Give humanity some credit. Actually, give humanity a lot of credit. From Paul Rosneberg at freemansperspective.com:
The problem with most humans is not that they think too highly of themselves: it’s that they think too little of themselves. They exhibit what G.K. Chesterton called a “weird and horrible humility.” To put it bluntly, we’ve been trained to perpetually self-accuse.
We grow up to question ourselves endlessly, to stay worried that we might screw something up. The law teaches us that we’re always on the edge of being punished. All the years we spend in school teach us to fear mistakes. And unfortunately, many religions teach us that we’re always on the verge of falling into sin and damnation.
The truth, however, is that we’re not that bad. We just think so.
Of course, we do sometimes screw things up… but not remotely as often as we mistrust ourselves. And a large percentage of those screwups occur precisely because we don’t trust ourselves!
“Human Nature Has Been Sold Short”
Humans have deeply devalued themselves, and I’m hardly the first person to say so. Here’s what psychologist Abraham Maslow wrote:
Human history is a record of the ways in which human nature has been sold short. The highest possibilities of human nature have practically always been underrated.
