Humans are naturally inventive. Even babies experiment with the environment, explore, try differing ways of interacting with the world around them. The human tendency to beautify themselves and the world around them is as instinctive and inevitable as early humans painting on the walls of caves. We use our intellect for scientific advancement and for artistic expression. it is not accidental that Leonardo da Vinci dabbled in both science and art. The two aspects of our brains are not nearly as different as one might imagine them to be. We humans have enormous capabilities to express ourselves with words, music, thoughts, and things that we build. We are at our very best when given a wide berth in which to use our unique abilities with only limitations in instances in which we might hurt ourselves or others. 

As humans we think about thinking. We are philosophers who ask questions and make suggestions about the best ways to live. Some theories of what is best for us are liberating and encouraging. Others are stifling and cruel. Historically we go back and forth between our desire for order and design versus an openness that allows each individual the freedom of expression. 

We ask ourselves who should be in charge. Over time we have shifted between assumptions that certain people were ordained my God to rule over us and beliefs that all humans should be equal with ideas that should be heard. To this very day we have both governments run by iron fisted dictators and shared policy making guided by elected officials. So far we have yet to find the most perfect ways of living together and honoring each other so that everyone is respected and given a voice that matters. 

In spite of ourselves we still waver about what kind of people and rules we need in order to insure that our daily lives will be safe and secure. We understand the human tendency to aspire to be angels is often balanced by a darkness that brings out our worst tendencies. We know that not every person has good motives. We have seen the evil that humans are capable of inflicting on one another. We also realize that we must be careful in characterizing and indicting people. Our fears can lead us to stereotyping and prejudices that blur the way we see whole groups of people. We can be unnecessarily frightened by ideas or actions that we do not understand. Our efforts to protect ourselves and those that we love can be so extreme that we spread too wide a net of fear. 

Innocents are hurt whenever we make sweeping decisions about entire swaths of people. History should have taught us to beware of propaganda that creates group think rather than using our wonderful ability to consider each situation individually. It is not just possible but most probable that there is no universal fix for the problems that plague us. Even our morals appear to sometimes differ from each other. We have tendencies to elevate one set of values over another rather than analyzing the veracity of what we believe. 

Human history vacillates between dark ages and times of renaissance, peace and war. We  have academics studying our errors and our advances. They seem to tell us that we would do well to educate ourselves and to consider the consequences of ceding our thinking to influencers who would turn us against each other rather than encouraging us to work together for the betterment of society. 

It is true that the moral high road has proven to be better for everyone than restrictive governing that focuses on denying the worth of certain groups. Whenever humans have asserted ascendency over those unlike themselves terrible tragedies have occurred. People have died in the name of God when their religious beliefs did not align with the current trends. People have died for the color of their skin or for being in the wrong tribe. People have died for their political beliefs. People have died because of restrictions on freedom for all.

A popular belief that runs throughout human history is that only those who possess property or wealth should have a say in how things should be. Such a closed circle has always insured that the majority of people must simply go along with the demands of those who already possess the most. Nonetheless heroes have emerged time and again to assert the ideas of equality, liberty, acceptance of diversity and the need to include all voices in our decisions. 

We are presently at a crossroad in the history of the world. Millions of people across the globe struggle under the thumb of tyrants. Wars and hunger plague places where the people are too often viewed as unworthy of having a voice in their lives. Nations are becoming more and more insular out of the kind of fears that pop up over and over again. 

We can be safe and happy and still open to the rest of humanity. We do not have to engage in a zero sum game in which we become divided into groups of winners and losers. It is doubtful that we will ever discover perfection but at the very least becoming more caring and accepting of all people will improve the values that guide us.