Poll: Are you Human?

[Falconus]

I would like to answer, But I'm not entirely sure what's being asked. You are asking if I'm human, but not if I'm a human being. Which I assume means separating my mental self from my physical self, But the two are inherently tied. Separated from the physical the definition of a human is entirely arbitrary.

So I guess you're asking if I feel like I'm the same as everyone else. Couldn't tell you, I've never been in anyone else's head. I've got no idea if my thought patterns are similar. But the question is irrelevant anyway. 'human' or not, I'm Me.

 

[Nikolaz72]

No im an alien sent to kill all human beings but obviously i have failed and as a punishment by the high overlord Weirdoz have now been reborn and go to school in this weird body that seemingly lacks 6-7 arms and like 5 more legs. The lack of 20 eyes seems to hinder my sight quite much as well.

 

[9of9]

As far as I'm concerned, being human is identical with being a human being. So no, I'm not an alien.

The other implied definitions, whether they imply rationality, capacity for emotion, humanitarianism, general normality for the species etc. are definitely not necessary conditions for being human - it would be absurd to look at any human being and claim that they are not human.

 

[Jezzy54]

That is the second dumbest question I know of.

 

[guntotingtomcat]

Off course I'm Human, I am a member of the species.

I think what you're trying to talk about is personhood, which is different. For reference look up the trek episode where Data has to go to court with starfleet for ownership of himself. (Great episode http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PMlDidyG_I)

 

[luclin92]

i am yet im not.

 

[FrostyChick]

...I don't know D:

But does that make me a bad person?

...Well it makes you an honest person, which is a good quailty to have, so I would have to say no, it doesn't make you a bad person.

OT: I don't know either T^T

 

[aubreym]

A faint veil to an otherwise existentialist orientated question. well played, but honestly, the depth of the subject is too tedious to regurgitate for myself. And i also have strong doubts that people will have time to slow and appreciate the philosophy. I wish you the best my friend.

 

[Stollos]

Yeah, i'm human. I have my flaws. They aren't fatal, but they're there, and likely more numerous than I would care to admit. But ultimately, I always try my utmost to be the most decent and compationate person that the situation allows for. I value loyalty above all else. Loyalty to those whom I deem worthy of my ultimately limited time on the face of this earth

 

[teh_Canape]

no, I'm not

I'm a miserable little pile of secrets

but enough talk

 

[Sun Flash]

I have morals. bad things makes me feel bad. Doing good things fills me with a warm fuzzy feeling. I believe this elevates me above other animals (like lions) in the animal kingdom. ergo I am human.

That may be true, but nearly everyone can say that. Don't take this the wrong way, but have you ever wondered if these "reactions" to these good deeds or bad deeds that we experience on a daily basis were more like "generic programs" that our parents or mentors install into our brains at a young age?

Granted, we can change over time and with each new experience. However, what really perplexes me about it is that none of these reactions are solely unique. Sure you may believe that your morals and reactions are just, and they are. It just seems that for each reaction or moral you have, there are probably 500X that many duplicates consistent within millions of other people around the world.

I guess what I'm really trying to get as is this: has society made we humans more like machines because of what we collectively believe to be fact, or the morally just thing to do?

I see what you're saying, but the point I was getting at was that I have the ability to "self regulate" myself with things like morals (regardless of what my actual morals are). A large part of humanity is that of self regulation, which I think other animals lack. I have the ability to think "no X is morally wrong, I shouldn't do that" and then go "I am proud of myself, because I followed through on my morals" or " I am sickened by myself because I went against my morals and did it anyway".
THAT is what I believe makes me human. Society, is merely a collection of everyone's morals, which creates an environment for these collective morals to be hardwired into some people's subconscious that would not have otherwise had that moral stance. I suppose you could argue that therefore, this human construct of the society we live in has thereforedehumanised some people, but I don't buy it (sorry, I don't have another argument for that other than my brain just going "No")

Plus, if we removed society and just had generic humans occupying a bland landscape, I believe that many of the normative morals that are "popular" today would remain popular, so that what I beleive makes me personally human, also makes alot of other people.


Also, I'd just like to tell everyone reading this; I'm a 17 year old student with too much spare time on my hands, and I don't know if the way I've written seems hostile (I promise I'm not) and that any of my opinions are in no way fact. If they were we'd all be doomed.

 

[Blunderman]

I'm a human by definition. Any other answer is entirely irrelevant. Still, I'm just an animal, and part of (not above, nor the custodian of) a world that cares not the slightest what happens to me or humanity in its entirety. The planet could disintegrate and it wouldn't mean jack shit to anything.

What am I? Free in an infinite playground without rules.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

I am a sapiend animal, an individual out of the primary race of primates that inhabit this planet at the moment. So yes. i am Human.

 

[razuk]

No, I'm an Elf.

 

[Denamic]

Yes.
Why?
Because my parents are human and my genes says I'm human.
What does this mean?
Absolutely squat.
It's just a name of a species I happen to be a part of.

 

[antidonkey]

I'm a sack of mostly water.

 

[370999]

I am human as that is the species I belong to. Am I a person in terms of some social definiton? Depends on your definition. All i can say is I try to live a relatviely moral life and get on with people.

 

[DanielDeFig]

Yes. Because i (and everyone else on this site) fit the scientific and psychological definition of a human being:

Self-conscious animal (makes us people), and since we were born on earth, it makes us human (rather than people from a different planet than earth).