If we intend to make conscious efforts in understanding the human nature, it should be good to define why we do it at all. What is the purpose and the goal?
The problem of the human nature is as old as the humans themselves. This seems self-evident at the first glance. It seems that there is a very specific reason for existence of this problem, namely self-reflection. Humans have a rather elaborate consciousness, that can reflect not only the outer and inner environment, but also itself. We think of something and we know that we think, and we can think about the fact that we know. We feel and we not only know that we feel but also feel something about it. We feel something about that we know and know that we feel. And on and on and on. Perhaps compassion and conscience are derivatives of self-reflection.
Only a self-reflecting consciousness can raise a problem of knowing itself. If consciousness is not aware of itself, this problem does not exist.
The benefit of self-reflection of mind is that we can think of ourselves from a viewpoint of a neutral observer. At least, this viewpoint becomes theoretically possible. The more precisely we model the surrounding environment in our thinking process, the more precise we can become in our predictions of future, which is the essence and purpose of planning and effective action. If we think with precision, we can eliminate needless actions and avoid harmless situations in advance. We achieve more with less effort. As most of our future predictions are in one or another way connected with ourselves, and our persons often are key actors in these future predictions, it is essential that we correctly predict ourselves. That means to know ourselves.
As other humans are not merely robots, but with their own capability of reflection and planning, effective and useful future predictions and planning become significantly more difficult. There are too many similar actors with roughly similar planning capabilities striving to achieve their own goals. Knowledge of human nature allows us to make generalized predictions of possible events and be more effective in planning, at least while all or most of other players do not have this knowledge.
The tasks of leadership and management, regardless of scale, demand good knowledge of self and others, because it means planning not only for oneself, but also for actions of many other human beings. People do not follow leaders that are seen as unworthy for leading. Why and how people form groups and choose leaders, also is an extension of human nature.
Is it possible to understand the human nature? Of course it is. Otherwise there would be nobody that could predict others better than someone else. One can make a point that some people have a better inborn and intuitive ability to understand others, and cannot explain logically how to do it. If some do it without knowing “the technology”, this in no way it cancels the fact that humans can learn different skills, including the skill of understanding others.
The task of understanding human nature is the task of self-reflection in increased scale. As we as individuals learn or develop ourselves the self-reflection during childhood, we can also learn the self-reflection of our species and society.
To understand ourselves and others, we must base our knowledge on solid foundations. The biological background of humans is that foundation, and usually is omitted in various teachings. In the last hundred years we have accumulated a huge collection of observations of other species, our knowledge of nature has expanded. We have observed other life forms in their natural and artificial environments, and anthropologists have tried to do it with ourselves. New concepts and insights are inevitable. In some aspects, now we can feel the water we are all swimming in. Very exciting, indeed.