1. Human nature is the set of basic functions and motives shared by all humans. These facets of humanity include the desire for food, water, shelter, and reproduction. No matter the culture or location of the person, these needs will be an important part of the decisions the person makes for survival. Most behaviors then are not part of basic human nature, but instead are gained from interaction with other humans and structures in society. “The people who argue that ‘you can’t change human nature’ make the mistake of assuming that because man behaves a certain way in … society, therefore that’s the nature of human beings, and no other behavior is possible” (1); other behavior, however, is possible depending on the society a person is socialized in. For example, many Western societies emphasize the importance of the individual’s independence in the society, while some Eastern societies place value on community and familial bonds. Whether a person was raised in a Western or Eastern society can influence the way that person behaves on a larger social scale. In a capitalist society, competitiveness is often valued, which in turn affects the way people go about satisfying their basic human needs (food, water, shelter). On the other hand, a socialist society may put greater value on cooperation and sharing of resources. In this example, behavior determined by the socialization of a person affects the way that person goes about achieving the basic needs that are part of human nature. In both cases, human nature remains the same, but the behavior the person uses to satisfy needs is different as a result of different socialization. Other aspects of a person’s life can also vary depending on socialization, including social rituals such as weddings and funerals, interpersonal relationships, and social structures such as families and schools. 2. What do you think human nature is?  Include all the different aspects you think are important?  If something is not part of human nature, but is part of behavior, where does it come from? Human nature is the behaviors or habits all humans naturally do or not do that are not influenced or taught by the culture we grew up in. There are many aspects of human nature, the most important ones are self-preservation this includes creating shelter to live in to stay out of the elements, procreation, and communication. Out of these three I believe self-preservation is the most important. In the beginning of civilization people were forced to fend for themselves so creating a shelter to live in to stay out of the elements, creating weapons to protect yourself and family from predators, etc… were paramount to survival. Without this trait we would not care whether we lived or died, and we would cease to exist. This is followed closely by procreation, which also plays a huge part in weather we as humans continue to exist.  And lastly communication, Humans need to communicate whether that’s in a verbal or non-verbal form in or.

1. 1. Human nature is the set of basic functions and motives shared
by all humans. These facets of humanity include the desire for
food, water, shelter, and reproduction. No matter the culture or
location of the person, these needs will be an important part of
the decisions the person makes for survival. Most behaviors
then are not part of basic human nature, but instead are gained
from interaction with other humans and structures in society.
“The people who argue that ‘you can’t change human nature’
make the mistake of assuming that because man behaves a
certain way in … society, therefore that’s the nature of human
beings, and no other behavior is possible” (1); other behavior,
however, is possible depending on the society a person is
socialized in. For example, many Western societies emphasize
the importance of the individual’s independence in the society,
while some Eastern societies place value on community and
familial bonds. Whether a person was raised in a Western or
Eastern society can influence the way that person behaves on a
larger social scale. In a capitalist society, competitiveness is
often valued, which in turn affects the way people go about
satisfying their basic human needs (food, water, shelter). On the
other hand, a socialist society may put greater value on
cooperation and sharing of resources. In this example, behavior
determined by the socialization of a person affects the way that
person goes about achieving the basic needs that are part of
human nature. In both cases, human nature remains the same,
but the behavior the person uses to satisfy needs is different as
a result of different socialization. Other aspects of a person’s
life can also vary depending on socialization, including social
rituals such as weddings and funerals, interpersonal
relationships, and social structures such as families and schools.
2. What do you think human nature is? Include all the different
aspects you think are important? If something is not part of
human nature, but is part of behavior, where does it come from?
Human nature is the behaviors or habits all humans naturally do

2. or not do that are not influenced or taught by the culture we
grew up in. There are many aspects of human nature, the most
important ones are self-preservation this includes creating
shelter to live in to stay out of the elements, procreation, and
communication. Out of these three I believe self-preservation is
the most important. In the beginning of civilization people were
forced to fend for themselves so creating a shelter to live in to
stay out of the elements, creating weapons to protect yourself
and family from predators, etc… were paramount to survival.
Without this trait we would not care whether we lived or died,
and we would cease to exist. This is followed closely by
procreation, which also plays a huge part in weather we as
humans continue to exist. And lastly communication, Humans
need to communicate whether that’s in a verbal or non-verbal
form in order to survive, without communication we would
continue to make the same mistakes over and over again and
never advance. These aspects are the basic building blocks for
society, whether that’s as small as a tribe or as big as a country
without these three humans would cease to exist. There are also
the smaller aspects of human nature which include but are not
limited to, greed, envy, and aggression. These behaviors that we
are preprogramed with, each in different degrees that we have to
consciously resists at times. The society we grow up in does
play a part on whether we conceal these traits or show them. For
example, the United States has a very individualistic, we
generally speak our mind and show our emotions, so these traits
are not really concealed. No matter where or how you were
raised we all to some degree have these traits. Some of the
behaviors or habits we do can be labeled aspects of human
nature but are not. These are often called second natures, they
are the things we do every day but can’t explain how, when, or
why we were taught them. For example communication is
human nature but the language you speak is taught by the
people or society you grew up in. So language is a second
nature or behavior.

3. 3. What do I think human nature is? The book describes human
nature as being culture and society. While there are a couple of
my classmates who believe that human nature, is the need to
find food, shelter, water and procreate. I believe those
characteristics to be part of human nature but they do not
complete the full definition of human nature. My classmates
would also believe that those four characteristics are all that
play a role in human nature and leave no room for expansion. I
would have to strongly disagree with their conclusion the book
clearly states that culture and society defines human nature. Are
my classmates wrong in believing these four characteristics
define human nature? No. They are not. For I believe these four
characteristics define all human nature or can be considered the
blue print, but like all living things we to as human’s eventually
evolve and what use to be or could be considered human nature
has greatly expand. For intense if I was Japanese, raised in
Japan then I would have the four basic characteristic of human
nature and an expansion of many more language being one of
them. I read in one of the DQ response that language is
considered second nature because it was taught to use later. My
question is how can our native language be second nature if it's
the only way we know how to communicate? Now if I were
Japanese and learned to speak English then I would consider
English to be second nature. My point is there are billions on
people on this earth and millions of different societies we all
have the same basic needs but it's the society we grow up in and
the cultural education we get that help maximize and evolve
what we call human nature. I also believe every small aspect
plays a role in human nature weather I was born in American,
Iraq or China or speak a certain language or believe in a certain
religion all these aspects play into human nature and every
culture will be different. I also believe behavior is part of
human nature. Yes your behavior normally derives from
emotion be we learn emotion and expressions from our parents
and those that are around us in other words our culture. So
while we have multiple names for everything around us whether

4. it is language, emotion, behavior or religion it all boils down to
human nature.
give these 3 answers a short paragraphy reply