How do you define a human?

[jonnyapps]

It's the start of a philosophy essay i'm doing on life after death. A lot of the conclusions i will draw will be based on the different definitions of 'a human' i give

tia

 

[Maxi]

Heres a couple:



Easily sucked into the Abyss of their own Profane Madness, they are delicate, feeble, and power-hungry savages that live only to breed and to pass on their pathetic genes to the next generation in order to ensure their own existence.



A species of animal that belongs to the primate family. A being that evolved a large brain for adapting to many environments by gaining thorough knowledge of the surroundings and building the appropriate technology. Despite having evolved the ability to think logically, humans still retain the barbaric animal behaviors that have served to slow the progress of human civilization. See war, religion, America, and politics for examples of burdens on human intelligence.


superior speices on planet tellus (earth). Existed for about 10000 years++. Have invented fire, internet, hamburgers, pizza, electolux vacumcleaners, dollars.
Killing each other for money and power.

 

[IonGorilla]

TV programed robots, that enjoy: sex, food and killing each other for little bits of green paper

 

[Pressure]

Power hungry, greedy sons of bitches.

 

[Sui]

Maxikana, did you write those yourself? they just seem like there out of a text book or some sort of philosiphical website, plus u put them in italics. and i didnt know earth was called tellus..... :/
i would say a human is:
the only beings on the planet earth that have grown a concience (errr, so we are presuming..). They are completely consumed by their own emotions- something that they created, based lightly around their natural instincts. an example is love... we dont actually feel love (i suppose) just the urge to have sex with a really fit woman and carry on our species, and protect those that are essential to our survival. This would include the mating partner and the offspring. Because of our unnaturally long time under the influence of our parents (unlike any other animal) we have adapted to also love our parents, as they are also essential to our survival.
i dont know about gay people. i think we must have grown to a stage where the instincts think "awww, what the hell, you never listen to us anyway" and just give up :/

 

[Wilco]

I define a Human as a Member of the Homo Sapiens Species. I fortunately dont believe in a soul, or anything surviving death, so its rather simple for me

 

[Letters]

Me. Me, me, me.

 

[Jackal hit]

See war, religion, America, and politics for examples of burdens on human intelligence.

wtf? so do you seriously think everything american is a burden on human intelligence? everything american includes the everyone living here. sorry man, but if you're gonna post something in this thread, at least post something that can be used in the guy's essay. he asked for help, not your baseless discrimination towards a group of people.

for your essay, perhaps a biological(genetic view) of what makes one animal a human and what makes another one a chimpanzee. perhaps you could talk about how humans can be genetically defined as having a specific cytosine/adenine/thiamine(sp?)/guanine sequence within the DNA. you could also discuss less tangible aspects of what makes an animal human if you want to get real deep. aspects of sentience in relation to our brain size, vs. what we currently know about other intelligent animals. you could also talk about specific brain areas, how one part developes purely for understanding certain things(jokes mabe) and another part could be reasoning and abstract thinking, yet no specific part is attributed to being "the mind;" which, with some philosophical texts "mind" is akin to "spirit" or "soul." and then go from there, to metaphysical elements like "what if we tuned our brains to fullest potential?" or talk about all the people that have extra sensory experiences regularly.

sure you COULD just cop out and be like "oh yeah humans are war like blahb lah blha and they do this bad thing and that" but there really tells you absolutely about what defines a human. statements are like that are so completely loaded, it's an easy way to a bad grade.

 

[theGreenBunny]

Well the human is just another organism basically, although quite sophisticated (at times anyway). If you go into the life after death issue you get all that soul or no soul stuff, which is an endless discussion.

 

[PvtRyan]

Simple: something that has the comparable genome of homo sapiens over a certain percentage is human.

(gotta love philosophy eh? )

This isn't totally accurate, but it covers the basic package a human comes in. :cheers:

 

[spookymooky]

I'd say life starts when the brains starts working, and ends when the brain stops, at least for humans.

 

[Jackal hit]

Well the human is just another organism basically, although quite sophisticated (at times anyway). If you go into the life after death issue you get all that soul or no soul stuff, which is an endless discussion.

yeah, if you go into discussion about whether or not there is an afterlife, make a stand one way or another and be firm in your argumentation. ...unless your essay is more an amalgam of ideas "some humans believe that there is life after death...(site opinions, give facts to back it up... creation of religions, diety worship going back thousands and thousands of years). yet some humans are opposed to the idea... yadda yadda"


oh crap, i see the whole plan now... it's not an essay on humans, he's gathering info because he's an alien here to study us like lab rats!

/me gasps

 

[lePobz]

I would describe humanity as a global plague.

 

[craig]

Human: Generally - > A mammal with two legs, two arms, ten toes, eight fingers, two *opposable* thumbs, one nose, two nostrils, one fulcrum, two eyes, two ears, fairly devoid of hair other than a bit of pubic hair and hair above the head and a slightly more sophisticated brain than any other known species.

 

[craig]

I would describe humanity as a global plague.

Well fúck me, we agree on somet :| A little too much matrix on your part tho

 

[Jackal hit]

Human: Generally - > A mammal with two legs, two arms, ten toes, eight fingers, two *opposable* thumbs, one nose, two nostrils, one fulcrum, two eyes, two ears, fairly devoid of hair other than a bit of pubic hair and hair above the head and a slightly more sophisticated brain than any other known species.

umm dude, humans have as much hair as chimpanzees. their hair is merely longer and thicker lol

and this is a call for mass death amongst people that hate humans... go out and kill yourselves now ... why live if you hate your species. unless you love yourself? wow love of self, and hate everyone else? hmmm :thumbs: niiice :frown:

 

[craig]

and this is a call for mass death amongst people that hate humans... go out and kill yourselves now ... why live if you hate your species. unless you love yourself? wow love of self, and hate everyone else? hmmm :thumbs: niiice :frown:

you can hate the actions of your species if you're human thats like a clause... and we arent lemmings! why love a species such as our own that is guilty of such despicable acts that we have NO power to do anything about?

 

[Letters]

Just stop believing they're despicable.

 

[Dax]

I dunno if this is so much of a definition but it might be helpful; an important difference between humans and animals is that humans have the desire to be remembered. Like, in the early stages, human painted all kinds of symbols on rocks and what not, to "say" something to future generations, whilst animals don't care at all. You never see "Raven was here" or similiar shit.

 

[Sui]

ravens cant talk, and animals regurlarly mark their terrotry in the only way they can. if they had thumbs they probally would write "get off my turf".

 

[Jackal hit]

you can hate the actions of your species if you're human thats like a clause... and we arent lemmings! why love a species such as our own that is guilty of such despicable acts that we have NO power to do anything about?

eh then live your life as the greatest version of the grandest vision you've ever had of yourself. people will follow. there are aspects of our civilization that i disagree with, but it doesn't mean i hate humanity... spread the love man!


and btw, some animals wanna be remembered! ever seen "Charlotte's Web??"
:farmer:

/me joygasms on the forum

yayyy

 

[JunkieXL]

I describe humans as a collection of atoms, plus some electrical pulses and chemicals which we use to call feelings.

 

[Sui]

humans' actions cannot be summed up as a species, as everyone is differt. we are not lemmings, allthough many individuals are. we are not evil, although many individuals are. Everyone has there own opinions and it only takes one bad oppinion in a high authority spot to give the whole human race a bad name.

 

[Dax]

ravens cant talk, and animals regurlarly mark their terrotry in the only way they can. if they had thumbs they probally would write "get off my turf".

I'd say marking one's territory has more to do with instinct.
And using ravens as an example was a bit unclear. However, if you look at chimpanzees, as they're physically very similiar to humans, you don't see them devoting any time to "creating art"... painting, carving, drawing whatever in order to be recognised/remembered by others.

 

[Maxi]

wtf? so do you seriously think everything american is a burden on human intelligence? everything american includes the everyone living here. sorry man, but if you're gonna post something in this thread, at least post something that can be used in the guy's essay. he asked for help, not your baseless discrimination towards a group of people.

for your essay, perhaps a biological(genetic view) of what makes one animal a human and what makes another one a chimpanzee. perhaps you could talk about how humans can be genetically defined as having a specific cytosine/adenine/thiamine(sp?)/guanine sequence within the DNA. you could also discuss less tangible aspects of what makes an animal human if you want to get real deep. aspects of sentience in relation to our brain size, vs. what we currently know about other intelligent animals. you could also talk about specific brain areas, how one part developes purely for understanding certain things(jokes mabe) and another part could be reasoning and abstract thinking, yet no specific part is attributed to being "the mind;" which, with some philosophical texts "mind" is akin to "spirit" or "soul." and then go from there, to metaphysical elements like "what if we tuned our brains to fullest potential?" or talk about all the people that have extra sensory experiences regularly.

sure you COULD just cop out and be like "oh yeah humans are war like blahb lah blha and they do this bad thing and that" but there really tells you absolutely about what defines a human. statements are like that are so completely loaded, it's an easy way to a bad grade.

Lol no, I took em from urbandictionary.com thats why I put them in italics.

 

[Jackal hit]

Lol no, I took em from urbandictionary.com thats why I put them in italics.

oh, my bad :upstare:
/me checks out urban dictionary.com

wow... those people are a bunch of peons. i don't think i'll ever see a larger collection of asinine comments in one place.

 

[dawdler]

Two words: Physotic Monkey. That sums up the definition of a human.

 

[alehm]

Humans: See Half Life 2 forums

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

I dont get that...Why hate the species for things that havent been commited by everyone. Do you hate bees because you were once stung? Do you hate yourself? Strange way of thinking in my view....then again i suppose mine is in the view of most people on this forum.

Anyway, if i were to define humans then the rough translaion into your earth language would be "Large bipedal creatures that lack refinement. They walk around supported by skeletal structure contained inside the body. Large ineficient brains. Each one a commitee in itself, influenced largely by the brain but controlled by the stomach, sensory and reproductive organs."

To be serious though, i would define a human being by the text book definition...however, describing a human and discussing what drives them is a different matter.

 

[Dedalus]

animals capable of carrying out nature's own little drama but with guns and stupid ideologies. a being capable of higher thought (in most cases), but unable to control or interpret all of them. to quote 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe' "mostly harmless"


EDIT: guys, i think johnnyapps is doing philosophy, hence he's looking for a philosophically inclined answer. correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't think he's going to include too much biology in a philosophy essay.

 

[Pauly]

as a smart animal with bendable thumbs

 

[Letters]

as a smart animal with bendable thumbs

Finally, someone includes the monkies! Monkies are people too, you know!

 

[jonnyapps]

guys guys guys, thanks for all the responses.
I appreciate everyones input

what i'm especially interested in is whether or not a human can survive death. What i mean is that if it were possible to exist post mortem could we maintain what makes us us?

Here's the sort of thing i mean. We might define ourselves by our body biologically and you might say 'jonnyapps' is 5ft 8, 8stone, gorgeous etc. etc. and you might say jonnyapps is who he is because nobody else has the exact same neural network as he has in his brain. It's his brain and his body that makes him him.

What happens if we take the body away?
You could look at a pic of me now and i could show you another one in 20 yrs. my characteristics would remain but every single atom in my body over that period would have been replaced. So can we really call me me by my body?

Then again. What if you call me me by the way i think and act. what happens if i have a stroke or hit my head and lose my memory?

Philosophically speaking my essays largely segmented into two groups - dualism and monism.

Keep the theories coming, i seriously appreciate the input and interest i've generated

EDIT - oh and serious respect to jakal for some great thoughts so far :thumbs:

 

[Cooper]

How about this definition:

Human - only species capable of fighting its own instincts. (ex. peeing in the house, we feel the need to pee but we don't just unload right there.)

However, the problem with that definition is that one could argue that you were trained to fight those instinicts and not necessarly born with the capability. You would get punished if you peed in the house, so you don't. Trained, like a dog, if you get my meaning.

Just a thought.

 

[CrazyHarij]

Human race = Virus.

 

[Bad^Hat]

How about this definition:

Human - only species capable of fighting its own instincts. (ex. peeing in the house, we feel the need to pee but we don't just unload right there.)

Because we are taught to as children, before kids are potty trained they'll happily pee anywhere they like. Dogs don't teach their young this because it isn't neccesary for their survival, but a human can teach a dog. An animal's strongest instinct is to survive, it's the same with humans.

What defines humanity?

The fact that we keep trying trying to define ourselves

 

[Letters]

My ferret unloads in his litter box... I don't think he miraculously just needs to go as soon as he gets in... so yeah... work on it!

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Because we are taught to as children, before kids are potty trained they'll happily pee anywhere they like. Dogs don't teach their young this because it isn't neccesary for their survival, but a human can teach a dog. An animal's strongest instinct is to survive, it's the same with humans.

What defines humanity?

The fact that we keep trying trying to define ourselves

Ah, but the fact we teach ourselves surely proves his point.

A humans instinct to survive may be strong, but many a man has overcome that.

Yes you do get animals that will sacrifice themselves for the collective group, but thats more instinct rather than some sort of "nobility".

 

[jonnyapps]

crikey - anybody know about Leibniz's law of identity????

If X has a property Y does not then X is not Y

 

[Kadayi]

Here's the sort of thing i mean. We might define ourselves by our body biologically and you might say 'jonnyapps' is 5ft 8, 8stone, gorgeous etc. etc. and you might say jonnyapps is who he is because nobody else has the exact same neural network as he has in his brain. It's his brain and his body that makes him him.

What happens if we take the body away?
You could look at a pic of me now and i could show you another one in 20 yrs. my characteristics would remain but every single atom in my body over that period would have been replaced. So can we really call me me by my body?

Then again. What if you call me me by the way i think and act. what happens if i have a stroke or hit my head and lose my memory?

Philosophically speaking my essays largely segmented into two groups - dualism and monism.

You reflect your society, and your society reflects you. The principal key to the definition of human beyond a physical condition is through interaction. I'd elaborate, but it's damn late.