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/lit/ - Literature

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4222150 No.4222150[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

What makes us human?

>> No.4222155

Our DNA?

>> No.4222158

Subjective definitions.

>> No.4222159

What is life?
Who is the stranger?
Why am i still awake?
And when are book?

>> No.4222160

>>4222155
Yes.

>> No.4222164

>>4222155
You're better than this.

>>4222158
What's a part of your definition?

>> No.4222166

creativity

>> No.4222167

>>4222150
Our DNA.

What you probably meant to ask "What makes us people", in which case the answer is probably sentience/sapience/the capacity for self-determination

>> No.4222173

>>4222164
I don't have one. You're asking the questions, you set the definitions.

>> No.4222174

>>4222150
there is no answer that isn't tautological. we just are. us being human is the starting point for everything.

>> No.4222178

>>4222174
What separates us from chimpanzees?

>> No.4222186

>>4222178
About five letters.

>> No.4222187

>>4222164
>You're better than this.
This idea that somehow straight facts are bad and escapism such as "we r magic because souls" is good is cancerous.
Maybe there's nothing more to us than meets the eye and that doesn't really belittle our species and its qualities.

>> No.4222191

we have the ability to rule the body with our mind.

>> No.4222194
File: 128 KB, 1538x534, 141.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4222194

>>4222187
I need you to substantiate.

>> No.4222204

>>4222178
Well you could make a physical argument about the literal space being different, or how the atoms that compromise what we understand to be DNA are so different as to make us not recognize a chimp as an equal. Or you could argue that we are defined by our language andmemetics, without which our perception of the world wouldn't be.

I guess language makes us more human than anything else, relative to other species.

>> No.4222206

>>4222194
Not him but what are you trying to prove?

Since you made a thread about this you probably have already an idea on what you think a human is, care to share and see where we disagree?

>> No.4222207

>>4222194
>only we can generate meaning
what if meaning is chemicals

>> No.4222217

>>4222194
>first reply in pic
The post-modern forced romanticism is really naive
>muh meaning

>> No.4222223

>>4222206
I would say morality, rationality, and our ability to attach meaning to things but I feel like I need my answer needs some change.

>>4222217
Are you going to back up your claim?

>> No.4222229

>>4222150
Being part of the one race, the human race. But remember the race is a social construct.

>> No.4222236

>>4222217
I'm going to continue this and say that meaning really only has relevance in terms of language.

>> No.4222238

Everyone else.

>> No.4222242

ITT - >blanket statements

>> No.4222250

>>4222223
Meaning means nothing. At all. There are two types of thought: one is understanding systems, the other is trying to make other humans understand systems. Meaning in any context only applies to helping other humans understand systems.

>> No.4222257

all mankind share same thing
love for dick. through dick, unity

>> No.4222268

>>4222223
>back up
What exactly?
That you're idealizing physics?
Sure, you can feel however you wanna feel though, it's an empty cup to swallow though.

From my point of view we are many things, among them we are goal-oriented creatures, and the lack of "meaning" is scary, you're desperately trying to attach 'meaning' to 'meaning'.

>> No.4222275

>>4222268
>muh nihilism

>> No.4222280

>>4222229
>>/tumblr/

>> No.4222287

Holding a certain definition of the word "human" and adhering to that definition

You're asking what "human" means. The common answer would be DNA denoting a specific species, unless you want to be an artsy "deep thinker" debating meaningless words until you make Wittgenstein rise from his eternal slumber and beat you to death with a copy of the tractatus

>> No.4222293

>>4222287
Wow that definition was terrible.

>> No.4222294

>>4222287
Can't you see beyond the surface layer?

>> No.4222297

>>4222287
>Holding a certain definition of the word "human" and adhering to that definition
This. And identifying ourselves with that definition before someone mentions other sentient beings also having a concept of human.

>> No.4222303

why can't my consciousness sense the black matter going through me?

>> No.4222308

>>4222303
Because humans were created in the light by God.

>> No.4222310

>>4222303
dark matter, sorry

>> No.4222327

>>4222275
That word is pointless here.
We're at the same level of nihilism the difference is that you don't understand the full extent of your thoughts.

>> No.4222333

Why do we play and listen to music?

>> No.4222379

What is "is?"

>> No.4222528

>>4222379
What?

>> No.4222533

>>4222204
Research has shown that many species seem to use something that closely resembles aural language. It could be argued that written language differentiates us from all other animals but to just say language itself would be incorrect in my opinion.

>> No.4222585

animals

>> No.4222614

>>4222150
There are many answers to this question.

Scheler would argue that our spirit is what makes us human. This spirit enables us to detach ourselves from our biological needs and perceive the objects around us as examples of essences which are part of the organization of the universe. This spirit also enables us to connect with the suprasingular being who is responsible for these essences and for the constant recreation of the world.

His disciple Plessner would argue that our double existential condition of being a body and having a body is what distinguish us from animals, and that same ownership of our bodies is what enables us to use them as our instruments, and to discover instrumentality in the world.

Gehlen would think that humans have a hiatus between their affective impulses and their respective satisfactions due to their initial incapacity to satisfy those needs due to a lack of mobility and general incapacity of action, which makes them hold those affective impulses for their future satisfaction. This capability to hold those impulses or suppress them completely is what enables human to transform those impulses into interests, which are impulses conscious of their circumstances, planned for long duration and adapted for the action. Human institutions exist to form, guide and maintain these interests.

>> No.4222621

>>4222533
No other species uses and acquires a language as vast and complex as ours, though

>> No.4222632
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4222632

>>4222150
>What makes us human?

We are the only species that can kill and enjoy it. We are the only species that can experience empathy.

>> No.4222635

>>4222621
Wales have accents and regional dialects and sing songs with recurring choruses and variations on melodies. They're pretty cool.

>> No.4222638

>>4222635
*Whales, not sure about the Welsh.

>> No.4222672

>>4222632
>can kill and enjoy it
You mean to say we're the only species that enjoys killing? How do you know that?

>> No.4222681

>>4222632
what about cats?

>> No.4222690

>>4222533
they don't use language that resembles ours, at all

>> No.4222691

>>4222632
0/10

>>/someformeragewherepeopledidntknowtheirshit/

>> No.4222694

>>4222638
*Wales

>>4222690
The Welsh language is hundreds of years older than English.

>> No.4222697

>>4222632
A lot of animals practice unnecessary lulzy killing and obviously display empathy.

>> No.4222701

>>4222694
Older things are usually more shitty.

>> No.4222703

Agency, my good man. Agency is the synthesis of indeterminate randomness - which presents itself as irrationality in a being that can express - and determination - which presents itself as rationality in a being that can express.

>> No.4222705

>>4222701
It's a dying language. I'm not trying to defend it.

>> No.4222710

>>4222705
Well thanks for the trivia then I guess.

>> No.4222713

Agency, my good man. Agency is the synthesis of indeterminate randomness - which presents itself as irrationality in a being that can express - and determination - which presents itself as rationality in a being that can express. The more you know!

>> No.4222714

Our intelligence. And if you think we're any more important than animals simply because we're human than you're a fool who doesn't understand the universe and your place in it. In the grand scale of the cosmos there is nothing differentiating us from an ant, a whale, a forest, or any other living thing.

>> No.4222715

>>4222672
>Kenneth Bianchi
>Jeffrey Dahmer
>Robert Hansen
>Coral Watts
>Those guys in '07 who killed a bunch of journalists in Eastern Baghdad
>Ted Bundy
>&c

>> No.4222718

>>4222715

How do you rule out the possibility that other species enjoy killing?

>> No.4222725

>>4222718
This is what I was asking. Obviously humans enjoy it, do you have proof no other species does?

>> No.4222752

>>4222187
>facts

>> No.4222757

>>4222714
>In the grand scale of the cosmos there is nothing differentiating us from an ant, a whale, a forest, or any other living thing

There is: our potential for communicating with other living beings in the cosmos.

>> No.4225232

self awareness

>> No.4225238

>>4222725
Dolphins kill porpoises for fun.

>> No.4225244

chemicals n shit

>> No.4225247

>>4222150
jesus

>> No.4225272

>>4222178
The mediterranean

>> No.4225278

It only took 60 posts to get the right answer -- >>4225232

/lit/ you suck at this. If we didn't poses self-awareness/self-consciousness we wouldn't be able to discover, let alone state that that what makes us humans is "DNA".

>> No.4225287

>>4225278
chimpanzees have self-awareness too

>> No.4225290

>>4225278
i'd say it's only part of the answer

>> No.4225307

>>4225287
I don't think you can have self-consciousness without language. Perhaps some instinctive proto-intentional mechanism combined with memory

>> No.4225324

we have a very enlarged mass of neural tissue in the front of our brain. I think of any other animals did to the extent we do we'd have to call them human too.

>> No.4225330

>>4222632

Not really. Cats are famous for maiming and playing with their prey, birds and such, before killing them.

>> No.4225342

we're really smart

>> No.4225345

We're human on account of a species with our specific nucleotide sequence was dubbed Homo Sapiens Sapiens by scientists. There's nothing special about us in the wide scope of things, other than our relatively larger brains allow us to understand and question abstract concepts.

>> No.4225346

>>4222150
we are the only creature with consciousness

>> No.4225347

>>4225272
kekked heartily and felt not really bad was aware i maybe should have

>> No.4225350

>>4222194
So this pic is saying humans are special because they can delude themselves into thinking they're not animals and they have a higher purpose than reproduction?

>> No.4225355

>>4225346
define consciousness

>> No.4225357

>>4225345
The size of our brains has little to do with our intelligence and our ability for language and abstract concepts. If that were true, elephants and whales would be ruling the world as we speak.

>> No.4225358

>>4225355
im not going to participate in definition battles.
the experience you have right now is your consciousness.

>> No.4225364
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4225364

>>4225358
>using words you can't even define as your entire argument

>> No.4225365

>>4225358
>the experience you have right now is your consciousness.
But that's too ambiguous. Care to clarify your definition?

>> No.4225369

>>4225365
>>4225364
you experience things and you are aware that you are experiencing things.

>> No.4225377

>>4225369
But that's awareness, not consciousness

>> No.4225385

>>4225357
*relatively larger brains

>> No.4225389

Are we human?

>> No.4225392

>>4225369
Isn't it fair to assume other animals experience things and are aware of those experiences? Animals can learn, after all.

>> No.4225393

>What makes us human?
>What
Some kind of object apparently: The mirror?

>> No.4225395

>>4225389

Or are we dancer?

>> No.4225399

hands. and feet too.

>> No.4225400
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4225400

>>4225389

>> No.4225436

>>4225369
>cartesian legic anno LE LORD YEAR OF OUR 2013 in effect as we speak

look at this fucking fossil

look at this fucking sea molusk never change le 30 million year lel i will win perfect design muh thinkings

fucking die out fucking

clam

fuck

>> No.4225452

>>4222150
being able to ask that question.

>2deep4u

>> No.4225457

>>4225452
my parrot asked it as well as my iphone

>> No.4225503

Human is just a word. We are humans because we are not chimps or lizards or gourds or planetoids or cosmic clouds of gas. People are composed of chemicals. Obviously, there is variation between every individual's chemical makeup; however, we all fall into the certain parameters of "human," which is defined by our DNA.

If you are asking what makes us human, with an emphasis on "makes," then the answer is different. You, by acknowledging that you are different from a bouncy ball or an electric car, are defining yourself as human. You are still generally considered to be a human even if you do not identify as one, but then it probably doesn't matter whether others view you as human because you buy into subjectivism. In that case, don't ask what makes you human. You probably have some special idea of what makes a human "human," and have rejected it already.

If you are asking what makes humans different from other animals, then that is also a different question. We are different due to our own experiences. Our blip of existence is ultimately different from that of a chocolate chip, so we are not chocolate chips. The experience of life as a human, though different depending on the individual, still falls within a specific context. We perceive sensory information with the same faculties and utilize that information with the same set of neuronal pathways and chemical reactions. That should easily differentiate humans from other creatures.

>> No.4225508

>>4225503
>People are composed of chemicals.
Got that wrong, bud. We are composed of strings, STRINGS.

>> No.4225524
File: 37 KB, 309x388, DNA.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4225524

>>4225508
?

>> No.4225628

The capacity of acquiring language.

/thread

>> No.4225664

>>4222159
do you just shit up philosophy threads by demeaning questions

>> No.4225744

>>4225628
in what way isn't the sounds other animals make language?

>> No.4225754

culture of course

>> No.4225757

>>4225628
There is evidence that oher animals, such as Dolphins, have language

>> No.4225764

>>4225744
rofl. Read some Chomsky or any of the other writings on communication as opposed to language

>> No.4225762

An animal can be satisfied with food, sex, homeostasis, etc. A human needs morality, aspirations, respect, self-respect. We feel embarrassment, shame; the closest animal to that is a dog. We remember what we don't finish. We talk about things that happened in the past and that will happen.

>> No.4225767

self-awareness makes us human

>> No.4225771

shared beliefs

>> No.4225772
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4225772

animals only need the last bits on physiology

>> No.4225784

>>4225764
wails ave legit language m8

>> No.4225818

attributing mental states to other people

>> No.4225828
File: 950 KB, 200x178, Reluctant agreeance.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4225828

>>4222150
>What makes us human?
Someone chose the name "human" and it stuck.

>> No.4225889

>>4225828
if ur a girl epicurean do u sometimes say "i'm ataraxic" and ppl say "omg im so sorry 4u pls eat"?

>> No.4225891

>>4225524
Where's Wallace at? Where the fuck is Wallace? Where's Wallace, String? String! Where the fuck is Wallace? Huh? Stringer?!

>> No.4225919
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4225919

>Believing humans are anything more than highly evolved primates

>> No.4225927
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4225927

>>4225919
>considering muh stem to be anything but just another narrative

>> No.4225935

>>4225927

>The biological fact of evolution is a narrative

Get a load of this guy

>> No.4225948

>>4225935
>implying a moment exists outside of the present
>implying we can verify what happened in the past
>implying evolution isn't historical fiction at best

>> No.4225960

the fact that we kill ourselves sometimes

>> No.4225962

>>4225935
i don't disagree that evolution is a fact, but your language 'highly evolved' suggests a teleological or progressive interpretation of evolution. this is wrong.

and yes, its progressive/teleological ordering of organic life is narrative (fiction).

>> No.4226639

>>4225960
Whales again.

>> No.4226653
File: 683 KB, 2466x3102, Undeniable.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4226653

Come oncemore the flood.


On a more serious note: The definition of human shifts according to the observer. The best we can do for agreed upon definitions are "DNA", "DNA + sentience", or "It's ineffable."
However, whether you think a definition is correct and/or true based on its general agreeability is itself arbitrary, or not arbitrary depending on your surrounding views.
I'm getting the sense that real intellect is like falling off a cliff forever and becoming acclimatised, not landing.

>> No.4226690

>debating words as if they mean anything beyond the agreed on definition between all parties concerned

Now there's a waste of time if there ever was one.

>> No.4226897

>>4222178
If you're defining personhood by intelligence comparing us to animals then what separates chimpanzees from redditors

>> No.4226922

>>4222635
>>4222638
Hoomins can lel. I know I did

>> No.4226937

>>4222757
I also feel were more capable of communication and deep thought than my dog
>>4225238
>Dolphins kill on porpoise
Kek

>> No.4226947

>>4225345
>>4225357
I think the more important part of this is the fact humans are the only species to have and communicate abstract ideas. Look at cleverbot

>> No.4226970

>>4222167
Correct answer.

>> No.4226994

>>4222167
Ur a cheeky cunt m8.
OP was referring to human as opposed to inhuman. When someone is described as inhuman, it doesn't refer to their genetic pool.
See: http://youtu.be/eVIt0DYKssI?t=4m23s
I bet if I asked you to expose your humanity, you would tell me that I'm a pervert for wanting to see 7 billion people naked.