Response to "Human Nature."

Tyson asked the question: Can all human beings be classified by some sort of universal human nature, or is the idea of one inaccurate to some?

At the beginning of this class I thought that I had a good idea of my views on human nature, or at least a basic foundation. I have never been more wrong about anything. I was guilty of trying to group humanity together and slap a label on who we really are. The truth is, human nature isn't some pretty bow that we can tie around everyone. There will always be some people who do not fit into even the most basic idea of human nature. I left myself out of my own theory of human nature when I said that everyone in inherently selfish. That isn't how I see myself. In all honesty, I probably only see other people that way so that I'm less disappointed when people act selfishly. Why do we continue to try and figure out a universal human nature when we've all taken a class and discovered that we all see human nature differently. The fact that we all have different opinions on our nature is evidence in itself that we cannot all be the same. I think the only thing that we can say about human nature is that people are fallible and do things to avoid that fallibility in whatever ways they see fit.


My question: What do you think about this quote from The Great Gatsby: "Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." Do you agree or disagree? Why?