ABSTRACT
This chapter explores scientific explanation for why people resist this kind of humiliation. As humans have developed all kinds of strategies to mask inner feelings of unworthiness, from medicating ourselves with drugs and alcohol to self-deception, to starting wars in order to reclaim lost dignity. Evolutionary biologists know that people do not come into the world a blank slate and that they have a powerful evolutionary legacy encoded in genes, predisposing us to a wide range of behaviours. They tell us that people have a "human nature" that was inherited from our early ancestors and their quest to survive. Relationships have potential to make us feel our best and to make us feel our worst. They make us feel our best when our dignity is assured. The chapter describes the essential elements of dignity–concrete ways to honour the dignity of others. If people honour these essential elements when they interact with others, they are triggers to connection.
