If you could eliminate one fundamental human shortcoming, what would it be?

[leftofthedial]

Greed? Fear? Superstition? Lust? Tribalism?

[crikkett]

1. avarice

but they say that all sins come from vanity

[itsmesgd]

2. greed or pride

the elimination of greed would be better for the planet

[Horse with no Name]

3. Lying

That would take care of a lot of problems in of itself.

[cspanlovr]

4. Ignorance.

[hughee99]

19. I agree, but I would say WILLFUL Ignorance

You can't really blame someone for not having information that is not available to them, but you can certainly blame them for ignoring what is right in front of them. IMHO, this is really the only shortcoming without any kind of upside. Any human shortcoming can be taken too far (and it certainly is) and have negative effects, but you can make the case that in moderation pride, lust, and even fear and greed do have some (if limited) upside.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

5. HYPOCRISY

It would spell doom for those who are part of the 30% "majority."

[leftofthedial]

9. what is the "30% majority"?

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

55. "Majority"

I put "majority" in quotation marks, because even though they've been in the minority, they Still Think they're the majority, as demonstrated by the fact they continue to do whatever they want, regardless of what 70% of the American people think.

[leftofthedial]

66. repukes?

religiously insane wack jobs?

white males?

[Gabi Hayes]

6. bad breath

[leftofthedial]

17. considering the varied causes for bad breath

its elimination would be a laudable achievement

[Flarney]

7. Greed. What's wrong with Trbalism? Isn't that "community?" n/t

[leftofthedial]

12. It also can breed an "us versus them" group mentality

that promotes hate, distrust and defeats cooperation

[Flarney]

35. gotcha...xenophobia, rabid nationalism, etc...thanks nt

[leftofthedial]

37. thank YOU

xenophobia would have been a better word.

this damned cold has my brain clogged.

[racaulk]

8. The need to talk on a cell phone and drive at the same time.

;)

On a serious note, getting rid of lying and greed would go a long way to making our world a better place.

[Selatius]

10. Greed.

If there is any sin a devil would love more than anything else on earth, I would say it's pure, unadulterated, visceral greed. Greed for land, greed for resources, greed for money, greed for power--it's all there.

Throughout history, the human struggle has been marked by those who wanted more against those who wanted to keep what they had. For those who wanted more, what they had was not enough. They had to take entire cities and civilizations to satiate their hunger. Even then, that was not enough, and when there were no more cities and civilizations to claim, they turned inward on themselves and began eating each other and ripping up all that they had conquered, destroying what little civilization was left.

[thereismore]

11. hypocrisy. nt

[yellerpup]

13. Bush, Cheney, or both.

[tavalon]

96. In the short term, highly gratifying

but in the long term, there is always another turd waiting to float to the top. They are but a symptom of a multifaceted disease, a disease that will mean the end of our species if we don't deal with it.

[yellerpup]

111. Unconsciousness. We need to be aware if we are to survive as a species.

We need to care what happens to the planet and to one another, we need to nurture the living beings that exist (from the bottom of the ocean to the top of the atmosphere). We won't succeed without awareness (Love).

[PerfectSage]

14. Not listening to your conscience.

[slackmaster]

15. Failure to wash one's hands after using the restroom

:nuke:

[pocoloco]

16. No Brainer

Greed

Takes a slice out of the root of all evil!

[B Calm]

18. I hate fucking LIARS

[hughee99]

57. Then you shouldn't fuck them...

Sorry I couldn't help myself. :7

[DeepBlueC]

68. heh heh heh

I'm going to remember that one ... and use it.

[sammythecat]

20. Pride. It sounds dull

but when I think about it, it seems that Pride is somehow involved in every other sin.

Someway, somehow, Pride is one of the ingredients and it's often the first. Think of a sin, any sin. Do a geneology on it and you'll find Pride.

On further review, outright monkey-lust might have nothing to do with pride. But then, outright monkey-lust might not really be a shortcoming. :)

[EFerrari]

21. Reactivity., So we would give our frontal cortex a chance to work.

:)

[StatGirl]

22. Mindless reproduction

If people want to have children after giving it some careful thought and making sure they have the resources, good for them, I say. But producing more humans for no reason at all except that someone wanted to have sex, or because some self-styled leader told you that having babies is a duty, or because you think that it's what you're supposed to do, is what's going to destroy us and a lot of other species as well.

[tavalon]

97. Yep

My family just went through the process of deciding if we were going to try to have a child. Discussion of such volatile topics in a committee discussion (5-6 adults in our family at any one time) could have been a recipe for disaster but amazingly wasn't. After a long discussion, we decided not to bring another child into the world. But I do think that thoughtful reproduction on a limited basis is ok. Even though I'm a bit sad that I'm not going to have a child, I'm happy with the way this was handled.

[ends_dont_justify]

23. Prejaduism

The fact 'prejaduism' to the majority of human beings means against other human beings is a prime example of this. Considering the way animals and plants are treated.

[southerncrone]

24. Lying...it takes care of a multitude of other problems.

[Annces]

25. Money

Money should be made illegal. All goods are exchanged.

[hughee99]

36. That would certainly make life more complicated...

I'd have a hell of a time paying my bills. Each month, or perhaps on a yearly basis, I'd have to spend some time doing work, (or trading goods, I guess) for the town (property taxes, excise taxes and water bill), the state (for state taxes), the federal government (fed taxes), the bank (mortgage), the electric company, phone company, grocery stores, golf courses, bars, convenience stores, clothing stores, movie theaters, car companies, day care... hoping that I have some good or service that they're willing to accept in trade (otherwise, I guess I'm out of luck). Then when I get older and am no longer able to do some things that I can do now, I better have a lot of goods saved up (maybe in a warehouse somewhere) since I won't have any retirement savings, nor will I necessarily have the ability to perform services for them.

[Annces]

40. Well all utilities would be free

You only barter special items.

Anything that a person needs as a necessity would be free.

I don't know how it would work, but given human ingenuity, we could work something out.

[hughee99]

45. IMHO,

it's not money, but the love of money that's the issue. I think that's from the Bible, I'm not a big fan, but it's not always wrong either.

[tavalon]

98. Money is just a go between for bartering

But of course, it got out of control for some folk.

[leftofthedial]

135. when currency was removed from any standard (gold, silver, etc.)

and became a commodity itself (capitalism)

things became unsurvivable for our species.

[lumberjack_jeff]

26. mortality. n/t

[hogwyld]

27. Envy

People are always envious of other peoples things, power, money, etc. I think getting rid of envy leads to the elimination of many other "evils"

[kimmerspixelated]

28. Greed hands down!

If it wasn't for greed, we wouldn't have the Iraq war,PNAC, and the idiots in the WH would be so bored, they'd forget about politics altogether. Which would be a GOOD thing.

[sandnsea]

29. Greed

My first instinct is fear, but you need that to know when to get out of the way of a moving vehicle. Then maybe lying, but people would tell the truth and manipulate anyway, like the Bushies. So I think eliminating greed would do the greatest good, especially if it were expanded to include sex, highs, power, etc.

[no_hypocrisy]

30. Their mindset.

Seeing everything in terms of black-and-white, especially making their opinion superior to that of others.

Accepting as faith versus thinking critically with logic, analysis, and skepticism.

Promoting the Bible as the final authority of all religions including wanting it to supplant the U.S. Constitution but yet they are not literate in either the Old or New Testament.

Wanting the "nonbelievers" to follow their hypocritical lifestyle by using the government to enact their morality.

[blues90]

31. greed

[Esra Star]

32. Inability to interpret the bleeding obvious.

[DeepBlueC]

33. lack of empathy

[Ezlivin]

41. Another vote for "Lack of Empathy"

If these fuckers could empathize, we'd all be better off. They would not call civilian causalities "collateral damage."

[TroglodyteScholar]

51. A third, as well...

[Duppers]

137. I'll 4th that!

Does lack of empathy not come from stupidity?

[Tsiyu]

34. Avarice

because when you constantly want more, you develop the other habits to feed your need.


Hatred of those who have more; then hatred of those who have less.

Fear of those who might stop you from getting more.

Conjuring rumours and superstition about people who might keep you from getting more.

Never being at peace, willing to be violent to have more.

It goes on....

[ripple]

38. Intolerance n/t

[leftofthedial]

43. damn straight!

if there is one thing I can't tolerate, it's . . .

well, you know what I mean.

Whatever happened to "live and let live" in this country anyway?

[tavalon]

99. It never existed

much like "The American Dream". Part of our mythos.

[eppur_se_muova]

39. Indecisiveness. No, wait ...

[leftofthedial]

42. LOL

[LiberalEsto]

44. lack of empathy

If we could truly understand one another's pain, I think there would be fewer assaults, murders, and torture incidents.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

46. Lack Of Intellect.

Once you reach a certain level of true depth of intellect, the majority of all other ills, with exceptions of course, tend to disappear.

Except for Lust though. Lust is cool. I love Lust. :)

[lpbk2713]

47. Right now I'm thinking .... skepticism.

After reading some recent posts.

[MedleyMisty]

48. Lack of empathy/selfishness

If people knew that all life is truly equal and that people other than themselves are real and have real feelings and really do matter, maybe they wouldn't be so cruel.

[Klukie]

62. I'll go with that

[POAS]

49. opposable thumbs

[yella_dawg]

50. Intentional ignorance.

The right-wing disease. In all its forms and degrees.

[magellan]

52. Ill-will towards others

[renate]

53. Fear

I can't think of any other shortcomings that don't have fear as a root cause or at least a contributing factor.

Greed--fear of not having enough to survive (although to some people "survival" means being able to buy groceries, to others it means not having enough to maintain status in one's tribe, even if that status is dependent on stupid stuff like the right kind of car). I also suspect that a lot of greed has its roots in low self-esteem, which can cause people to fear that others will judge and look down on them unless they hide that low self-esteem with a veneer of the things that money can buy
Hate and intolerance--duh
Violence--duh
Closed-mindedness--fear of the unknown, fear that one's own beliefs and worldview may be challenged and found wanting
Depression and/or weltschmertz (not a shortcoming but certainly a problem)--fear that life will never get better or that life has no meaning and that happiness is difficult to achieve

I guess anger is sometimes not necessarily a fear thing but just a frustration thing. Sometimes we get angry when someone cuts us off in traffic or when our Constitution is subverted--little stuff like that--and that's dangerous and fear-producing, but sometimes we get angry when a neighbor plants a tree that obstructs our view or somebody takes a parking spot we'd been waiting for--just relatively little frustrations.

But overall, I think most of the world's ills can be traced to fear of one thing or another.

[Ron Green]

136. What a nice post.

Although I believe fear is part of the deal here on earth; learning to be aware of it and respond appropriately to it is our life-long task.

[Chipper Chat]

54. Their Y chromosome.

Let them know how it feels.

[spoony]

63. What?

The Y chromosome is a human shortcoming?

[leftofthedial]

64. I guess everyone has to hate someone

[Quantess]

87. Do I detect bitterness?

I get so annoyed when somebody says something dumb like this. Sorry, but it is really an unnecessary, "flamebait" thing to say.

Actually, if you eliminated the Y chromosome, there would be no males, no spontaneous reproduction, and just an Earth full of female clones. On the bright side, there would be no unwanted children.

[Chipper Chat]

115. No bitterness.

My preacher was making a poor attempt at explaining why some males are gay.
Threw me for a loop too.

[Quantess]

116. Oh. Sorry I misunderstood.

:hi:
And anyway, doesn't your preacher know that all males have a Y chromosome, gay or straight?
Or does he think that men have one fewer rib than women? Sheesh.

[Chipper Chat]

126. You're not going to believe this, but....

the preacher's name is ADAM!

[tavalon]

100. You want the world to be 100% female?

I don't always understand 'em but I'd still like to keep the XYs around.

[Rex]

56. Hubris.

Lust for death.

[MindBoggles]

58. Greed.

Hands down.

The love of money is the root of all evil. One of the few maxims in the Bible with which I wholeheartedy agree.

[porphyrian]

59. The ability to eliminate fundamental human shortcomings.

No human is qualified to have this power.

[dysfunctional press]

60. dishonesty in all forms.

the truth shall set us free.

[NorthernSpy]

61. malice

Get rid of most of the bad stuff in one shot.

First take out malice. After that, it'll be safe to take out stupidity. Then things will be truly fine.

[HeeBGBz]

65. Hate n/t

[Withywindle]

67. Bigotry. eom

[Libby2]

69. Apathy

[Lost-in-FL]

70. Conservatism

[WinkyDink]

71. Greed. "The Pardoner's Tale" makes the point that avarice is, indeed, the root of ALL evil.

[The2ndWheel]

72. The seemingly endless need for total control of everything

Which actually would, I guess, eliminate my nomination.

[Joanne98]

73. Greed.

[scorpiogirl]

74. Greed n/t

[kestrel91316]

75. Of your 5? Definitely superstition, because then nobody would

believe that their religious text is divinely written and the other guy's isn't.

[opihimoimoi]

76. Gulibility...we suck for the absurd...then we believe it....to be true...

[blue neen]

77. Denial.

Being honest in life means you first have to be honest with yourself.

[meldroc]

78. Sociopathy

Call them sociopaths, psychopaths, or people with Antisocial Personality Disorder. They're the ones who hurt others without a shred of care. They're about 4% of the general population. Our prisons are filled with these characters. And so are our governments and boardrooms - the ones that have no compuntions against stabbing their fellow people in the back and putting their boots on people's heads to get a leg up.

That trait needs to be systematically eradicated from the human race.

[HardRocker05]

79. meanness, followed by irrationality. nt

[conscious evolution]

80. selfishness

Almost all human failings are rooted in selfishness.Greed,fear,lust,pride, etc,etc..are all manifestations of selfishness.

[enigmatic]

81. self-rightous hypocrisy

Without a doubt.

[Colobo]

82. Racism

[karlrschneider]

83. Stupidity. The world population would be about 5 million.

:eyes:

[The Straight Story]

84. Selfishness (nt)

[Sapphire Blue]

85. INDIFFERENCE

The Perils of Indifference
Elie Wiesel

(excerpt)

In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony, one does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response.

Indifference is not a beginning, it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees -- not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity we betray our own.

Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment. And this is one of the most important lessons of this outgoing century's wide-ranging experiments in good and evil.

In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders. During the darkest of times, inside the ghettoes and death camps -- and I'm glad that Mrs. Clinton mentioned that we are now commemorating that event, that period, that we are now in the Days of Remembrance -- but then, we felt abandoned, forgotten. All of us did.

And our only miserable consolation was that we believed that Auschwitz and Treblinka were closely guarded secrets; that the leaders of the free world did not know what was going on behind those black gates and barbed wire; that they had no knowledge of the war against the Jews that Hitler's armies and their accomplices waged as part of the war against the Allies.

If they knew, we thought, surely those leaders would have moved heaven and earth to intervene. They would have spoken out with great outrage and conviction. They would have bombed the railways leading to Birkenau, just the railways, just once.


The full speech (text & audio) is available @ http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/wiesel.htm

[Raksha]

86. The lust for power.

It only seems to afflict a small percentage of the human race, but those few make life miserable for everyone else.

[Quixote1818]

88. Fear HANDS DOWN!

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.
Bertrand Russell,

[tavalon]

101. Wisdom ends when the tiger kills you

Be careful what you wish for...................

[Quixote1818]

140. Fear of the things we don't understand is the issue

not the natural fears we need for survival.

[NuttyFluffers]

89. free will

:evilgrin:

just kidding!

most likely selfishness, for it is the root of all evil. the only problem with that is it is remarkably challenging to develop an individual personality while being *only* selfless. no real interest in making humanity into an ant colony. but humans have the remarkable capacity of both being deeply selfless and giving while retaining an individualized sense of self. it's that remarkable free will thing...

[Nicole]

90. Hate n/t

[ellisonz]

91. Lust.

[Behind the Aegis]

92. BIGOTRY!

It seems to "enjoyable" for many a person.

[jannyk]

93. Another vote for Greed here - whether for money or power nt

[Dover]

94. shopping

[tavalon]

95. Fear maybe

I suspect a total elimination of fear would be a bad thing but I just hate the way people cluster around a "leader" when they are frightened like children to their parent. It's lead us down some really stupid and mean spirited paths in our history including the one unfolding in America right here, right now.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

102. Greed.

[Beelzebud]

103. Ego - The root of everything listed above.

[demobabe]

125. You beat me to it

I agree completely. Without ego, all those other things would just go away...

[WiseButAngrySara]

131. But to get rid of ego, you are no longer human, How to get rid

of ego? I doubt you are 'rid of ego' or you wouldn't be posting in this forum.

[Beelzebud]

143. Correct. For me to have no ego would mean I had evolved past human.

46&2 Just ahead of me.

[rman]

104. greed

[MGD]

105. I love them all equally and just can't choose.

It's almost like Sophie's Choice.

[mmonk]

106. Ignorance. It takes care of a few on the list.

[michaelwb]

107. easy

Not worshiping me as a god.

Really it is humanity greatest flaw. :P

[raccoon]

108. Oneupmanship.

Well, really, I'd say greed, but since oneupmanship really chaps me, I thought I'd add it here.

[shield20]

109. Lying - no doubt at all. n/t

[skipos]

SELFISHNESS is at the root of it all

That's why people are greedy, hating, deceitful, etc. That's why people vote for Republicans too.

[Cerridwen]

110. Fear.

In my opinion, I think fear is the foundation that many of the other shortcomings rest on.

Fear of "others" can result in tribalism, nationalism, and other types of "isms" that create an "us" against "them" mentality.

Fear of "scarcity" can, I think, contribute to greed; combine it with fear of not being "good enough" and you can get someone who compensates by "buying the most toys" and "never having enough."

Fear of "others" can also lead to hatred of others or difference which then contributes to tribalism, nationalism, etc.

If we combine fear of being alone with normal human sexual desires we can come up with more examples of fear resulting in anti-survival "behaviors" and ways of thinking.

Fear of the unknown can lead us to superstition.

Fear of being seen as weak can lead to "oneupmanship" as someone else listed.

Someone who is fearful, afraid to step outside their "comfort zone" can lead to ignorance and intolerance.

There aren't too many human shortcomings I can think of can't be traced, at least in part, to fear.

[Richard Steele]

112. Self-centeredness is the ROOT of many of the other shortcomings named on this thread.

Eliminating THAT would eliminate almost every other problem.

"Love your neighbor as much as your SELF; this is the entirety of the law."

[Javaman]

113. blind devotion to stupid people. nt

[InvisibleTouch]

114. The sense of superiority...

...over all other lifeforms on the planet. The idiotic notion that humans are in some way inherrently more valuable, more important, more entitled, more deserving, and all-around "better" than any other lifeform, rather than being just one (very destructive!) species among millions that exist, and ever did exist through time. The ridiculous self-centered posturing, as though the whole universe were made specifically for them. The reprehensible speciesism, in short.

[The Flaming Red Head]

117. Jealousy

and vindictiveness the two always seem to walk hand in hand and then end up in a self righteous zeal.

[LeftishBrit]

118. I'm divided between the 'herd instinct' against 'outsiders', and the need for revenge

[Hosnon]

119. I'd replace self-interest with group-interest. NT.

[uppityperson]

120. Fear. It is the basis of most of the other shortcomings.

Greed? Fear of not having enough, fear of being looked down upon because you don't have more than anyone else.
Pride? Fear of not being considered the best. Fear of not having control.
Intolerance? Fear of others having some control or your lack thereof.
Selfishness? Same. Racism? Bigotry? All fear run.

Is selfishness run by fear, or fear by selfishness? I think fear is the root of it all. Fear of lack of control. Fear of not being the center of everything.

[RobertDevereaux]

121. The fundamental shortcoming of humankind I'd eliminate is...

their well-nigh-universal reluctance, inexplicable to the point of bafflement, to lavish gifts, money, love, and undying respect and admiration upon yours truly!

[geardaddy]

122. Flatulence...

[Cleita]

123. Bigotry or maybe that would be Tribalism.

Bigotry is a flaw that unscrupulous politicians and parties can appeal to in gaining their support and thereby gaining power. Hitler did it with the Germans by appealing to their distrust of Jews and to a lesser degree Slavs. It made the atrocities of the concentration camps seem necessary as well as the invasion of their slavic neighbors, Poland and Czechoslavakia making pre-emptive war seem reasonable.

I don't need to point out what the GOP and BushCo have done to gain power. They have appealed to the homophobia, misogynism (abortion and pro-life issues) and racism (border issues) of the American people to gain their edge, which is not a majority but enough for them to unscrupulously gain power through cheating on elections and other legal means of consolidating their power.

[Evoman]

124. Religion/supersition.

Get rid of those, and you get rid of most of the other....or at least the justification for them.

[Colobo]

127. Not really

They will find other excuses. Look at white sumpremacists; most of them use junk science as their excuse.

[Jcrowley]

128. No such thing

That's a myth. There are no inherent flaws in human nature. Human nature is not inherently greedy or benevolent. To suggest such a thing conveniently avoids all questions/discussions of the systemic nature and casts blame on the individual.

There are a constellation of experiences that shape our behaviors that by far supercede any so-called fundamental human nature.

[Quantess]

129. Cool. That's a really interesting & worthwhile statement and I'm glad you brought it up,

even though you came to the party late.

[leftofthedial]

138. that reminds me of the fundamental flaw I'd get rid of

the need to connect the dots and "explain" things that simply are.

[BlooInBloo]

139. Ah - you'll declare victory by terminological fiat...

... any example that patently IS inherent, you'll simply declare to NOT be a flaw...

That's cute.

[RagingInMiami]

130. Dishonesty

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

132. Self Indulgent Addictions. nt

[omega minimo]

133. Penis Envy

:wow:

[BlooInBloo]

134. Insecurity/jealosy.

[upi402]

141. Republican

Or maybe baby-eating if not that

[Skittles]

142. materialism

it is just sickening

[mvd]

144. Greed is the cause of so many more problems

So I say greed.