Betrand Russell, in the first lecture, relates social unity with human nature. He tells the reader what he believes to be the beginning of family. He supports the fact that family is most important when it comes to loyalty. Russell suggests that human nature affects how loyal one is to another and how basic instincts create competition. He believes that this leads to conflicts and adventurous journeys. He thinks that people prefer a life that is wild and interesting. He considers competition as a basic human instinct that people cannot live without. I agree with Russell.
“Such effects of human psychology account for some things which, for me at least were surprising when in 1914 I became aware of them. Many people are happier during a war then they are in peace time, provided the direct suffering entailed by the fighting does not fall to heavily upon them personally. A quiet life may well be a boring life. The unadventurous existence of a well-behaved citizen, engaged in earning a moderate living in a humble capacity, leaves completely unsatisfied all that part of his nature which, if he had lived 400,000 years ago, would have found ample scope in the search for food, in cutting off the heads of enemies, and escaping the attention of tigers.” (Russell 20)
Yancey Ko
