What Does it Mean to Be Human? Essay

"I feel like a loser, I feel like I'm lost, I feel like I'm not sure if I feel anything at all. But believe me, I'm not helpless. I just need someone to love. So my situation's rough, that just makes me a dumb human like you." Darren Criss' song Human explores the equality of the human race. We all have the ability to think, feel, and dream. He touches on the given fact that all of us- no matter race, sex, or social class- can feel. His song, however does not offer an answer to our essential question: what does being human mean? A possible explanation to this was given in YouTube's video "What Does it Mean to Be Human?" People walking along the street were asked to give theri opinion on what seperartes homo sapiens from ever other species. Most participants agreed on the collective answer that human beings are set apart from all other specices on this planet because of ones simple physical factor: thumbs. And I msut say, I am quite disappointed; that is not what it means to be human. It is not what makes us different. I share Criss' viewpints on humaninty. It is not any outlying phycial characterisctic that sets us apart, it is one of our inner oragans- or should I say, the ability of one of our orgas. The brain. We have the campcity to think, feel, ananlyze, solve, proscess, rememeber, and from opinons all at once- an ability that all other specices are not able to preform. The human mind is what sets homo sapiens apart.


The phrase "put yourself in someones else's shoes," is a perfect example of this of this ability. Humans and develop a way of compassion by looking at things from a different perspective, a level of thinking no other animal can acheive. Granted, this higher level of thinking is not developed until the late teen years (and sometimes never developed at all), but the ability to think of others will always be there. That is why you can expect so many school age kids to bring cans for the charity Christmas Brings Hope. As humans, we can feel empathy. Look at the Kony 2012 campaign. Joseph Kony is not threatening Americans. Joseph Kony is not hurting us. But as human beings, we feel the need to help the people of Uganda stop this killer. Love is another level of thinking no other species can take on."But my dog loves me!" No, no it doesn't. Dogs have a sense of protection to survive. On the contrary, humans can feel agape love, or love without limits. This powerful feeling comes with an impression of protection, true, but the feelign is more developed that the survival sense animals feel. In fact, this feelling is so powerful, few can put in into words.


Now, there are arguments agaisnts alsmost everything I have stated. So, if you are not convinved, reddle me this: Can any other specices of this planes form an opionon? Has any other species developed a government? A society? A form of currency? Being humans means being able to think for oneself, to think of tohers, and to extablish morals; to coexist. Take Frankenstein's monster for example. He was created out of one man's hubris, true. But all he wanted out of his horrible existenve was to be normal. Why do you think he started stalking the DeLacey's? He wanted to learn to be human! And he eventually aciehved his goal. He learned to read, he learned to chop wood, he even learned to love another. In his own way, the monster became a very effective part of society. He only became a killing machine after society handed him a very unhealthy dose of rejection because of his physical apperance. And sadly, I believe this is part of being human, too. We humans, when we really boil it down, only seek to survive. Our mainds our programmed to seperate the wheat from the chaff- to seperate that which will help us survive and that which will ultimitely kill us. in Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games, Katness Everdeen tags her fellow tribute, Peeta Melark, as a threat before the Hunger Games even begin. She changes her mind only after the Gamemakers announce that there can be more than one victor of the Games. This soon leads to the discovery that a love realtionship between herslf and Peeta mean support from the Capital, which means money for food in the arena, and in due course, her own survival. Being a memember of the human race not only means loving and helping and being productive, but surivivng.


Some may aruge that my own perosnal view points are wrong. Some would argue that the bigger the breain, the greater the itelligence. As a species, we ahve realatively large brains. However, we do not have the largest. Some types of whales and dolphins have larger brains than we do. So it makes sense that these animals should have a greater brainpower. Yet, this is not the case. It all depends on the body-brain ratio; the human brian, in relation to its body size, is larger than that of a dolphin or a whale.

To end my case, I offer you another song lyric to ponder from a song called Awake My Soul by Mumford & Sons. "Lend me your hand and we'll conquuer them all. But lend me your heart and I'll just let you fall. Lend me you eyes, I can change what you see. But your soul you must keep, totally free. In these bodies we will live, in these bodies will die; where you invest you love, you invest your life."