Self-Preservation: The Importance Of Human Nature

William Murtagh, first keeper of the National Register of Historic Places, once said “at its best, preservation engages the past in a conversation with the present over a mutual concern for the future.” Preservation has always been a part of human nature, deeply rooted in our tradition and moral code. There is a profuse amount of ways in which society preserves, some are for selfish reasons but others help us move forward and learn from our past. As the great human race, it can be said that preservation has been our main reason for being the most successful species on the planet.

Sigmond Freud was an Austrian neurologist who stated that one of the “deepest essences of human nature” is that of self-preservation. Self-preservation is the instinct within us which is awoken by any form of threat or danger, at its most basic root a species such as the Homosapiens will possess a the desire to live and survive against all odds. A push to find food, water and shelter comes from the self-preservation drive at the core of our beings.

Although this is true for our most basic natural behaviour, humans have evolved with the changing environment of the modern world. Instead we engage with our surroundings in order to self-preserve, for example many of us have learnt rather to sit and nod our heads at teachers instead of getting into fights when feeling threatened, for many this concept has not yet reached their thinking process, but this is the point of our evolution. Our brains