# What's your opinion of humanity? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836 "2005-07-30T01:41:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/21 "2005-07-30T07:37:02Z")
Probably a pessimistic “neutral.” My “flawed but with many good qualities” and the “the sooner we’re wiped out the better” opinions tend to cancel each other out. (Mostly. Kind of. Well, sometimes.) But hey, it’s not like I think any other species could have done any better in our place. All in all, I think we’ve done pretty well for ourselves—despite the unfortunately high volume of jerks, psychos, twits, etc. among us—which is _something_ to be proud of. Whatever happens to our civilization, at least we _were_ able to pull it off for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/22 "2005-07-30T07:48:17Z")
Aside from the extra chromosome everyone seems to be carrying around, we’re not too bad. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/23 "2005-07-30T10:42:15Z")
Mostly we are very much alike. But what differences there are are powerful differences. If there are 8 people in my family, I would not be optimistic if only 7 of us had enough food to eat. **Wesley** , the information about cosmetics stuns me. You have given me an idea for a personal goal. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/24 "2005-07-30T11:05:25Z")
> [@](#): > > If you pick up a starving dog and make him properous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. Mark Twain summed it up well in this analogy. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/25 "2005-07-30T11:21:22Z")
Evolution’s way of getting other animals, like rats and roaches, onto other planets. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/26 "2005-07-30T11:50:19Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > I think so, yes. Within 40 years I’d assume economics & biotechnology will advance enough that people will have ample food. As it stands now 7/8th of the world’s population has adequate food. We have enough food for everyone **now**. What we don’t have are altruistic leaders the world over who’d actually give the food to their people instead of letting them starve to make a political point. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/27 "2005-07-30T14:40:10Z")
From **Men In Black** : Jay: Why the big secret? People are smart, they can handle it. Kay: A _person_ is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it. Whenever I think about Gandhi, the civil rights movement, Thomas Jefferson, The Enlightenment, Pulp Fiction, Office Space, The Catcher In The Rye, The Daily Show, Family Guy being renewed, South Park, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Kurt Vonnegut, Chris Rock, Seinfeld, Pizza, Sushi, all the different foods you can eat with cheese, The Bill of Rights, New York Police Department ESU and The Straight Dope I am reminded that humanity has great potential. Then there is Racism, religious radicals, modern American politics (I can’t speak for other countries), Elementary School, Junior High School, High School, The OC, MTV, the current popular culture in America (upper middle class people who listen to popular rap music), absolute poverty, Fox News and the war on drugs. I’m going to wait a few more years and see how this plays out. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/28 "2005-07-30T15:31:05Z")
Zoe - I try to look at the history of the subject though. Throughout human history famine has been natural, in 2005 there are more well fed people than at anytime in human history, I think that considering that famine has been arguably our biggest enemy in human history the fact that about 86% of us have adequate food now is good. But if you’re like me you can always try to help either by donating some money to programs like the world food program, raising awareness, asking politicans to donate more tax money because its in our best interest on endless levels or clicking on links like [this](http://www.thehungersite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites). Also, did you read my updates on the obesity thread? I got burned out but came back swinging like a maniac. Silentgoldfish - I know. I don’t like it, but I don’t see hunger ending until developing countries have the self sustaining economic abilities or high yield enough crops to provide for their own food. Plus things like oppressive dictatorships play a huge role in famine and hunger (the USSR under stalin, China under Mao, Mugabe in Zimbabwe, North Korea under the Kims, etc). ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/29 "2005-07-30T16:03:19Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > A _person_ is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it. The more I know about people, the better I like persons. Then again, this may just be because I don’t have a dog. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/30 "2005-07-30T17:57:18Z")
“people are like Slinkies---- not really good for much, but you can’t help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.” I think I saw this quote in an email sig on this site ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/31 "2005-08-01T08:24:13Z")
Aaah, humanity ! Wars, genocides, terrorism, torture, slave trade, child porn, rape, women slave trade, reckless exploitation of natural ressources… It’s a rotten world. We are just too many. And the more we are, the worst we get. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/32 "2005-08-01T17:18:06Z")
Humanity as a whole? We’re pretty amazing. Humanity is basically good, IMO, in terms of morality & stuff. We’re not more evolutionary successful than any other extant species simply because any extant species exists and that’s what a species’s job is, so to speak. We can coordinate complex systems of mutual support—often purely by accident—and we can do it, in some cases, on the basis of a few mathematical equations (eg. insurance). It’s weird to me to think that we’ve come up w/ all the stuff we’ve come up with. I mean, complicated languages, customs, rituals, products, methods all for a purpose that aren’t really necessary in any particularly strict sense. People don’t need movies to survive, yet we love them. In a smaller sense of people whom I must deal with, or those who vote in indefensible policies, my outlook is considerably more bleak. But maybe it’s just the wasted potential that pisses me off so much. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/33 "2005-08-01T17:19:03Z")
We are living beings. The basic condition for living beings is that they must all compete for the food and living space that allows them to survive. Since we can eat just about anything, and live just about anywhere, that makes us competitive with just about every other species. And we usually win, though often by accident (e.g., habitat destruction). Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, depending on your point of view), we’ve tapped into how things work, but don’t have much sense, so we’ll end up wiping ourselves out. It’s a race between bio-engineering and nukes as to how we do that. There aren’t many species that would be sorry to see us go, except for various vermin that we provide a good livelihood for. But, we are also capable of kindness, concern, love, and other ennobling things, so I’m not a misanthrope. Except some days when I am. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/34 "2005-08-01T17:57:13Z")
> [@](#): > > The sooner we’re wiped out the better Sometimes…and then, I recall that, after all, we’re just monkeys. And cross little monkeys, too, for we lack tails. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/35 "2005-08-01T18:11:23Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > The most successful species in the history of the planet. Sure there’s other that have been more numerous, but how many have effectively removed themselves from the food chain? Umm, Food chain includes decomposition. Otherwise you’re only putting us as high as Most Whales, Many sharks, Lions & Tigers and other top of food chain animals. I’ll settle for how many species ever achieved technology beyond level of Beaver Dam. As to OP: Too damn many of us furless apes. Hope we can start reducing our numbers without war or plague. Also hope we can continue as a species and continue to progress and get some of us of this rock to keep all of our eggs out of 1 basket. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/36 "2005-08-01T18:11:26Z")
I’m with Tommy Lee Jones – individuall, people are all right, but it’s when we team up that we fuck shit up. And since we’ve got this whole heuristic tribal thinking thing going on, we team up all the time. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/37 "2005-08-01T18:24:38Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > And since we’ve got this whole heuristic tribal thinking thing going on, we team up all the time. You seem to make it sound like a choice. I think the fact that we’ve evolved as a social species makes tribal behavior a given. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/38 "2005-08-01T18:26:45Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > We’re animals that got lucky. Ditto… But I’m also of the opinion that we’re no better than animals, most of the time. As groups anyway. There are a few that rise above the herd, but not many. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/39 "2005-08-01T19:12:57Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > We are living beings. The basic condition for living beings is that they must all compete for the food and living space that allows them to survive. So I take it you don’t believe in a social safety net, then? Unnatural, weakens the gene pool and all that? Every man for himself, way of the world, etc. etc.? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836/40 "2005-08-01T19:41:39Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > So I take it you don’t believe in a social safety net, then? Unnatural, weakens the gene pool and all that? Every man for himself, way of the world, etc. etc.? No, I don’t believe that at all. But I do think that that will be the behavior of the species if is not overridden. We are the only species that’s capable of overriding such behavior, and I think we should try to do so. Given the destructive behavior of governments, it’s almost always going to be an uphill fight. Morality aside, I think it’s ironic that the only way to improve our lot as a species, and quite possibly the only way to ensure our survival, is to at times run counter to the evolutionary mechanisms that allow species to survive in the first place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-opinion-of-humanity/314836.md?page=3)