On the Constancy of Human Nature and the Advancement of Society

I have come to believe that human nature does not advance. The strongest proof for this conviction lies in the writings of people far wiser than myself, whether from thousands of years ago or as recently as a few centuries past. When one reads philosophy, history, or ancient religious texts, the descriptions of human motives and behavior echo unmistakably across time. The struggles, passions, and flaws recorded by our ancestors remain our own, showing that while the circumstances of life evolve, the essence of human nature does not.

The Timelessness of Human Struggles

The parallels across history are striking. Thucydides, in his history of the Peloponnesian War (5th century BCE), described political ambition, fear, greed, and betrayal in ways that could easily be applied to modern international relations. Aristotle’s discussions of virtue, vice, and civic responsibility still speak directly to the dilemmas of contemporary public life. Over a millennium later, Machiavelli in The Prince (1513) argued that rulers must govern by recognizing the same passions — fear, ambition, and self-interest — that had guided men since antiquity.

The reason these works remain relevant is that we are still plagued by the same enduring negative traits: greed, envy, pride, anger, cowardice, laziness, dishonesty, cruelty, tribalism, and shortsightedness. These drives, deeply rooted in our nature, manifest as persistently in our world today as they did in the worlds of Athens, Rome, Renaissance Florence, or early modern Europe. This is why the teachings of ancient religious and philosophical traditions remain powerful: they speak to what is unchanging in humanity, not what is merely circumstantial.

The Minority Who Shape Civilization

What has advanced is not human nature but human achievement — driven largely by a small minority of exceptional individuals. For as long as we have roamed the earth, it has been the compounding contributions of the few — intellectuals, scientists, innovators, leaders, and entrepreneurs — that have propelled humanity forward. These men and women, through boldness, risk-taking, intellect, and vision, have changed the conditions in which the rest of us live.

Science and Technology

• Archimedes revolutionized mechanics with principles of levers and buoyancy still used today.
• Isaac Newton formulated the laws of motion and gravity, laying the foundation for modern science.
• James Watt perfected the steam engine, sparking the Industrial Revolution.
• Thomas Edison brought electric light and power systems into daily life.
• Albert Einstein reshaped physics with relativity.
• Steve Jobs redefined personal computing and communication.
• Elon Musk advances electric transportation, renewable energy, and space exploration.

Medicine and Health

• Hippocrates founded rational medicine.
• Andreas Vesalius advanced anatomy through dissection.
• Edward Jenner pioneered vaccination.
• Louis Pasteur proved germ theory.
• Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin.
• Jonas Salk created the polio vaccine, saving millions.

Exploration and Discovery

• Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigated the globe.
• Charles Darwin revealed the mechanism of evolution.
• Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

Leadership and Statesmanship

• Alexander the Great spread Hellenistic culture.
• Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union and ended slavery.
• Winston Churchill defended freedom against tyranny.

Enterprise and Wealth Creation

• Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller built industries that fueled modern economies.
• Henry Ford made automobiles affordable for ordinary people.
• Bill Gates democratized computing and transformed philanthropy.

The story is consistent: progress comes not from the majority transcending its flaws, but from the few daring to push boundaries.

The evolutionary tension between stability and advancement is explored further in Nature, Balance, and the Evolution of Human Survival.

The Continuation Into Our Own Age

The same dynamic persists today. Human nature has not changed, but breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, space exploration, and renewable energy show that a handful of visionaries continue to redefine the conditions of life. Just as Newton, Pasteur, and Edison transformed their eras, today’s innovators are laying the groundwork for revolutions that will ripple for centuries.

The masses remain bound by the same impulses Thucydides observed 2,500 years ago, yet they benefit immensely from the genius and boldness of the few. Our comforts, opportunities, and abundance are gifts of this dynamic.

The War on Meritocracy

Here lies the danger of our own age: a growing war on meritocracy. For centuries, meritocracy — the idea that individuals rise through ability, effort, and achievement — has been the engine of advancement. Combined with capitalism, it has provided the incentives and rewards that drive innovators, entrepreneurs, and thinkers to push beyond human limitations.

When societies honor excellence, risk-taking, and the courage of the exceptional, they create conditions where the next Newton, Edison, or Salk can flourish. But when societies turn away from meritocracy in favor of mediocracy — rewarding conformity, punishing excellence, and flattening distinctions — they smother the very flame of progress. History gives us a stark warning: after the fall of Rome, Europe entered the Dark Ages, where rigid hierarchy, suppression of innovation, and hostility to enterprise left human potential stagnant for centuries.

If our age abandons meritocracy, embraces mediocrity, or undermines capitalism in favor of systems that do not reward innovation, we risk a similar fate. Progress is not inevitable. It is fragile — and wholly dependent on the freedom, recognition, and incentive granted to the exceptional few who move humanity forward. Without them, society does not simply stall; it declines.

Conclusion

Human nature has not advanced, and perhaps never will. The same impulses of greed, envy, pride, and fear still drive us, just as they did our ancestors thousands of years ago. What has advanced — and will continue to advance — are the conditions of life, lifted generation after generation by the compounding contributions of a small minority of exceptional individuals.

But progress is not guaranteed. If we preserve meritocracy and the capitalist spirit that rewards excellence, the few will continue to carry the many into new frontiers. If we abandon them, replacing merit with mediocracy, then history warns us we may usher in not an age of light, but a new darkness.

Human nature remains what it has always been. The future depends on whether we allow the few to rise above it.

Continue Exploring

If this reflection on human constancy and civilizational progress resonated, you may also want to read:

• Nature, Balance, and the Evolution of Human Survival
• Human Nature and Economic Systems: Why Good Intentions Are Not Enough
• Certainty in a World That Demands Humility – Leadership in the Age of Complexity