I think a central ingredient of our humanity--that inimitable quality which says we are not mere animals, but unique in some way--is the very complex and often conflicting desires and emotions that govern our lives day in and day out.
Human individuals are constantly in a dialectical relationship with themselves, whereby two opposing actions or forces occupy the same space that can sometimes create an emotive singularity.
For example, when animals are hungry, they will search, some hunt, and consume the end product. This process for animals is yes, an evolving one depending on their changing habitats and surroundings, but for the most part, the menu if you will, was worked out eons ago. The only thing the animal is concerned with is which item on that menu is most immediately available.
I on the other hand, when feeling the sensation of hunger earlier this evening weighed the following thoughts: I had a rare craving for some McDonalds, but such a meal would not compliment my recent, and generally successful attempts to eat healthy. Moreover I wanted to go to the gym before dinner and desired a filling yet quick snack that would also enable me a quick burst of energy. All these factors occupy a singular place in my mind. If you consider that this thought process was applied to something so primitive and necessary, then just imagine what is occurring when you're pondering more abstract matters, say those that govern feelings arising from our interactions with others that can result in feelings of "love" on one end, and "hate" on the other. However at times, both diametric emotions can find themselves joined at the hip in an emotional singularity.
It is our ability to both love and hate one person, or to wish someone's departure and simultaneously wish for them to stay, or to desire to be both with or without you that is ultimately our distinguishing characteristic.
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