BY JOSEPH SOBOKA
As social beings people need to move along with one another. For a man, it is a must that he needs at least a person to be with for support, sharing of ideas and everything important for his life. A lone ranger hardly finds his way and hardly makes a significant progress in his journey of life.
Non-believers or atheists, who believe that there is no God, refer to man as social animal. On the contrary, great religions like Islam and Christianity and all the rest are of strong belief that man is created in the image of God.
Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher writes “Man is a social animal. He who lives without society is either a beast or God”. Thus, man is by nature a social animal. He is born in society lives in society and dies in society. Society is indispensable for man. Man cannot live as man, without society. Isolation from society is regarded as a punishment. Solitary life is unbearable for him. Social life is necessary for man. The instinct for some form of social life is innate in human nature. Professor Park says, “Man is not born human but to be made human”. An extensive argument can be carried out as per this issue. Basically what is animal?
Can animals be social? Animals own their social behavior, the suite of interactions that occurs between two or more individual animals, usually of the same species.
As for one, man can also be called a social being as opposed to social animal? Indeed man is a social being. This implies that he is a being who lives in a social relationship. This term is used to distinguish man from a natural being. When man is referred to a social being, it implies that he a being that lives and conducts activity in social relationship or environment differently from natural being. At this junction, the concept of human behavior calls for special attention: Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity for physical, mental, and social activity during the phases of human life. We need to know what expressed capacity is. Thus, it is a confirmed or acknowledged ability of humans to do something significant.
This is a sheer indication of how man is different from animal by such gift and should not be referred to as social animal. Physical, mental, and social activity mark the border line between human and animal. Over and above, animals do not have the mental capacity as humans. I would rather say that they are guided by impulse. Animals have a sudden inclination of acting without thought about the consequences. Just an instant reaction governs their activity regardless of what will happen as a result. It seems they have no shame or fear of what their action does to the other animal. They incline to their animalistic greed; they are intensely desirous to do something at any cost.
But man, while interacting with people, proactively evaluates the circumstance in which he is in and acts in the way it does not adversely affect others. Mutual benefits become the priority in the relationship. He understands that shared love, friendship and respect are the basis for human relationship. Every advantage envisaged in the process is common to each other or all. Every good thing that one pictures in one’s mind should be shared with other/s without reservation. What is envisaged may not always be favorable; it is perhaps a dangerous situation that can risk the relationship. Therefore, it should be known to the other/s before it is too late. All the same, if the situation gets out of hand, man is capable of actively reacting to it to iron out the problem that has occurred.
For humans to get along, selfishness or self- centered attitude should be out of the way and be replaced by selflessness. Proper and good human relationship, chiefly, thinking of and being interested only in one’s needs and welfare, should be done away with. In other words, one who is too much concerned with gaining advantages for one can sooner or later be identified and be rejected by friend or friends for he can be a menace to the strong social relationship. It should be born in mind that anything that interests one party obviously interests the other. What is most desired to maintain the wellbeing of the relationship is self- sacrifice, the desire of giving up of one’s own interests and wishes for the sake of other people. This is the quality that the animal behavior lacks.
Man as opposed to animals, is endowed with qualities that strengthens and beautify in the process of his inter-relational behavior. If he inadvertently commits a mistake that would somehow harms the other fellow, if he is in his sane mind, he will surely be invaded by a bad feeling making him restless. That is a feeling referred to as guilt. It is the condition that he has done wrong. He cannot get rid of it however he tries.
The only remedy to the problem is confessing to the victim/s and asking for forgiveness. He should be reassured that the victims no longer punish him by causing him to dwell on incessant and never relenting regrets and as a result the scorching mental disturbance. Because of this fact his activities are governed by inhibition – hindering one’s desire in doing something that might offend or harm one’s friend. In other words, it is restraint on habitual or shrinking from an action for which there is an impulse or desire to gain the acceptance of others. Abreast of this, personal dignity is much fondled by humans.
Dignity, in its simplest form is the self-respect a person clings to and it is quality he cannot trade for anything in the world. At the same time, it is a quality earns or deserves respect. A person who maintains his dignity is loved and looked up to. He should not belittle himself if he desires to remain prominent member of the group he belongs to. Further as opposed to animals, he understands that he is accountable for his actions; a mature person feels that he is answerable to others for his deeds. Therefore, such individual moves with utmost caution while interacting with people, he is seldom seen acting recklessly. Having noticed his good qualities, people are assured of is reliability. Without any doubt, they depend upon him for every social duty.
These and other reasons justify that man should not be identified with animals with respect to particularly social behavior. It is true that animals move socially but not the same as humans. Man’s social behavior supersedes that of animals for the very simple fact that it is guided by the intellect, the power of the mind to reason. Reason is contrasted with feelings, the power which animals employ in their interactions with other animals. Animals are emotionally geared in all their social activities. Unlike humans, if they are challenged, they angrily react and lean to merciless attack. Man, therefore, is in most cases, behaviorally different from animals although there are certain characteristics that they share.
The Ethiopian Herald July 17/2021
