What is the most indomitable aspect of the human experience?

Humanism
1

Besides the survival instinct and the urge to procreate what is the most indomitable spirit of the human condition?
Is it the need for knowledge (our curiosity) or the desire to preserve the cultural or religious identity?
Is it the expression and sacrifice of love and compassion or the ability to hate and fear the unknown?
Is it the need to be recognized and appreciated or the desire the allowance of other voices to be seen and heard, even though it might conflict with our recognition?
Is it the desire to sacrifice or the need for sensationalizing that marks our passage through this thing called life?

2

You might want to reference Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs for answers to your questions. The updated version that is.
Cap’t Jack

3

People commonly claim “the urge to procreate”, and I think that’s incorrect. Primitive humans had no idea about that. The urge is to copulate. Among many. procreation is an unexpected, and often even unwanted consequence.
Occam

4
People commonly claim "the urge to procreate", and I think that's incorrect. Primitive humans had no idea about that. The urge is to copulate. Among many. procreation is an unexpected, and often even unwanted consequence. Occam
Excellent point, Occam. Lois
5

Maybe the urge to oppress, and be oppressed?

6
Besides the survival instinct and the urge to procreate what is the most indomitable spirit of the human condition? Is it the need for knowledge (our curiosity) or the desire to preserve the cultural or religious identity? Is it the expression and sacrifice of love and compassion or the ability to hate and fear the unknown? Is it the need to be recognized and appreciated or the desire the allowance of other voices to be seen and heard, even though it might conflict with our recognition? Is it the desire to sacrifice or the need for sensationalizing that marks our passage through this thing called life?
Please explain how you define an "indomitable aspect" (or "spirit") Lois
7

Maybe the answer changes depending on timeframe. If you’re looking for “the one big answer” maybe there isn’t one. Evolution could be involved, where the urge to copulate had it’s place in the way back times, and now it doesn’t, given overpopulation. That kinda thing.

8

I’d say it could be the willingness to work together. In the animal kingdom it is rare to see animals, even of the same species doing that and even for those that do, they have strict tribal rules. People who have never met get together all the time to feed each other, tend to whatever wounds, accomplish all sorts of things. We’ve even figured out how to partner with other animals.

9
People commonly claim "the urge to procreate", and I think that's incorrect. Primitive humans had no idea about that. The urge is to copulate. Among many. procreation is an unexpected, and often even unwanted consequence. Occam
Isn't the urge to procreate a basic imperative of all life forms? Don't see how we are any different from any other creature in that aspect, well… except for all the window dressing... and of course our ability for endless reflection on the topic.
10

Isn’t our ability to observe the world around; to contemplate it and to be able to communicate with each other and across generations
the most unique aspect of the human experience?

11

I can’t believe no one has mentioned bigotry (aka tribalism).

12
People commonly claim "the urge to procreate", and I think that's incorrect. Primitive humans had no idea about that. The urge is to copulate. Among many. procreation is an unexpected, and often even unwanted consequence. Occam
Isn't the urge to procreate a basic imperative of all life forms? Don't see how we are any different from any other creature in that aspect, well… except for all the window dressing... and of course our ability for endless reflection on the topic. We don't have an urge to reproduce, or as you put it, "procreate." We have an urge to have sex just as all animals have.
13
I can't believe no one has mentioned bigotry (aka tribalism).
tribalism, did someone say tribalism, long proud roots under that one ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJNQMygrmj8 Ants Marching: A Biological Invasion in Your Own Backyard University of California Television (UCTV) University of California Television (UCTV)
Or closer to home...
http://news.discovery.com/animals/zoo-animals/chimp-war-behavior.htm - Chimps are our closest primate relatives, so the behavior could help to explain why humans sometimes conduct lethal raids. - Human cooperation could also have origins in the primate inter-group competition. Chimpanzees, our closest primate relatives, engage in war-like behavior to gain territory, new research finds. The findings, published in the latest issue of Current Biology, explain why chimpanzees sometimes brutally kill their neighbors. The killings are most often done by patrolling packs of male chimps that are "quiet and move with stealth," according to lead author John Mitani of the University of Michigan. To the victors go similar spoils of early human wars: land, often-improved security and strength, extra food and resources, and even better access to females. "There are certainly valid parallels, and there is literature which discusses the territorial behavior of common chimpanzees in explaining the evolution of human warfare," co-author Sylvia Amsler told Discovery News.
sounds like a bit of "tribalism" going on in their world.
14
We don't have an urge to reproduce, or as you put it, "procreate." We have an urge to have sex just as all animals have.
If we are talking humans here, do you really believe that? "be fruitful and multiply" How many woman feel incomplete until giving birth? How many agonize over their inability to give birth? I myself admit to having this profound feeling of joining the human race for real when my daughter was born. (and I'm a guy) Sex is great, but there's more to it than just getting our rocks off. Heck this "need" to build families around ourselves is one reason we allowed this runaway population explosion to get so out of hand. Oh and religions helped a lot too. ;-)
15
People commonly claim "the urge to procreate", and I think that's incorrect. Primitive humans had no idea about that. The urge is to copulate. Among many. procreation is an unexpected, and often even unwanted consequence. Occam
Not only can it be unexpected and unwanted, for millennia the connection between the two was not even understood. Lois
16
Maybe the answer changes depending on timeframe. If you're looking for "the one big answer" maybe there isn't one. Evolution could be involved, where the urge to copulate had it's place in the way back times, and now it doesn't, given overpopulation. That kinda thing.
Are you saying that overpopulation is lessening the urge to copulate? I don't think so! It may lessen the urge to reproduce, that's all. But even that doesn't seem to be working too well in many parts of the world. Lois
17
We don't have an urge to reproduce, or as you put it, "procreate." We have an urge to have sex just as all animals have.
If we are talking humans here, do you really believe that? "be fruitful and multiply" How many woman feel incomplete until giving birth? How many agonize over their inability to give birth? I myself admit to having this profound feeling of joining the human race for real when my daughter was born. (and I'm a guy) Sex is great, but there's more to it than just getting our rocks off. Heck this "need" to build families around ourselves is one reason we allowed this runaway population explosion to get so out of hand. Oh and religions helped a lot too. ;-) The need to reproduce is built into us. It's an unconscious determining factor. Sometimes we can control such needs and sometimes not. If it was so easy--or even possible in some cases--to curb such a natural instinct we wouldn't have an overpopulation problem. Lois