Kenneth-Kaunda wrote:that's true for sure.

but how about when one already has success - they seem to want yet more and more.

It seems as if everyone yearns to be ruler of the planet (in their own way) or perhaps even God.

Why does a multi-millionaire need to keep on earning?

boredom perhaps, but seems to be more a case of wanting to display his dominance over others.

If we didn't strive for what we call success, we will stagnate as a species. Fortunately, it is built into life. It is as natural to life as all the other laws of nature and physics are. If that law didn't exist, life wouldn't have evolved past a big blob of algae.

The aspects that you might call boredom, greed, war etc are labels for human nature. There a plenty of examples in the wild. The new male lion in the pride kills it's own type(the previous male's offspring) when it take over, trees try to smother each other in the race for sunlight, some sharks cannibalize while still in the womb. It's got to do with survival of the species.

It was inevitable that life had to begin given the chemicals and the amount of time available. There is nothing magical or mystical about it.

We should be thankful that life has a hierarchy. Hail the hierarchy of life!

Kenneth-Kaunda wrote:that's true for sure.

but how about when one already has success - they seem to want yet more and more.

It seems as if everyone yearns to be ruler of the planet (in their own way) or perhaps even God.

Why does a multi-millionaire need to keep on earning?

boredom perhaps, but seems to be more a case of wanting to display his dominance over others.

The reasons are diverse, and I don't believe it's useful or an attempt to find the truth to make generalisations. Some people might just as much be driven by a work ethic - self-made multi-millionaires are clearly driven people who want to succeed. Perhaps they simply no longer value money in the same way you or I do - it's just a marker of their success: a score card.

Following on from what Adco said: you have to understand this is a basic driving principle of Biology, and at the heart of the diversification of species and the fight for survival.

For example, a peaceful woodland scene might look like an example of harmony and serenity... but really it's a combat zone where various organisms are desperately struggling to capture their few inches of unblocked sunlight. It's murder in slow motion.

This is the nature of life. The key thing to remember is that humans CAN rise above it.... but I don't think it's worth berating the species as a whole because few manage to break away from their nature. We may as well condemn all life if that's the case.

Spearthrower wrote:
This is the nature of life. The key thing to remember is that humans CAN rise above it.... but I don't think it's worth berating the species as a whole because few manage to break away from their nature. We may as well condemn all life if that's the case.

It seems that humans are changing their ways, for the better, with regards to the way we treat each other. Sure, we still have ongoing wars etc, but there seems to be more compassion and the need to stop wars than there has been 100years ago. Has technology helped? I'm sure it has played a huge part in it. We are now able to observe atrocities in real live time via cell phones and live TV. This seems to have triggered the built in part of human nature that shows compassion and the need to stop pain and suffering. In the older days, armies could do what ever they wanted and weren't held accountable. Now we can see what they do and that will make a difference in the near future. It will help tyrants think twice about their actions.

This is perhaps something that needs a new thread. How is mankind's characteristics changing for the better of all? Or, can we evolving into a perfect species.

Are we going to outgrow our need to dominate each other with force. Can we grow as a species without the need for violence. It will take many years and there will most probably always be people who commit atrocities but I think it can be achieved in the future. There are already enough global movements promoting peace, tolerance, fair play etc. That was not there in the past.