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We can choose animal instincts or human brain.
We just passed a sad anniversary marking the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who effected social change through passive, peaceful resistance to injustice. Today America is still plagued by injustice and divisiveness, just like when King was alive, but we’re not alone.
Consider the Dominican Republic, which is divided between people who believe there should be a wall between it and its neighbor, and those who feel that these neighbors should be treated with kindness and compassion. While some Dominicans believe that the xenophobic nationalistic wave sweeping their country has more to do with their neighbors’ darker complexion than the porousness of the country’s border, other Dominicans question whether their fellow citizens born of Haitian heritage are “real” Dominicans.
I believe that such distrust between people is not caused solely for economic or ethnic differences. I believe the cause is much deeper than this. Humans are inhumane to other humans for many reasons, all of which have the same root: like me, good; unlike me, bad. For example, consider the years of war in Ireland over religion between ethnically identical people, all of whom were Christians. Or the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis on many who were virtually the same genetically as they were, but who practiced a different religion.
I believe a large part of our animus toward one another is the fact that we are — despite our resistance to the idea — animals. We are advanced intellectually compared to other animals, but we also share their primal urge to like that which is alike, and abhor that which is different. It’s a trait that can be seen throughout nature. Consider the pine tree that drops acidic needles, poisoning the soil for other plant life, but also shares nutrients with other pine trees through its root system.
It seems life has survived for millions of years through a built-in instinct to get its genes into the next generation. This inherent instinct exists in every living thing. For humans, it resides in the area of our brain called the amygdala, or lizard brain. The amygdala is what causes us to jump when we see a snake before we are even aware of what we’re seeing. It’s also the seat of emotions that compel us to fear and dominance.
Another region of the human brain is the prefrontal cortex. This area sets us apart from other animals and gives rise to language, poetry, prose, song, art and music. In the prefrontal cortex, cognition is formed, and it’s our most unique trait. Cognition, the ability to think and reason; we think, and therefore we are. We are able to resist our baser instincts and be fully human.
We humans can choose our own nature, be it our primitive animal instincts, or our more complex humanness, which includes the part of our nature, our morality, that Martin Luther King spoke of when he said: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” The choice of which part of the brain we heed is ours and ours alone to make.