What does it mean to be human?

Being human is sometimes not a place you would like to be.
Because it means feeling things, good and bad.
It means understand things, and understand that you will never understand everything.
It means thinking and dealing with other opinions.
It means having to choose.
It means trying to find solutions.
It means being such a beautiful and complex creature.
And sometimes people think humanity does not worth anything.I not sure I'm alright with that.
But being human also means thinking about that.
 
I believe that the bottom line to be considered human is just having human DNA. But what does it mean to be human, that is a totally different question. Something unique about being human is our self awareness and our ability to explore concepts, theories, etc. that are not based in reality/the physical world. A human, no matter their disability, injury or memory loss will always have 'I'. Who am I , where am I , this self awareness is unique to humans. We also have empathy, compassion and a desire for connectivity.
 
To have 'humanity' means to have empathy.

To have empathy, means to be able to understand the experience of the others, not just the behavior.

To take care of your family and human community create a better world, where needs are matched and happiness is diffuse.
 
We live in a free for all survival of the fittest, strongest left standing hyper competitive dog eat dog world, where the rules of the strongest dictate the few, but there are strength in numbers however realized or not, you'll never know for sure, it's hard to say what kind of logic dictates a mob, it has it's own sort of energy and awareness different from the individual. There are different methods for dominance but they all serve the same fundamental rules of survival.

Humans live in a world fastened between the polar extremities of heaven and hell, thr animal and the sublimed, high and mighty exalted. So easy is it to differentiate between man and animal, but not one kin from that of another, but it's just another strategy in many used to root out the competition.

It's more like, instead of a fully functioning caste system, which there is but instead of a straight diagonal line, there are simply functions, and humans fill out these functions in a society, in due order, but not in perfect harmony but they are not whole without the other.

You could say, "well when will the masses realize the power they hold together" but I think many of them do, and I think for many what motivates the commoner is practical pursuits, like comfort and safe predictable routines above all else. Though many humans do not see themselves as impractical creatures, the main plight of humanity is an impractical esoteric and abstract problem in itself. Some want to live in a perfect world, others it is harder to differentiate, probably a life of endless pleasure. You think some just want to be happy, but happiness that is not shared with others and excludes the many.
 
Last edited:
I was waiting to admit that in my post I was joking, but some people liked it so I will admit, yes I was only joking.
 
A central subject is curiosity, on the environment and on the world / universe / etc. That's pretty much the only excuse humans can be given in regards to a unique ability.
 
To ask what it means to be human means to ask why we exist at all.

We are contingent beings. Even in evolution, we could have evolved differently, so there would be no humans.

But if we are contingent (that is, not necessary), then it leads to the question of why we DO exist. Given that humans are contingent, it means that there must be a finality to this contingency. Things cannot be contingent ad infinitum. There must be a final thing that is the source of everything else. And, given that this source must be responsible for the rest of the continuation of the universe, it means it must be capable of creation, and doing so in a personal way to create beings with agency (which we are). So, we exist because of a source that is personal, that is responsible for the creation of everything else: God.

Now, given that God created us, whether by evolution or not, I do not believe God would create anything without a purpose. As such, what it means to be human is to have some inherent purpose. What might that be? Well, probably something to the effect of being thankful to our creator for creating us.

Now, without getting into a huge, controversial argument, I believe the story of the Gospel touches on the deepest longings of our hearts based on the above. That is because, in the Gospel, we find that God is not some distant creator, but personal to us. In fact, God became a man, the man Jesus Christ. His claims to deity are clear in scripture. But his claims mean nothing if they are not true. As such, we need to investigate the claim that Jesus said he is God. And one really good way to test Jesus' claims is to analyze an argument given by Dr. YoungHoon Kim, who has the highest recorded IQ in the world.

Here is his argument. Try it out and see if it fits.


In the end, if we owe a debt of gratitude to God for creating us, then our purpose is to glorify God, to give some teeth to our purpose as humans. To be human is to give glory to God, whether we are consciously aware of that or not.

Romans 1:18-23
"For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles."
 
Back
Top