The Human Condition

In My Humble Opinion
1

I heared it referred to on another movie last night (28 days, I think). Someone said to someone else: “We hurt each other. That’s the human condition.”

I love that phrase. Partially because I’ve heard it in so many different contexts, meaning different things.

I’ve also heard “The Human Condition” refer to:
[ul][li]People disagree. Different people with the same input and even same philosophy of life will reach different conclusions about the right thing to do. So even two very intelligent people who know a lot will still argue with each other.[/li][li]People don’t work well together. Since people have different agendas, they often work against each other and get nothing done instead of working together and being successful at something.[/li][li]** People look out for themselves first**. Even when people do work together for one thing, there will be some people who will sabotage it for their own benefit.[/li][li]People screw up. Even a group of altruistic people who agree on a single goal will inevitably make mistakes along the way and end up hurting those they try to help anyway.[/li][li]And the ever-popular “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (which also means different things to different people).[/ul][/li]My question is this: What do you think of when someone refers to “the human condition”?

2

Here are a few:
[ul][li] religion[/li][li] psychiatry[/li] globalization[/ul]

3

I think of the novel by Andre Malraux La condition humaine, and the book by philosopher Hannah Arendt The Human Condition. In general, I think of the collection of things that are essentially human, that are intrinsically connected to being human and that we cannot get rid of, whether we like it or not.

4

I think of things that encompass all cultures, such as love and passion, sorrow and grief, etc.