What makes us human?

[Noceus]

This is more of a philosophical question. What is that makes us human, what gives us humanity. Some say the just beaing aware of ourself, but some animlas are all so aware of them selfev. So what is that makes us human, what do you think?

 

[Girl With One Eye]

The ability to distinguish right from wrong....and then doing wrong anyway.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Hard to say...but whatever it is, having evolved it has made us the dominant species, if that helps.

 

[blipblop]

domination of the world i guess

 

[magicmonkeybars]

Might as well ask what makes a dog a dog.
People are just another animal, we just happen to be the animal in question and have a somewhat over inflated opinion of ourselves.
So ultimately what makes us human is what makes dogs, dog.

 

[Phas]

I'll say that the capacity to use tools is highly important in what a human is IMO.

Doesn't that come with the unfortunate implication that disabled(enough) people aren't humans?

 

[Merkavar]

I'd say its purely a genetic thing ie having a certain chromosome arrangement. But to make my post less blunt and boring, I'll say that the capacity to use tools is highly important in what a human is IMO.

but many animals use tools.

i think asking what makes use human wont get any good answers.

i think a better question would be what does a life form other than humans have to do to be deemed to be on the same level as us. like say we find a planet with life. can we just go there and kill and eat everything cause they are just animals or because of some reason be it language, tool use, society, burying their dead, we give them them same rights as us humans. so we are not allowed to kill them or take their land or use them like beasts of burden.

 

[shadow_Fox81]

Love.

its all we think about, its all we search for and it's the only thing we'll never understand.

Love is what makes me human, and it is a crooked thing.

 

[theheroofaction]

Well, as a Sci-fi writer (of an as of yet unfinished work) I had to define what makes a person a person.

Specifically I defined it as anything that has all three of these
A) a complete set of emotions both positive and negative
B)A general recognition that other creatures have minds
C) the intelligence necessary to contemplate the results of ones action

Other than that it's just a mess of fleshy bits.

 

[Crazy]

Your spine, and your brain.

And your organs.

 

[Soviet Steve]

Sentience; The capacity for rational thought. It really is that simple.

 

[Nimcha]

The ability to classify ourselves as human.

 

[HerbertTheHamster]

The fact that we can kill the fuck out of every other animal on earth

 

[kebab4you]

Faults.

Uhh not really sure how to expand on that, humans = fault... should be enough.

 

[spartxn]

Thats a good question, which deserves a good answer. Refrigerator.

That is all.

 

[ShindoL Shill]

I'd say its purely a genetic thing ie having a certain chromosome arrangement. But to make my post less blunt and boring, I'll say that the capacity to use tools is highly important in what a human is IMO.

so chimps are humans? they use tools.

OT: civilisation, colonisation and adaptation. have you ever seen a chimp family build shelter in a desert because they were driven out of the forest?

 

[SidingWithTheEnemy]

Faults.

Uhh not really sure how to expand on that, humans = fault... should be enough.

Ninja'd (Grrr)

Our errors make us human (in comparison to machines)
Our discovery of harnessing fire (Being homo sapiens sapiens in comparison to the other homos out there (no pun inteded, really! ))
Our level of conciousness and awareness that we are able to pose exactly such questions (in comparision to plants or animals, but that's difficult because we don't know how animals think)
Our level of breaking our own set of rules (morality and such) and becoming greater (or learning something) in the process. (Considering true humans in comparison to this zombie like blob of society that is meandering around their pitiful lives, just following orders and trying to satiate their primal instinct: food, sex and sleep)

 

[MGlBlaze]

What is a human? Easy;
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Tribe: Hominini
Genus: Homo
Species: H. sapiens

That isn't philosophical at all.

A philosophical question would be "What is a person?". There are a bunch of different arguments for what constitutes personhood, but ask anyone and chances are none of them will quite agree.

It's like people who ask what the meaning of life is when the question should be what its purpose is.

 

[manic_depressive13]

-snip-

-double snip-

It'd be nice if you provided an example of animals that use tools. Thanks for passively aggressively saying my answer was bad. You asked what makes us human, I gave an answer that you dismiss without justifying why, I hope it doesn't stay that way. Who are you to say what is a 'good' answer? You obviously made a thread asking, so I suspect you either have no idea but don't like my idea, or you already had thoughts in your head that you wanted to be reinforced rather than considering ideas that you don't like as much. I'd say that intelligence determines whether an alien race is on the same level as us.

Wow, chill out and scroll up. Merk didn't make this thread, he just disagreed with you. This is how discussion happens.

The Egyptian vulture breaks open ostrich eggs by smashing them with a rock. There are also several apes that use sticks to get food. It's been argued that this is an example of tool use, which is reinforced by the fact that if they find a good one they'll keep it for later.

The fact that we can kill the fuck out of every other animal on earth

And this person has stumbled upon the answer.

 

[crudus]

This is more of a philosophical question. What is that makes us human, what gives us humanity. Some say the just beaing aware of ourself, but some animlas are all so aware of them selfev. So what is that makes us human, what do you think?

Sentience and Sapience.

It is even in our name. Homo Sapiens(Latin for "wise man"). Ok, so I just opened a wikipedia article and started paraphrasing. However, hat I truly think makes a human a human is a sense of wonder. Sure we could say its the higher brain power or the sue of tools, but it would count for nothing if we weren't the curious bastards we are.

I'll say that the capacity to use tools is highly important in what a human is IMO.

Doesn't that come with the unfortunate implication that disabled(enough) people aren't humans?

You don't consider a wheelchair a tool?

What is a human? Easy;
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Tribe: Hominini
Genus: Homo
Species: H. sapiens

That isn't philosophical at all.

A philosophical question would be "What is a person?". There are a bunch of different arguments for what constitutes personhood, but ask anyone and chances are none of them will quite agree.

It's like people who ask what the meaning of life is when the question should be what its purpose is.

That doesn't tell anyone anything if they aren't familiar with taxonomy. It only tells you how closely related to another thing you know the classification of.

Spoiler: watch

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Tardigrada
Class: Eutardigrada
Order: Parachaela
Family: Hypsibiidae
Subfamily: Hypsibiinae
Genus: Hypsibius
Species: H. americanus

See? That tells you nothing about the animal. It is like a pointer in computer science. It tells you where to find your information, not what it is. Now our deoxyribonucleic acid and proteins makes us humans in a biological sense. What OP is asking is what separates us from the rest of Animalia or even Primates.