Natural Humanists believe that human beings are one of the few species on Earth capable of demonstrating deep kindness, and they believe that kindness is central to humanity, hence the term ‘humane’ treatment.
They believe that all human beings have an unlimited capacity for both love and kindness and they share the Dalai Lama’s belief[i] that we should all be “kind whenever possible”, and that it’s “always possible.” Because of this, they believe that all human beings have an absolute moral responsibility to always treat other human beings and animals with as much kindness as possible.
They believe that human beings, unlike many other species, have the ability to see the world from others’ viewpoints, and to anticipate any negative consequences that their own behaviour might have on others, including on other human beings, other animals, and even on the planet and its environment. This allows human beings to predict when they’re likely to cause suffering, or to do harm, but it also allows them to predict when their life-choices and behaviour could make the world, or other human beings’ or animals’ lives better, or could make people truly happy.
They highly value their human ‘superpower’ to be able to do good and to cause happiness and believe they have a duty, throughout their lives, to both reduce the amount of unhappiness and loneliness in the world, and to increase the amount of love and kindness, whenever doing so wouldn’t cause them or other people harm, distress or inconvenience, involve financial cost, or prevent them or other people from doing other things that are important to them, or to their loved ones. They share the Dalai Lama’s belief that “The purpose of our lives is to be happy”[ii], and that compassion is “one of the few things we can practice that will bring immediate and long-term happiness to our lives”.[iii]
For example, if it doesn’t cause them inconvenience or make them feel uncomfortable, they may happily choose to share all or most of their possessions, their home, their affection, their love and even legal and consensual nudity, with anybody who ever wants them to, as an act of kindness and in acknowledgment of their equality, and of each other’s human needs, and of the meaningful friendships and relationships that can often result from such choices.
Natural Humanists shun social conventions and societal barriers to human connection, which keep individuals or groups of the population apart. They encourage all human beings to remain open to forming meaningful, loving friendships, or romantic or sexual relationships, or to sharing nudity or sensual pleasure with absolutely anybody, unless there is a good reason not to, regardless of whether others consider this to be ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable’.
They encourage everybody to see every other person as an individual, not as part of a group which society considers it either is, or is not ‘appropriate’ for them to spend their time with, and, as they believe strongly in polyamory, they’re open to sharing their time, attention, affection and in some cases non-sexual nudity or sensual or sexual pleasure with any or all of them, without being concerned about societal judgment for doing so.
Incidentally, it’s been proven that if a person is kind, they’re considered more attractive to potential romantic partners [iv], so thankfully, it’s not just toxic traits that can make us popular!
Quite simply, Natural Humanists believe in making love, making kindness and making the world a better place, and they believe that anybody who sneers at that idea, or considers it to be too naïve or unrealistic, is themselves ‘toxic’.
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References
[i] Dalai Lama (“Be Kind Whenever Possible…” is a quote of the Dalai Lama. Cited on: https://laidlawscholars.network/posts/be-kind-whenever-possible)
[ii] Dalai Lama (cited on: azquotes. “Quotes About Contentment”. azquotes.com. 3 June 2025. https://www.azquotes.com/author/8418-Dalai_Lama/tag/contentment)
[iii] Dalai Lama (cited on: https://www.azquotes.com/quote/531259)
[iv] Dolan, Eric W. ‘Intelligence and kindness are the most valued traits in romantic partners, study finds’. April 7 2024. psypost.org. 27 May 2025. https://www.psypost.org/intelligence-and-kindness-are-the-most-valued-traits-in-romantic-partners-study-finds/