Poll: The Nature of People

[Alan V]

So yes, you see the question is about people being intentional jerks.  I considered the question more about how we humans are naturally, because of our limitations -- which we all might wish to escape if we could.  A certain amount of critical self-awareness can be generalized, because people aren't all that different.

You could say most people are incompetent with dealing with the reality of climate change for example, I suppose. 

This discussion has an interesting bearing on historical mistakes.  With our advantaged perspective from the present, it seems to us that many such historical mistakes should have been easily avoidable.  But perhaps we are ourselves making huge mistakes (like changing the climate) for the same reason -- because of our limited human nature.  

So does our human nature make us naturally opportunistic?  My answer is still "Yes," and I don't think that's being arrogant because I include myself.  The one important qualification is what Dancefortwo mentioned above.  We are inconsistent at best.