Open any textbook on philosophy, economics, or science dealing with the essence of humanity, and one word invariably dominates the pages: "Rationality." After all, the very scientific name of our species, Homo sapiens, translates to "wise man." For a long time, we have defined humans as cold, clever beings who meticulously calculate profits, maximize cost-efficiency, and build civilizations solely through the power of reason.
This raises a poignant question: Why, for such a long time, did human academia fail to recognize our uncalculating "gentleness" or our cross-species "hyper-sociality" as defining human traits? Why were these warm capacities always overshadowed by reason and rationality? Behind this lies the heartbreaking arrogance and limitations that our history and academia have passed through.
Wanting to Explain Human Society Through Formulas
The 17th to 19th centuries in Europe, during which the framework of modern academia was forged, was the Age of Reason and Science. Once Isaac Newton clearly demonstrated the laws of the universe with physics formulas, scholars of that era naturally wanted to explain human society and behavior just as neatly—like a mathematical equation.
The monster birthed by that deep longing was Homo economicus (Economic Man), the starting point of modern economics. Only by assuming that humans are purely rational agents acting solely out of self-interest could the complex market economy be controlled through numbers and graphs. In this process, emotional traits—such as altruistic gentleness or the deep communion found in nursing a sick animal—were dismissed as "exceptional, irrational domains" that were academically immeasurable. For the sake of academic convenience, human gentleness was essentially castrated.
The Arrogance of Needing to Be Superior to Animals
For centuries, the most powerful concept dominating Western philosophy was the declaration that "humans are different from, and superior to, animals."
In reality, emotional behaviors—such as feeling sentiment, grieving when hungry, or risking one’s life for one’s offspring—are things wild animals do perfectly well. Consequently, defining traits like "humans are gentle" or "humans empathize" seemed somewhat inadequate for elevating humanity to the status of the master of all creation.
On the other hand, "reason and rationality"—the ability to solve advanced mathematics, write complex laws, and erect monumental architecture—appeared to be an exclusive, unparalleled weapon of humanity never seen in the animal kingdom. To define humans as rulers over animals, scholars intentionally devalued the "emotions" we share with nature and placed human "reason" upon the throne.
Gentleness, Finally Proven in the Language of Science
In the past, even if someone argued that "humans survived by helping one another and communing with animals," it was treated merely as a romantic story or a well-meaning line from a morality textbook. There were simply no visible tools to prove its value.
However, the 21st century brought a massive plot twist, thanks to the dazzling advancements in genomic analysis, archaeology, and evolutionary biology. The bones of a sick dog found in prehistoric ruins, and the traces of populations that refused isolation to travel thousands of kilometers just to mix their genes, finally began to be validated through the rigorous language of "scientific data."
It was revealed that the ultimate cheat code allowing humanity to endure through harsh ice ages and shifting climates was not a superior intelligence (rationality) compared to Neanderthals, but rather our gentle capacity (hyper-sociality)—our willingness to cooperate and empathize with strangers and other species.
For too long, we may have made ourselves lonely by overestimating human reason. The academic need to reduce society to a formula, paired with the human arrogance of wanting to be superior to animals, ensured that "rationality" remained our sole trademark for centuries.
Yet, modern science has finally begun to look squarely at the other face of humanity hidden behind the cold mask of Homo sapiens. It is the face of Homo symbiosus (Symbiotic Man)—a being that truly shines only when connected to and coexisting with others. If reason placed the tools of civilization into the hands of humanity, it was always our gentleness that compelled us to hold those tools, walk over the horizon to a stranger, and reach out to take their hand.
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