What makes us human?
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The ability to ponder the question, "What makes us human" distinguishes humans from all other species.
Being born a human would be a good start.
Being able to acknowledge your humanity would be another important part (I would like to point out that's not the same as self awareness, being able to truthfully acknowledge that you are a human is different from simply being aware of your own existance).
The ability and wilingness to engage in thoughts and behaviours not thought to be capable of lesser creatures (like for example how I'm fairly certain that dolphins have never been to the moon and have never invented the printing press).
Those three things combined I would say makes a human human.
Being able to acknowledge your humanity would be another important part (I would like to point out that's not the same as self awareness, being able to truthfully acknowledge that you are a human is different from simply being aware of your own existance).
The ability and wilingness to engage in thoughts and behaviours not thought to be capable of lesser creatures (like for example how I'm fairly certain that dolphins have never been to the moon and have never invented the printing press).
Those three things combined I would say makes a human human.
I guess if this is a philosophical question then I pose that our ability to take understanding and apply it is what makes us human and our ability to create more than just the neccesities for survival.
What makes us human is pretty simple. We are all biologically members of the species Homo Sapiens, hence we are human. What makes us civilized, which is what I think you mean to be asking, is probably that we are intelligent and self aware. We have long term memory, and think logically. Humans are one of the only species that can recognize themselves in a mirror, after all.
The fact that we want to distinct ourselves from other animals by asking "What makes us human?"
Love could exist within animals. There are animals that practices monogamy in the same ways humans do, by that I mean they're cheating if they can get away with it.
There are animals that use tools just like there are people who don't.
Animals may have rational thoughts, we just aren't able to understand their way of thinking.
not even our genetic code is unique. We're mostly chimps.
Love could exist within animals. There are animals that practices monogamy in the same ways humans do, by that I mean they're cheating if they can get away with it.
There are animals that use tools just like there are people who don't.
Animals may have rational thoughts, we just aren't able to understand their way of thinking.
not even our genetic code is unique. We're mostly chimps.
It is no one single thing. It is many other things that cannot be put into words.
You cannot have one trait to define us without the others because we have many single traits that are shared by other animals/objects but that do not make THEM human.
I cannot for instance say it is our appearance, some robots have our appearance yet they are not human, that is because we happen to be fleshy too, but genetically mutated aliens could have our appearance AND be fleshy yet still not be human either because they lack other traits that we have such as human desires for instance.
This all comes from a guy who has The Illusive man, a pro human extremist as an avatar.
You cannot have one trait to define us without the others because we have many single traits that are shared by other animals/objects but that do not make THEM human.
I cannot for instance say it is our appearance, some robots have our appearance yet they are not human, that is because we happen to be fleshy too, but genetically mutated aliens could have our appearance AND be fleshy yet still not be human either because they lack other traits that we have such as human desires for instance.
This all comes from a guy who has The Illusive man, a pro human extremist as an avatar.
We have the written language, and can learn from past mistakes that happened centuries ago if we like to. But more especially, I think our potential and ability to adapt and learn. Other animals have a lot of our abilities, but we can adapt and use anything in different ways. Wars, tools, language, emotions or anything like that. Maybe religion, and curiosity stronger than most animals?
The number of neurons in our brains, the number of connections between them, the chassis (thumbs and all that jazz) AND the bootstrap education we receive in the formative (heavy "synapse pruning") years of those said brains.
Seriously, that's it, and nothing more.
Seriously, that's it, and nothing more.
A part of it would be the ability to make choices and decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. That's what free will is all about...
There are two kinds of "Human". There's the race, and the trait.
Humanity as a race is just a dominant primate which has become so by eliminating all opposition. We're practically the Stalin of nature.
Humanity, as a trait, is basically just being a daft tosser with no ambition these days.
Humanity as a race is just a dominant primate which has become so by eliminating all opposition. We're practically the Stalin of nature.
Humanity, as a trait, is basically just being a daft tosser with no ambition these days.
I think it's being aware of ourselves and the ability to ponder our existence. That's one thing that animals cannot do, so it separates them from us in that regard.
while this SOUNDS compelling, it's actually false, for several reason.Girl With One Eye said:
1. there is no "right and wrong" other than social constructs. basically meaning things that which are generally seen and helpful to society are "right", while things that negatively impact society are "wrong".
2. knowing "right and wrong" is not exclusive to humans. dogs, cats, lions, meercats, and many other animals have social "rules" that they must follow.
3. breaking said rules is not exclusively human either. just one example is a female meercat not being alpha and therefor not allowed to breed. she chooses to break the rule and is then outcast from the group.
not trying to bust your chops, just making the OP aware.
OT: other than our physiology, there really isn't anything thats distinctly "human". well, we do wear clothing... i'm not sure if any other animals do that.
It depends what you mean by "human". If you mean the species, as you apparently do since you exclude other species, then it would be our genetics. However if you mean "Has rights like a human" then self aware is as good of a category as there is. Our ability to ask these questions is direct result from our ability to reflect on ourselves. The ability to reflect on ones self is a component of being truly self aware.
I would also like to interject that despite what some would have you believe we have not conclusively found another animal that is truly self aware. To the best of my knowledge at least. Although this is more of a result that it is actually rather difficult to determine if something is self aware as it requires a line of communication.
The mirror test is often quoted as evidence of an animal being self aware. It makes sense, to be self aware one must recognize the self. However being self aware does not end there. Being self aware means you have the ability to introspectively reflect on your actions and thoughts. This allows us to form the values, and creative hallmarks of our species.
Taking that definition of self aware (which is the definition people use in a philosophical setting) then the mirror test can not be a definitive marker either for or against self awareness. A blind person is self aware, but they would fail the mirror test as they are unable to see the mirror. Likewise an animal may simply not want to touch the dot on their forehead, and this makes the entire test invalid because its impossible to produce a negative result.
Following that train of thought an animal may not be self aware, but possess the ability to model its external environment. This would mean they are able to pass the mirror test but not be self aware. Thus passing the mirror test effectively tells us nothing. Failing it also tells us nothing. One may argue that passing it increases the probability the animal is self aware and failing it decreases the probability. However probability is hardly definitive in this situation.
I would also like to interject that despite what some would have you believe we have not conclusively found another animal that is truly self aware. To the best of my knowledge at least. Although this is more of a result that it is actually rather difficult to determine if something is self aware as it requires a line of communication.
The mirror test is often quoted as evidence of an animal being self aware. It makes sense, to be self aware one must recognize the self. However being self aware does not end there. Being self aware means you have the ability to introspectively reflect on your actions and thoughts. This allows us to form the values, and creative hallmarks of our species.
Taking that definition of self aware (which is the definition people use in a philosophical setting) then the mirror test can not be a definitive marker either for or against self awareness. A blind person is self aware, but they would fail the mirror test as they are unable to see the mirror. Likewise an animal may simply not want to touch the dot on their forehead, and this makes the entire test invalid because its impossible to produce a negative result.
Following that train of thought an animal may not be self aware, but possess the ability to model its external environment. This would mean they are able to pass the mirror test but not be self aware. Thus passing the mirror test effectively tells us nothing. Failing it also tells us nothing. One may argue that passing it increases the probability the animal is self aware and failing it decreases the probability. However probability is hardly definitive in this situation.
I'm not sure what you are referring to here. Are you talking about life long pairings of mates? If so I would disagree about that being love, or about humans analogous life long relationships being unique.gamezombieghgh said: