What is Human Nature?

By Ela Mukosiej⎪June 6, 2025

One of the greatest misconceptions in our society is a belief that human nature is either good or bad, or somewhere on that spectrum. Others claim that it is difficult to understand or it is simply a mystery. If you Google the definition of “human nature,” you will get something like “an umbrella of feelings and behavioral traits common among most humans.”

In general, you will hear that by nature people are lazy, greedy, flawed, prone to sin, and even violent. This is a lie told to us for centuries in order to control the human species. Because if nature made us selfish and aggressive, we must be policed, and our behavior has to be regulated.

The imbalance of knowledge (predominantly about the self) that exists between those who understand the human psyche (masters/architects of modern society) and those who don’t (common people/servants/slaves) is what creates and perpetuates today’s system of covert slavery. 

To understand human nature is yet another step towards Knowing Thyself and, therefore, towards liberating our collective human family. 

But before I provide you with a very simple and obvious answer to today’s question, let’s first correctly define a few terms in order to clear the confusion about us that circulates out there.

Human
The term “human” means a being of a higher consciousness that is distinct from the animal kingdom. Humans, unlike animals, have the capacity for a Holistic Intelligence: Sacred Masculine = intellect (left brain) + Sacred Feminine = intuition/nurturing/feeling (right brain). 

Incorrectly and too often, we are being compared to other wild creatures of this planet that do not possess an ability for moral agency (conscience), which can override instinctual behaviors. Humans, gifted with Free Will, are able to control their impulses and thus (according to the Natural Law) are held to a much higher karmic standard than animals.

Although we can display some animalistic practices, we do not have an animalistic nature. To say that people are animals is a myth and yet another tactic to justify the existence of authority.

Nature vs. Nurture Condition
The term “nature” means ‘inherent to creation, non-man-made, immutable.’ Natural refers to an inborn characteristic of a thing and it is different than a condition of a thing, which is by definition flexible, changeable, dependable, and never permanent. 

For example, a windy weather in Chicago doesn’t define it no matter how predominantly strong gusts of air blow through the city. The nature of a city (whether old, new, devastated and full of criminals, or perfectly preserved and safe) is a totally different concept — it’s a place for people to live, work, have fun, do business, etc. That is a given and will not change, regardless of its condition.

The term “nurture” is usually defined as a care for, encouragement of the growth or development of a being/thing. Logically, when modern psychologists debate between nature vs. nurture, it inevitably applies that nature is that negative influence, which makes us bad as opposed to those nurturing factors that make us good. This comparison is nothing else but misleading dialectics that result in a false conclusion about human nature. 

The Correct Conclusion
In college, I majored in psychology for a sole purpose of learning how my psyche works. However, none of my professors helped me arrive at a correct understanding of my [human] nature. I was taught about many theories, research, how the brain functions, what might cause certain human behaviors, how to manage emotions, and so on and so forth. Yet, it was my personal Eureka moment that revealed to me the true answer about what human nature really is. 

As a kid abandoned by her mother at a very young [formative] age, I heard awful stories and opinions about who she was and what atrocities she’d done. Thus, I grew up hating her. 

And one day, a couple of years after she died, I visited with my aunt (my mother’s sister), who began telling me a completely different side of what took place in my home when I was little. 

She told me, for example, that the reason why my mom became an alcoholic was because my dad abused her physically and mentally for years. When my aunt kept revealing more and more details about my parents, certain traumatic memories (that I buried deep inside) surfaced in my mind, and I instantly knew that she was telling me the truth. 

Those revelations began a long journey of shadow work, forgiveness, and healing. 

After some time, when the rough waters of my emotional turmoil settled down, I realized something amazing about myself. I remember sitting in my dorm room, doing geography homework, when this thought came to me: “Oh my God, that’s it. Just because I believe something doesn’t make it true. But the best part of my mind is that I can change my beliefs. I have the final say over what goes into my consciousness.”

This was my Eureka moment. I understood what I was about, what my nature was. It wasn’t hateful, unforgiving, and resentful — those were just conditions. My nature [and therefore all humans’ nature] is the fact that it is programmable. My father and his side of the family conditioned me to literally hate my mother. This was an awful program, but it provided me with a valuable life lesson. After all, I was searching for an answer to one of the most fundamental questions about humans, and I received it.

To Take Home 
Our nature is neither good nor bad, but formable.

It’s like computer software that can be modified or completely rewritten at any time. All it needs to function in a beneficial way to your spiritual growth is your attention and effort to consciously choose a ‘code’ aka thoughts and true concepts about the world and Self. Doing so will not only serve you, but our population at large.