The Better Angels of our Being - From Abraham Lincoln's Inaugural Address

The Better Angels of Our Nature

Why is it so hard to rise above the meanness and bigotry all around us?

“The Better Angels of Our Nature”. What a wonderful phrase! It appears in the final paragraph of Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address in 1861. According to Dr. Hank David, noted author of ‘Caveman Logic’: “Until recently it often appeared as part of a sermon or commencement address. Little wonder as the phrase has a poetic and deeply inspirational sound. In tumultuous times it is critical that we are able or we at least attempt to call upon the “better angels of our nature.”

Dr. Hank David of ‘the better angles of our nature: “I have always understood the phrase to mean that under certain conditions we should go beyond what comes easily or naturally. Whether in thought or action, we should dig more deeply into ourselves and think or act in a way that is somehow more highly evolved or enlightened. By definition this will not come easily. Sadly - for some it may not come at all.”

Dr. David elaborates: “Nowhere is it suggested that we must summon the "better angels of our nature" all the time. That certainly takes some of the pressure off. But it does sharpen the focus on those special situations: we have to summon those ‘better angels’ and rally that extra energy when it really matters. At the least we know it is an available option, and that is no small thing. We know that sometimes it really is OK to decline those default settings or shortcuts with which Natural Selection has imbued our minds. To choose kindness over meanness. Not to be a bully even though we’re feeling angry or want a particular outcome that bullying might easily achieve. To think about what we’re seeing or doing and to second-guess those “lesser angels” that are trying to force their way into our consciousness, like some kind of mindless brute. Even though the same brute may be doing his work on the minds of our friends and family, we can resist the social pressure and consider ‘the better angels of our nature’. Doing what comes naturally, finding divisions between “my tribe” and yours, raising our fists in anger and lashing out: those are default settings from our prehistoric past. They are not ‘our better angels’. They are what Natural Selection, that ruthless efficiency expert, has trip-wired our minds to do. What made sense a quarter of a million years ago in order to survive a cruel and unforgiving world - may be horribly out of date today, no matter how “natural” such behaviour feels.”

According to Dr. David: “Natural Selection got our species through the Pleistocene era, and dragged our ancestors kicking and screaming into the 21st century. There’s no telling how many millennia it will take, if ever, to purge the appeal of this trip-wired circuitry. It would be easier to face the world without this Pleistocene baggage rattling around in our heads but that kind of change is unlikely for the foreseeable future. The alternative is for us to acknowledge the mess in our heads and strive to express those “better angels” anyway. Like the clinicians say, “Don’t believe everything you think.” It’s OK to acknowledge the Pleistocene default settings in our minds, but not relinquish control to them – and to those around us who pander to those basest tendencies.

Dr. David continues: “It is ironic that the idea of the ‘Better angels of our nature’ was expressed by a U.S. President and at a time when the country was in turmoil. You think we’re divided now? Lincoln was President during the Civil War: North vs. South, brother against brother, black against white, neighbor against neighbor. We were killing each other then, about 150 years ago, on battlefields that have historical markers on them today. But (Sadly) we are once again divided. The issues that divide us may have shifted with time, but we are once again feeling like two nations: Back then it was Blue vs. Grey; today it is Red States vs. Blue States. Only this time we have elected a President who exploits, rather than tries to heal those divisions. Sadly, much of that pandering feels good, even natural. How do we resist it? How do we cope when the President’s nature, as well as his behavior, are often a model for “the worst angels of our nature?” And make no mistake: we all have “worst angels” within us. What we surely don’t need is a role model – an enabler, if you will – to beckon those basest qualities in ourselves.”

Dr. David concludes his article with: “Role models, especially those in authority like parents and Presidents, are powerful figures. How much better off would we be if the meanness of spirit and vindictiveness that lie in all of us was not given license to come out? Decades of social psychology research has demonstrated the power of social facilitation. Let those of us who have been chosen (or elected) to lead, use that gift for the good of our fellow human beings, and worry less about our tribe.”