Avocado and Artichoke

In Helen Bus Mitchell’s, Roots of Wisdom, she describe two models of human nature. She uses avocados and artichokes as models for explanation. The avocado is used as an example because it is a fruit with a core that can be planted to reproduce more avocados. The core provides all the information on the elements of an avocado. The avocado has the same type of structure as a human, with an outer layer and a core where the personality and characteristics lie. On the other hand, the artichoke has many layers and a base. The base is also known as the “heart” of the artichoke, but it doesn’t have the “essence” of the artichoke. Unlike the avocado, and artichoke cannot be used to reproduced a new artichoke. In analyzing society in the twenty-first century, the artchoke model provides the most promising explanation of human nature.


The Judaic and Christian tradition believe in the avocado view of human nature.
They believe that humans are different fro...