Beware, humans!

I would hate to think that anyone has got the idea that I'm condemning or belittling or making a case against a good number of my fellow human beings. A couple of points are worth noting.

Juat as they say, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is most likely a duck. So too, if it walks like a human being and talks like a human being, regardless of how much nonsense that might be, it is definitely a human being. We can, and do, recognize those of our own species, easily and readily. It's hardwired into us, so to speak. And this is good so.

Of course, we humans are the only creatures on the planet capable of cruelty, of sadism, of unbelievable acts of depravation and violence, but never are these people not human, nor subhuman. In our rage and anger and sheer horror, we may refer to them as such, but that does not make them so. They're still humans. Bad humans, evil humans even, but nevertheless humans, and they need to be dealt with accordingly. The moment we allow ourselves to become just as cruel and depraved, say, out of feelings for revenge, we are really no better than they are, even if we like to think our reasons for our actions are justified. In all cases, where actual insanity is not involved, the perpetrators have also found a justification that permits them to do what they do. The line between right and wrong is always fuzzy. It would be nice if things in life were clear-cut and simple, black-and-white, if you will, but more often than not they are not, they're grey. It's always a good idea to keep this in mind.

You see, not only can we humans know, we can know better. We have conceptual -- often, moral -- categories of right & wrong and good & evil, preferences & dislikes, positive & negative prejudices, sympathies & antipathies, and more. If asked point-blank to explain the criteria for any of these, we most often soon have trouble making ourselves clear. They are not always hard and fast, clear-cut, easily describable criteria, and we soon realize that the boundaries tend to be fluid depending on context, prior history of participants, their closeness or distance to ourselves, and many other factors.

No one ever said it was easy, but I'm here to tell you that it is necessary to get a firmer handle on whatever it is we think we believe ... in regard to ourselves and certainly in regard to others. More often than not, even the best of us get in our own way. We can be our own best friends, and our own worst enemies.