waddle waddle gobble gobble..

this was my blackboard.com post for my philosophy of human nature class. i had to repost it in all it's glory because after reading my last few posts i've realized how cynical my posts are becoming. enjoy:

topic: thanksgiving as a holiday: motivations behind giving thanks and gratitude in relation to human nature.

title: thank you? thank me!

Thanksgiving. What could be more heartwarming than sitting around a table with your family feasting on calorie-ridden foods and trying to one-up the person before you when it comes time to tell everyone what cliché, heartfelt thing you're thankful for this year? The only thing more heartwarming than that, to me, is the knowledge that we're all inextricably linked by the common threads of humanity. What a beautiful concept, right? I mean, it IS human nature that makes us so eager to celebrate and give thanks in the first place, isn't it? I certainly think so. I think my life would be so much easier if I were a penguin, waddling around the Antarctic, not worried about giving thanks for the fish I caught all throughout the year, never having to verbalize my thanks for the companionship of my penguin-mate (who, they say, never EVER divorce, choosing instead to stay together until death do they part) But no, I'm a human. And for that reason and that reason alone, I seem to have some inlaid compulsion to feel gratitude.

What is it that makes us so eager to express our gratitude? Why is it that in our society, it's considered rude to not say "thank you" when someone gives you something or performs some random act of kindness on your behalf? What about being human makes us so worthy of thanks for things that could just be attributed to the fact that as humans we have the capacity to bestow kindness upon others? Is it possible that gratitude could be one of those phenomenon that we employ to link ourselves to others in that big cosmic stew we call humanity? (sidenote: Why am I asking so many questions?)

I think that gratitude is just another way to link ourselves to others. I think that by acknowledging that someone has done us a favor by expressing gratitude, we're also reassuring ourselves that we are human and part of the bigger picture of society. Why would others bestow kindness upon us if we were not worthy members of humanity? They wouldn't. They would outcast us, which means that the kindness or favors or gifts or whatever it is that is deserving of our gratitude also cements us in the concrete structure of society. It's part of our struggle to figure out where we fit in in the world, allowing us to first figure out that we are part of the human world before we continue on in our efforts to figure out specfically where. It makes us feel not only more human but more included, which is actually pretty selfish if you think about it. By expressing our gratitude to others, we're actually pumping ourselves up and fulfilling our own motives. Perhaps Thanksgiving should be renamed something that properly identifies it as the holiday of reminding ourselves that we're human and we fit in. I think the Native Americans would appreciate that more than the current explanation that the Pilgrims were so thankful that the Natives helped them out during their hardships that they had a feast.. right before trading trinkets, rum, and smallpox blankets for their land. Or maybe that's just the bitter Cherokee in me.. Either way, Happy Thanksgiving, you integral part of society, you!