Faith in Humanity

I don't really believe in "faith in humanity". I believe that we are who we are and we will become what we will become, and that's it. I will always be me no matter how humanity changes or I change, and that's what's important. At least to me.

 

It's a great thread and we're telepathic because I was thinking of asking the same thing, though in different words.

I'm down on "faith in humanity." The vast majority of people are selfish, inconsiderate, and even unwilling to allow others to thrive devoid of conflict, even when it's no skin off their noses. A friend of mine, embittered by his divorce, said that, in life, you have to "go for all the bananas" you can. This wasn't the person I knew in college. I'd never heard that expression before, and it means he's changed a lot. However, look at how many "banana collectors" there are in the world, and I'm not making a joke by using that term.

 

I find that people who say that they've lost or regained their "faith in humanity" a lot tend to be humans whom I have no faith in. It's a cliche phrase that waters down the problems of cynicism and tends to be used in trivial situations.

I don't have faith in human societies, but I have faith in some humans. I don't like humanity. I like humans.

 

What is faith in humanity? I see it as believing there is hope at least that people in general will make it - or that there is good in all people - that would be the general definition for me.

Do you have any?(If no, when did you lose it, and why?) - I had a lot more when I was younger - I have pretty much had it beaten out of me :icon_sad: by being scammed by pretty much everyone I tried to help - personal friends I took in - family - partners - everyone in my life - even the churches I tried to go to.

Do you think faith in humanity is justified? - nope - just look at what we have done to the planet - destroying it with pollution and causing climate change - killing off the oceans, just about wiping out many species - the bees are almost wiped out and that is going to have real bad repercussions on us even - I have been warning about this stuff for decades - my name should have been Cassandra

 

I've been thinking of this topic a lot lately, along with "death", "meaning of life", and "humanity" in general. There are a few things I've accepted that are probably never going away, at least not in the immediate future: conflict and inequality, for example, which are only to be expected, from an economic standpoint. You won't breed the "animal" out of humans.

At the same time, I've started contemplating my own mortality, and seeing my life as a continuous part of "humanity", rather than an isolated, meaningless experience. A lot of the same issues my ancestors faced 3,000 years ago, and the same my descendents will face 3,000 years from now (if, when...), are the ones that exist right now, for me. I feel more "connected", if that makes any sense.

So yes, I have faith in a few things, like the cons mentioned earlier, but also that there will be idealists and such, who strive to overcome these things. What helps is seeing me and my actions as a stone being dropped in a pond; there will be ripples, one way or another. It's one thing that's helped me try to live life to the fullest.

 

That's really sad. I'm sorry that happened to you in life. I don't want to feel like that when I get older but is it inevitable? :icon_sad:

 

not sure if it is inevitable - maybe you can have better judgement in who you trust and not get scammed or anything

I had bad church experience, every single one would bring me in only then to end up freaking out over who I was

I had several relationships where people ended up either cheating on me or abusing me before I found a decent person

and then it just took me a long time to learn never trust anyone on an internet dating site and that social media is pretty much a setup for people to stalk and troll and hate and how to block and stop people

 

I dont understand why you would need any

 

I am similar but dissimilar on this. I have more of it when I was younger. What has stunned me is how many friends, and people, make verbal trespasses and/or try to organize your life when you don't do this to them, and their lives need organizing. I'm not at all passive, but I'm fairly laissez-faire. Maybe this is interpreted as being able to make a trespass. Not so. Most of the time I walk away from the friend and situation and sometimes I speak my mind. THIS has caused me to enjoy people much less and have less faith in them. As for relationships, that hasn't been a problem since they all seemed like I was testing the waters and never went for a long-term swim. I saw that they were more trouble than I wanted to deal with and didn't get involved, so the other person got hurt more so than I did. That wasn't the intent. I just don't fawn over people in between 0 to 6 months. It's not me.

 

What's intriguing to me is why we need to have faith in anything at all...

Maybe it's just a bad habit, arising from the need to explain things, that was cleverly re-directed to religion, thereby neutralizing it by addressing this faith to an unseen God...

I have no faith in humanity, but I find that most people are willing to help, or at least unwilling to harm, and that's good enough for me.

 

I strive to look for the good in Humanity meaning 'The collective human race' It isn't always easy, however, since I am part of the "collective" and have faith in myself it would seem disloyal to not have faith in mankind as a whole.

Sure we can point to the bad in humans and Society if we choose. However, it is best to look at the good in ourselves and humanity and understand the "Free Will" concept of our existence.

Augustine says that "evil exists because we have free will. God enables humans to freely choose their actions and deeds, and evil inevitably results from these choices." I firmly believe this......Peace

 

^ what i was thinking aswell

 

I love humanity. People are cool. I don't like everyone, but I think that most people are really innately pretty awesome.

 

I don't know; I oscillate between having it and not having it. Sometimes I have a huge amount and imagine humanity reaching its full potential. I imagine egalitarian societies without sexism, cis-sexism, racism, sexual/gender phobias, starvation, intense poverty, etc. I imagine humanity as a productive part of its galactic neighborhood. But then I read the news, which is full of horrible people doing horrible crimes, and my vision wavers. I despair that humanity can never reach such a utopia. After some despair, I try to convince myself that such cruel people are the minority and that humanity can be great.