Unlike many other species, whose lives are dominated by meeting their basic needs, surviving, and satisfying primitive instinctive drives, human beings have the capacity to experience extreme happiness, and the ability to actively help other human beings to experience extreme happiness as well, whether they know them or they’re complete strangers.
They’re also deeply compassionate, care about other people’s welfare, and have a strong ability to see the world from other peoples’ viewpoints, to anticipate other peoples’ needs and to plan ahead to do things that will increase and spread happiness.
Because of these natural abilities, Natural Humanists believe that all human beings have a moral duty to use them, and to focus a significant part of their time and energy on creating as much happiness as possible, both for themselves and for other people. They believe that happiness itself is an important human need and is central to our quality of life.
They acknowledge that human beings are one of the few species capable of laughter, and they try, whenever they can, to fill their own and each other’s lives with fun, laughter and meaningful happiness.
They also believe that, as well as having the ability to make other people happy, every human being has the capacity to reduce other people’s emotional pain, isolation, loneliness and suffering. Consequently, they try to always be sensitive to other people’s needs and wishes, to avoid ever deliberately making somebody else unnecessarily sad, and see it as their responsibility, and their moral duty, to try to spread kindness, love, affection and happiness, as widely as possible.
Sharing Activities
Natural Humanists try to take part in as many activities and relationships as possible which have the potential to make themselves, and ideally other people happy, and to spread joy. They also acknowledge that, if Natural Humanists socialise frequently, with other passionate, kind, loving and like-minded people, they can all nurture each other’s beliefs and values, can all give each other the opportunity to put them into practice, and can all value and celebrate each other’s efforts and achievements, every single day of their lives.
They believe that any source of happiness and pleasure in their own lives, which is not shared with other people, is an opportunity to increase human happiness that has been wasted, so they believe that solitary pursuits are selfish, if they could be shared with another person and could increase happiness, reduce loneliness and make people feel that they ‘belong’, and are loved and valued, as Natural Humanists believe that all human beings should be.
They believe that, when appropriate, it’s better to share these activities with as many people as possible, if this can further increase other people’s happiness, without significantly reducing their own.
They believe, for example, in sharing talents like singing, dancing, or gymnastic or artistic abilities, freely, with as many people as possible, not for fame, adoration or financial gain, but as an act of human kindness.
Fun and inclusive singing groups or community choirs, singing any popular song, or songs with themes in line with Natural Humanist beliefs, can allow Natural Humanists to share their talents and, in the process, both gain pleasure themselves and give pleasure to others.
Some Natural Humanists may choose to share their artistic talents or skills in person, with friends, with family, with their local Natural Humanist Community, or with their local town or village, or to share them with the whole Natural Humanist Community, or the whole world, via internet videos and social media.
Natural Humanists share the Dalai Lama’s belief that, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries”, and they acknowledge that today’s technology allows human beings to communicate with large numbers of people, worldwide, instantly and at little or no financial cost, so Natural Humanists embrace this technology and seek to use the internet, social media and live video-links, or streaming of videos, to freely share kindness, happiness, positivity and love.
Sharing Happiness
Whether it’s eating or drinking alone, listening to music alone, holidaying or having ‘days out’ alone, or enjoying the beauty of nature alone, Natural Humanists believe that, if it doesn’t significantly reduce their own enjoyment, or make them feel uncomfortable, it’s always better to share these experiences, with friends, family or romantic or sexual partners, or with anyone, or everyone, and to spread happiness, and create or strengthen friendships and relationships in the process.
With any polyamorous partners, or even with friends, they may choose to share frequent physical affection, any type of consensual, mutual nudity or pleasurable sex, or any other pleasurable physical contact, for example, giving and receiving relaxing, sensual or even erotic massages.
They believe in getting together frequently with other people, to share fun and fulfilling activities and experiences, and any activity which increases happiness, including frequent parties, festivals and ceremonies and, whenever possible, socialising with others and possibly having a meal, a coffee or an alcoholic drink together, working, walking, swimming, playing games, exercising or practising naturism together.
They believe that every human being’s own personal happiness is almost always greater when any experience, and the happiness caused by each experience, is shared, both at the time, and when all those involved reminisce about that experience from then onwards. They also acknowledge that, potentially, the greater the number of people that have the opportunity to take part in these fun activities, the more happiness can be created and shared.
Natural Humanists believe strongly in ‘random acts of kindness’, as a way of spreading love and happiness, both to people they know, and to random strangers. They recognise that such kindness can also increase others’ willingness and desire to spread kindness themselves, which can potentially greatly increase the amount of happiness in the world.
They believe that ‘platonic’, romantic or sexual relationships, or affectionate friendships, can all spread huge amounts of kindness, love, fun, pleasure and happiness to all concerned and, consequently, they believe that polyamory is a hugely positive life choice for every human being.
They acknowledge that sharing physical affection, physical touch, nudity, sex and love, can all be powerful sources of happiness for both ourselves, and for other people, and that sharing love, widely and deeply, can spread true, deep, meaningful and long-lasting happiness to large numbers of people.
Natural Humanists acknowledge that every single time any human being washes themselves in the bath or shower alone, or masturbates alone, which in many cases, is every single day of their life, they have denied other human beings the opportunity to share human connection, pleasurable nudity, and possibly affection, physical touch, and sensual or sexual pleasure with them.
They may have a group of people that they trust, respect and care about, but are not necessarily sexually or romantically attracted to, or in a relationship with, that they would happily share such private experiences with, if they knew that this would create happiness, and increase the beneficial connection between them.
Whenever it’s fully consensual, or is enthusiastically agreed to and can be safely and legally enabled, they may, individually, or as a small or large group, choose to bath or shower with, or in front of each other, or to wash each other, and they may also allow some or all of these people to watch them masturbate, or to masturbate them, or to masturbate in front of them, if they know that these things make one, both, or all of them happy, and do not cause any embarrassment or discomfort to anybody else.
Some may happily do these things, regardless of the other person’s gender and sexuality, and regardless of any sexual attraction to them, purely as an act of kindness, and as a way of spreading happiness, because they recognise that all human beings’ have a natural connection and a shared humanity, and that all human beings have needs.
They believe that we can each, individually, choose to live a life of selfishness and isolation, or to live our lives in a way that hugely increases human happiness, and which builds hugely beneficial friendships and relationships in the process.
Throughout their lives, before doing or saying anything, Natural Humanists try to think about what the consequences would be, if every one of the 8,200 million people on Earth[i], did that same thing. How would it damage the planet, what effect would it have on other living things, and how would it negatively affect other human beings and their happiness?
If they don’t like the thought of those negative consequences, then they try to avoid doing that thing at all, but also, they try to think about all of the potential positive consequences of doing something good, if everybody else on Earth did that same thing, and they then try to do as many such positive things as possible, and to encourage others to do the same.
They acknowledge that, if we choose to let it, sadness, loneliness, selfishness, aggression, intolerance and negativity, can spread like a virus, and overtake the world, but, similarly, we all have the power to spread love, compassion, acceptance, kindness, fun, happiness and pleasure, in just as rapid and powerful a way, and they believe that, given that we know this to be the case, we all have a strong moral obligation to do so.
In other words, they believe that ‘we must all be the change that we want to see’.[ii]
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References
[i] Worldometer. “World Population”. 9 June 2025. worldometers.info. 9 June 2025. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
[ii] The source of the quote, ‘we must all be the change that we want to see’, is unknown online, but it’s believed to be Mahatma Gandhi.