You're not alone

I’m sitting here in the atrium of Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern, watching the students filter in for lunch and networking while I listen to Andrew Bird’s “Take Courage,” and I’m starting to have one of those existential moments, contemplating human nature, free will, and plants.

It began with Andrew Bird and my current obsession with this song. I woke with it in my head, went to gym, ate breakfast, read a few online papers, wrote a letter to the State Department, all while hearing his whistle in my mind. I do not believe that artists speak to me directly. In fact, I think they really speak to no one save maybe themselves, saying what they wish to hear, painting what they want to see, filling their voids for themselves. We just get to benefit from their nature to abhor a vacuum and use their art to fill our own. Why do they bother, these artists even when they may remain obscure or poor? Because it is their nature to. The caged bird sings, because that’s what birds do. The cut grass grows, because that’s what grass does. Business students network, because that’s what markets do.

So what then if we allowed all people to pursue their interests and predilection as their natures lead them? Would we end up with savants in random fields or solipsistic bloggers? Would we descend into chaos? If structure was not imposed on our activities and on our possible futures, who would do the hard or undesirable work? Who would farm or bury the dead? Who would collect the garbage? Would we have a world of daydreamers, video game players, and sloths? And what about those among us who feel compelled to humiliate, victimize, rape and murder? What would constrain them?

And this is where the plants come in. Nothing grows completely wild. Even the weeds must share the soil with other roots and must bend to find the light. Even the trees depend on the rain and are twisted and shaped by the winds. The mere presence of other plants dictates the height, width, and lifespan of a plant, sometimes aiding, sometimes impeding.

So what are the forces of nature that (would) constrain us? Culture? Religion? Reason? I don’t know, but I believe they exist. It may be as simple as the mere presence of other people or of other life that keeps up within the acceptable range. Maybe the weight of humanity keeps us grounded.

Of course, I’m one of those who believe that human nature is not inherently evil. At the same time, I don’t believe it’s inherently good. I do, however, believe it is inherently in harmony, which transcends distinctions such as good or evil. It simply is because it is and whistles because it can.