Redefining Humanity

[Erysion]

What makes human humans? If, say, we remove all our organs and body parts one by one, how many until we stops being human? Some theories stated the human mind and souls resides in the head. If we remove our head, will we stop being human?

If it's not the body, but the mind and soul that makes us human, can we consider a mindless body incapable of thoughts human? In most isekai, the soul formerly belonged to a human often reborn in the guise of a non-human, can we still consider the soul human?

It's believed that an act of utmost cruelty known as premeditated, unlawful murder outside self-defence damages the soul. Does that stops a murderer from being human?

What is humanity, and how do we gain or lose it?

 

[georgelee5786]

What makes human humans? If, say, we remove all our organs and body parts one by one, how many until we stops being human? Some theories stated the human mind and souls resides in the head. If we remove our head, will we stop being human?

If it's not the body, but the mind and soul that makes us human, can we consider a mindless body incapable of thoughts human? In most isekai, the soul formerly belonged to a human often reborn in the guise of a non-human, can we still consider the soul human?

It's believed that an act of utmost cruelty known as premeditated, unlawful murder outside self-defence damages the soul. Does that stops a murderer from being human?

What is humanity, and how do we gain or lose it?

Great. Now I'll be up all night pondering this question. And, imo, humanity is something similar to a moral compass.

 

[AnonUnlimited]

You want a scientific answer or a philosophical one?

I am not sure the current scientific attitude towards what makes a person human since it’s been politicized to the point where we don’t even know if someone is a man or woman anymore (and I’m serious about this) without offending somebody.

Honestly I don’t know how to answer that question without the possibility of offending somebody.

Who cares though.

humans are human by their DNA. That is the only objective way to say what makes us human. That means as soon as you develop your own unique DNA you are human.

that is all I will say.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

What makes human humans?

Porn and racism

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

The belief that we are humans.

You can take the body, the mind and soul but you will never take the belief in the humanity in ourselves.

You can become an alien, cyborg or even non-human. But as long as you believe yourself to be human, you are still one. Even if you become different.

If we talk about DNA, we can still be splice by different and become something different of a human.

You can talk about will but sometimes you will give up humanity for your own benefits.

But one thing is to consider, as long as you believe yourself to be human, you still are. Be it in a different body, just a set of programming of being controlled by a different species.

As long as you continue to believe yourself to be one, you are one.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

It's DNA.

People, however, can be defined by sapience. You don't need to be human to be a person, and a bit of human DNA does not constitute a whole person.

 

[NotaNuffian]

To me, humanity occurs when we have the superego and uses it. It is the morals and ethics that make us human, to know right and wrong and how to act upon the good.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

I’m m

What makes human humans? If, say, we remove all our organs and body parts one by one, how many until we stops being human? Some theories stated the human mind and souls resides in the head. If we remove our head, will we stop being human?

If it's not the body, but the mind and soul that makes us human, can we consider a mindless body incapable of thoughts human? In most isekai, the soul formerly belonged to a human often reborn in the guise of a non-human, can we still consider the soul human?

It's believed that an act of utmost cruelty known as premeditated, unlawful murder outside self-defence damages the soul. Does that stops a murderer from being human?

What is humanity, and how do we gain or lose it?

Im morbing

 

[Cipiteca396]

Being human is overrated. Even if you gave up all of your flesh and blood, you'll have lost nothing. (Except your life, if we're foolishly not assuming you turn into a robot or a better species).

People have mixed up and combined the definitions of human and humanity because there's nothing to compare them against. Humanity is an ideal, not a species. And even that isn't really important. It's just nice to have.

humans are human by their DNA. That is the only objective way to say what makes us human. That means as soon as you develop your own unique DNA you are human.

There are several proto-human species like Neanderthals, all of which have practically the same DNA as 'us'. There will be human species that have different DNA than the current species in the future. They will continue to call themselves human- so clearly, DNA is irrelevant.
(Or perhaps we should look at it from the other direction. Every human has different DNA, perhaps with a few freak coincidences where two humans end up with identical DNA.)

 

[greyblob]

please put a philosophical warning before posting something like this. I'm now traumatized

 

[Erysion]

I'm now traumatized

As you should be.

 

[SternenklarenRitter]

It's DNA.

People, however, can be defined by sapience. You don't need to be human to be a person, and a bit of human DNA does not constitute a whole person.

And then there's the Whanganui River in New Zealand, officially a person, decidedly non-sapient, and further non-sentient. Good job pointing out the difference between personhood and humanity though.
My country of residence has several laws making certain conduct with human corpses illegal, of which many are legal for corpses of non humans. Thus, being dead does not preclude humanity, and I would say even zombies raised from human remains are also still human. Other than that, I wonder how important is DNA since by cell count, only about 30~40% of cells in a human body contain human DNA, although that does come out to at least a plurality (the largest portion remains a minority).

 

[Templary]

What makes human humans? If, say, we remove all our organs and body parts one by one, how many until we stops being human? Some theories stated the human mind and souls resides in the head. If we remove our head, will we stop being human?

If it's not the body, but the mind and soul that makes us human, can we consider a mindless body incapable of thoughts human? In most isekai, the soul formerly belonged to a human often reborn in the guise of a non-human, can we still consider the soul human?

It's believed that an act of utmost cruelty known as premeditated, unlawful murder outside self-defence damages the soul. Does that stops a murderer from being human?

What is humanity, and how do we gain or lose it?

Having the ability and giving mercy, any being that can spare the life of another so that they continue with their lives deserves to be called human, but a devouring monster can be just as human or even more than any homo sapiens, with the simple act of mercy

 

[AryaX]

Human is a species... and defining it as something else... and especially using it as name for some positive quality that can be applied to members of other species... is... a "little" arrogant I think... speciest... Should not use word human or humanity for such...

 

[Deleted member 70223]

To me, humanity occurs when we have the superego and uses it. It is the morals and ethics that make us human, to know right and wrong and how to act upon the good.

What about schizophrenics? Or people with other mental disorders?

To say they aren't human is completely false.

Human is a species... and defining it as something else... and especially using it as name for some positive quality that can be applied to members of other species... is... a "little" arrogant I think... speciest... Should not use word human or humanity for such...

Exactly.

Human isn't a character trait. It's a species.

 

[Mr.Grey-Cat]

humans Vs. humanity

Before going into such a philosophical question, you should first define the words, Human and Humanity. So to explain, Humans or Homo Sapients are a species, while Humanity is a quality found in humans.

So, what does that mean? it means that to be human is simply to be born by human parents, with human DNA. Nothing less, nothing more. And following this we can say that an unborn baby is human, a dead corpse can also be human, and a crazy person can be human as long as they belong to the species of Humans.

But Humanity is different. Humanity is a quality and a concept, so it's not defined by concrete or physical traits, but instead by thoughts, actions, and feelings. For example, sometimes we can find humans that lack humanity, while on the other hand, we can find animals that show some signs of it. Another example is how the word is used in fiction, where we sometimes say that this elf is human, or that dragon is inhuman solely by looking at their actions or social behavior.

So what does all of this mean? it means that being a homo sapien and being a human is not the same thing.

 

[Amok]

you squash a fly u force a fleshbag to disgorge its organs through a rupture. humans are basically flies, without the giants crushing us. that's if you don't count the ivory spirers and their nukes.

 

[NotaNuffian]

What about schizophrenics? Or people with other mental disorders?

To say they aren't human is completely false.

When I wrote that, I was thinking "what about psychopaths and sociopaths?"

Then it hit me, is being defective a reason to exclude them as humans? Err... probably and probably not.

Probably is because of uncanny valley, said person is like you, limbs, eyes, nose and mouth. Except the software is completely different from the "standard" human; one that does not abide to the standard algorithm of operation/ rules.

Here is where the probably not comes in, so as long as these "abnormalities" do not act out of bound/ rule-break, everything is pardonable/ acxeptable until a certain line is crossed. There is a model of humanity but countless personalities, so a benefit of doubt should always be given, even to folks with an odd superego.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

Being human is overrated. Even if you gave up all of your flesh and blood, you'll have lost nothing. (Except your life, if we're foolishly not assuming you turn into a robot or a better species).

People have mixed up and combined the definitions of human and humanity because there's nothing to compare them against. Humanity is an ideal, not a species. And even that isn't really important. It's just nice to have.

There are several proto-human species like Neanderthals, all of which have practically the same DNA as 'us'. There will be human species that have different DNA than the current species in the future. They will continue to call themselves human- so clearly, DNA is irrelevant.
(Or perhaps we should look at it from the other direction. Every human has different DNA, perhaps with a few freak coincidences where two humans end up with identical DNA.)

MORBINGG

 

[CarburetorThompson]

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorhini
Infraorder:	Simiiformes
Family:	Homindea
Subfamily:	Homininae
Tribe:	Hominini
Genus:	Homo
Species:	H. Sapiens

Don’t over think it