what are the shortcomings of human beings even today?

Question

my dad always says that in spite of the fact that we are so advanced, no longer have imperialistic ambitions in the world, we still fall into some of the same flaws as people 100s, perhaps 1000s of years before us. What are some of these?

Answer 1

I will say materialism. I will say laziness. I will say ego-centric.

Answer 2

Shortcomings according to whose measuring stick? Even if you bring God into this, He is supposedly omnipotent and knew in advance what we'd be like and created us this way ON PURPOSE which means we were made the way he intended - to fail to live up to some impossible measure.

Take God out of the equation, and it is still the same - we are what we are, it's what makes us human, for better or worse. Take away what makes us human and we are no longer human. For better or worse.

Almost every comfort that we have today, every medical advance, came through those shortcomings of greed, violence, materialism. Without those "shortcomings" we would not have "advanced" at all.

So I would have to say, your Dad is right. And a damn good thing, too!

Answer 3

I find one of the greatest shortcomings of human begins is how often they take 'short-cuts' cognitively when the situation warrants further analysis. On account of that, people still make sterotypes, misjudge, invest in predjudice, and inherint multitudes of misunderstandings.
But the concept that embodies the flaws that humans repeat throughout history is "human nature" itself. Most of these mistakes stem from the following:
1. Failures in communication: this can occur at any magnitude, whether between sister and brother, lover and beloved, nation and ruler, or country v. country. Because people have different perspectives and often fail to acknowlege the perspectives of others (or even attempt at their comprehension), many contentions arise--and many more of those lead to wars. That is not to say that wars are the product of a simple misunderstanding, but that there is a level of obduracy and communication failure as well as a measure of cultural obliviousness that facilitates conflicts.
-Decadence: Every culture that rises to a level of stability in a time of peace becomes increasingly decadent and subsequently unprepared for future battles. This can be witnessed with Rome and the Byzantines before their respective falls. A number of other civilizations became materialistic and hedonistic from 'prosperity' and soonafter met a tragic string of affairs that led to their demise--whether it be civil war or invaders (or even natural disasters).
-Two-front war: any nation that tries to fight two wars at the same time eventually exhausts its resources, depletes its military, and meets disaster. Hitler's troops made that fatal error. Rome also did on many occasions--each with regrettable results. No matter how many lessons are taught, the next civilization becomes cocky and launches two invasions or one invasion without ensuring that their other border is stable and well-guarded.
(aka Afghanistan and Iraq are a terriblef financial burden to the US)

There's a start.

Answer 4

because the frontiers of this planet have (mostly) been reached we have become more restricted by the governing of money.
get a (good) job, house, education, family kids, etc--- no longer can you pick and move to a place were you can call home for free and start a farm or live off the land. Someone owns it or claims to. We have lost the drive to explore, (not everyone, but most).
Money has controlled man for a very long time and kept him in a cycle of need.

Answer 5

We most certainly have imperialist "ambitions" the leaders are simply blocked in their ambitions by a democratic government.

Our flaw are all the same. Slavery exists, child labor, child marriage, rape, murder, genocide, everything. Humans will be the same for the next 40,000 years unless we engineer it out of ourselvs.

Answer 6

Check out the 7 deadly sins and see how they apply today.
From Wikipedia:
Listed in the same order used by both Pope Gregory the Great (b.540(?), d.604) in the 6th Century AD and later by Dante Alighieri in his epic poem The Divine Comedy (c.1308-1321), The Seven Deadly Sins are as follows: Luxuria (extravagance, later lust), Gula (gluttony), Avaritia (avarice/greed), Acedia (sloth), Ira (wrath), Invidia (envy), and Superbia (pride/hubris).

Answer 7

The misdeed of humans is losing out to nobody. Does not matter whether the engagement has endorsement of foolishness or sensibleness, either way it must serve a purpose of satisfaction alone. The advent of egoism has created humans in collision to beneficence, where survival is edging out the competitors, or whomever that stands in the way of progression.
“ Morality has its foundation to self-interest “

Answer 8

There is but one shortcoming, all other flaw arises from this one.We believe we are separate and apart from God, that we have a will of our own, that we are the doer, that we are the thinker.. If we could let go of this false sense of self, what would be left?? "God dwells within you as you".

Answer 9

I agree with your dad - I feel, even if we have become so advanced, the general parts of human beings have not changed: want, need, greed, doing better than others, using others, being ignorant, always wanting more...that's what'll destroy us eventually....

Answer 10

impatience, materialism