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Hope for Human Nature

By Hazel Henderson

I believe that hope is an attitude we need to cultivate--among others: gratitude, trust, confidence, cooperation and faith in the wondrous unfolding of life on Earth.

I have faith in the continuation of human development and maturation toward greater wisdom. We humans use only 10 percent of our cognitive capacities--while our emotional capacities for empathy and collaboration are also enormous.

Recently, I joined a group of scholars reassessing the British scientist Charles Darwin (www.thedarwinproject.com). They are discovering how Darwin's theories were distorted by the elites of Victorian Britain into the cynical theories of "survival of the fittest," competition over resources and territory. This "Social Darwinism" doctrine became the underpinning of market economics and its view that "human nature" was basically selfish and competitive.

The new Darwin scholars, including David Loye in his Darwin's Lost Theory of Love, now set the record straight. Darwin only mentioned "the survival of the fittest" a few times while emphasizing constantly that the real genius of humans was their ability to bond, trust each other, cooperate and mature into altruism.

This new view of human nature, I believe, is correct and implies a rethink of economic and business school curricula--balancing their focus on competition and selfishness toward cooperation and our capacity for altruism. Here are new grounds for hope!

Dr. Hazel Henderson is an independent futurist, syndicated columnist, and consultant on sustainable development in over 30 countries. She is the author of several books, including Building a Win-Win World.

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