Why, Georgia, Why?

There was a day a couple weeks ago where I had the happy fusion of a song on a playlist sync with an article I came across later that evening. It got my mental turntable spinning, and I’ll try to document it here.

 

Depending on the mood I’m in, no telling what podcast or playlist option I might choose. On this particular day I was feeling it for some blues/acoustic vibe, and John Mayer’s old hit, “Why Georgia,” was one of the songs that fit the bill. At one point, Mayer muses,

 

            ‘Cause I wonder sometimes

            About the outcome

            Of a still verdictless life.

            Am I living it right?

            Am I living it right?

            Am I living it right?

            Why, why Georgia, why?

 

It’s a tormented refrain that recurs three times in the song. I wouldn’t want to interrupt the artist at work, but I do kind of want to raise my hand and respectfully whisper, “But wouldn’t you like to know?”  

 

It’s that same uncertainty that shows up in a recent article in the peer-reviewed journal, Trends in Cognitive Sciences. The authors state that, “Humans present a behavioral paradox: they are peaceful in many circumstances, but they are also violent and kill [fellow humans] at high rates. The ‘peace-violence paradox’ (also referred to as the goodness paradox) has precipitated passionate philosophical and sociological debate about human nature.”

 

From the counselor’s chair I sit in, this is not just a scholastic debate reserved for those who populate the ivory tower. Down on the street, I’d like to suggest that this is the very kind of debate that Christians have much to offer and with significant implications—especially as society is actively questioning what it means to be a human being while also working to imbue complex technologies with human modes of being.

 

The article continues, “The Rousseau-Kropotkin and the Hobbes-Huxley theories capture the opposing interpretations of human nature and aggression. The Rousseau-Kropotkin theory posits that humans are intrinsically peaceful, with tendencies for violence attributable to the corrupting influences of culture.

 

“In contrast, the Hobbes-Huxley theory posits that humans are intrinsically aggressive, with culture restraining innate capacities for violence. However, by viewing aggression as a unitary cognitive-behavioral phenomenon, both theories fail to recognize that peace and violence are equally likely to reflect evolved tendencies” (“Evolutionary and neuroendocrine foundations of human aggression,” Amar Sarkar and Richard Wrangham).

 

The Christian has a very different understanding of the peace-violence paradox. What separates humans from other creatures is that we are made in God’s image (thus we have capacity for great good and majesty), yet paradoxically we are fallen creatures through original sin (thus we have capacity for great evil and misery).

 

Another level down, an evolutionary view of human nature sees the world as raw material out of which meaning and purpose can be created by the individual. There is no objective authority is this world; instead, rather than God being the potter and we the clay, in the evolutionary mind we are both the potter and the clay. Today, you can shape yourself with your own power and for your own purposes. Human nature is something you invent and create on your own. Per Invictus, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”

 

No question, there’s a strong appeal there to one’s ego. But at some point I hope someone courageously steps forward and asks questions like, To what end? Within what limits? Because if there is no defined end and there are no limits to human nature, then it’s open season just like the ending of the book of Judges: there is no king in the land and everyone does what’s right in their own eyes. Which brings to mind another song, Jasmine Thompson’s version of “Mad World:”

 

            All around me are familiar faces

            Worn out places, worn out faces

            Bright and early for the daily races

            Going nowhere, going nowhere

 

            And I find it kind of funny

            I find it kind of sad

            The dreams in which I’m dying

            Are the best I’ve ever had

            I find it hard to tell you

            I find it hard to take

            When people run in circles, it’s a very, very

            Mad world, mad world

 

For a sane world, historic Christian belief sees the world as having a given order and meaning, and our project as the most ennobled of God’s creatures is to discover that meaning and then conform ourselves to it. Think Romans 12:1-2 as an example. Far from eviscerating our creativity, Christians consider themselves to be sub-creators who imitate our God in constant creation within the bounds of holiness, love, goodness, truth, and grace.  

 

We have sophisticated insights and nuanced responses to the complexities of human nature. We get to that by asking humane sorts of questions: What is the purpose of my life? What constitutes the good life and thriving? How do I understand myself in relation to others and the world around me? And we respond with the merciful message that God created this world with  intrinsic meaning and humanity with a specific, given end. We don’t run in circles trying out identities in an attempt to heal and create ourselves from within. In fact, we’re enroute to see Someone greater than ourselves, knowing our ultimate healing and purpose is eternal communion with God, the Giver and Lover of our very life.

 

Because the God who created human nature has not left us alone and guessing with a life that paradoxically possesses both virtues and vices.