our ancestors lived for a few weeks. They had plenty of volunteers anxious to give the experiment a try. The cameras showed their whining, frustration, and tears after the first day. What will we do if the economic tides turn against us, and we are forced to live without our modern conveniences? WinLoseorDraw grades Humanity 2 out of 10.
- Adaptability to new situations and openness to new experiences including inventiveness: People are basically home-bodies, like the Hobbits in J. R. R. Tolkien’s books. Most live in the towns in which they were born for their entire lives even when money is not a factor. As young adults, people often move to new locations for colleges and jobs, but they soon establish new homes in the places they find themselves. People love to vacation in foreign lands and buy souvenirs. Then they hurry home to hang those souvenirs on their walls. As for inventiveness, it is revealing to consider how much we revere the few true inventors among us. WinLoseorDraw grades Humanity 3 out of 10.
- Ability to foresee the future and prepare for it: I like Doris Day’s song, Que Sera Sera, “The future’s not ours to see,” but the words are misleading. We can foresee the near future. People called entrepreneurs recognize opportunity and profit from it every day. We know now that technology is going to take over many jobs in the future, but our efforts to prepare for this change are less than robust. We spend a lot of time lamenting this fact but little time adjusting school curricula to deal with it. The typical high school today has a robotics club, but courses in mechanics and engineering are scarce. WinLoseorDraw grades Humanity 4 out of 10.
- Exercising good husbandry and effective conservation of our resources, as spoken of often in the bible and in parables: The Federal Reserve recently reported that 39% of Americans could not handle a $400 emergency with funds on hand. The median savings amount is $3,500, while the mean is $26,619. However, cash on hand is only one form of wealth. WinLoseorDraw grades Humanity 6 out of 10.
WinLoseorDraw has given Humanity a total of 65. As an optimist, WinLoseorDraw would have preferred to give humanity a higher overall score. We need five more points just to get to a C.
Would you grade Humanity higher or lower using this scale?
1. Willingness to help family and strangers including nurturing the young: Our species’ social adaptations are called fission-fusion, that is, we come together sometimes and clash other times. We are fundamentally both friendly and aggressive, depending on circumstances. War is not an aberration; it is a major theme throughout history. Aggressors act when the perceived chances of success and benefits are high. Crime is neither random nor senseless; criminals choose victims that are likely to submit, and the thrill of total domination is probably something like winning a game but a thousand times more rewarding. Deterrence is essential.
2. Work ethic and ability to buckle down and accomplish a formidable task: Abolish taxes on incomes and payrolls, replace them with a retail sales tax.
3. Community Spirit, National Pride, and Respect for the Law: We must apply effective anti-crime measures.
4. Feeding the brain and intellectual growth: Be careful, if you leave your mind too open, others will pour garbage into it.
5. Feeding the Body and taking care of one’s personal temple: A fat man said to his physician, “Doctor, when I am in the shower and look down, I can’t see my penis. What should I do?”
“Diet.”
“What color?”
6. Positive Mental Attitude and Sense of Humor: Sirius XM has a couple of comedy channels.
7. Tolerance of personal hardship: Only a 2? I can’t take it. I need a sedative.
8. Adaptability to new situations and openness to new experiences including inventiveness: More entrepreneurs and fewer bureaucrats will help.
9. Ability to foresee the future and prepare for it: Try alternatives to forced mass schooling.
10. Exercising good husbandry and effective conservation of our resources, as spoken of often in the bible and in parables: Re-charter the Federal Reserve to have only one function—zero inflation and make savings rational again. Tax spending, not earning.
A, B, C, D, or F?
Individuals run the spectrum. I give myself a C.
Yes. WinLoseorDraw suspects the spectrum is substantially weighted towards the middle, very, very few A’s or F’s. Congratulations on your passing grade. WinLoseorDraw envy’s you, and he suspects, based on your response which displays a sense of humility and an awareness of the reality of human nature, that you are certainly well above middle C.