Complements and Human Nature

Complements and Human Nature 05 02 2010

My father and I started talking about complements today.

“A black lady at the gym today complemented me on my upper body development. I didn’t quite know what to day. People rarely give complements.” I said.

“What did you say?” My father asked.

“I didn’t know what to say, I just said “Thank you.”

“Sometimes they complement you when you are down and sometimes they put you down when you are up. I think you told me that.” He said.

“That’s just part of human nature.” He said.

“It’s the opposite of human nature. What separates us from the animals is we have a conscience.” I said.

Before I could continue he said, “That’s part of rationality.”

“Yes and that also separates us from animals. But it goes back to the bible, “Don onto others as you would have them do onto you.” I said.

“Mostly today people just like to insult you, to keep you down. A complement is a rarity. They tell you in business not to complement because it is a weakness and often regarded as insulting. I think that jealousy is not on the scale of human nature. It is somewhat lower.”

Copyright 2010 Thomas Paul Murphy