My mum is one of those people who still has a fascination with the existence of the Internet. And so, everyday when I come back from work she has to show me at least 10 videos that she found incredible. I usually put up with them just because of her excitement, but last week, she showed me one that me ask this exact question: What makes us human beings?
The video showed how compassionate animals were with one another, a duck getting food for the fish, a gorilla bottle feeding some puppies and scenes from wildlife that showed what a humongous heart animals have. What about us so-called humans? Aren’t we supposed to be the ones with the special traits that make us more human than every other living creature?
Compassion
Which brings me to my first point that I discussed in brief in the intro: We talk about human rights and yet we don’t feel the need to help our fellow humans who are starving to death, freezing to death or have some kind of disability. Most of us live for ourselves and our loved ones and hardly ever look out for those who are actually in need. We walk by people living on the streets and don’t even flinch. Where is that compassion that makes us more human than ever? Why is it called humanity if most humans don’t even relate to it? Are we really human?
Intellegence
The thing that supposedly distinguishes us the most from other living organisms should be our brain. You would expect that we’d be intelligent enough to be proper leaders, to be worthy of being human, whatever the hell that means, and to look out for the universe as well as those beings who can’t look out for themselves. Instead, we end up harming animals, polluting the environment and using up its natural resources like there is no tomorrow. Are you sure we’re human?
Intuition
Another trait that supposedly makes us human is being intuitive by nature and having an inner compass that can help us know right from wrong. But looking around us, I feel that compass has just stopped working and even common sense no longer exists. I mean c’mon, Donald Trump is running for president and there’s actually a chance he might be winning!
Wisdom
What have we learnt from the people who have lived before us? We tend to be making the same mistakes or even worse. Looking at our history, we seem to have been better off as cave men who roamed the jungle, co-existing with the universe. We are not wise enough to understand our role in the universe and we’ve become so spoiled that we believe we’re entitled to everything on this planet.
Language and our ability to communicate
Combining this with the fact that we actually have brains and enough intelligence to put that communication to good use, I would’ve expected the human race to be something to look at and be proud. But instead, I find myself wishing I was a cat and just sit, with nothing expected of me, nothing to blame me for and not having the responsibility of bearing all the shit humans have been at fault for. In fact, ever since social media has taken part of our lives, we have been using our ability to communicate to make things worse and at the end of the day, what the media says is what the whole world tends to believe and unfortunately, it’s nothing but bullshit.
So while we roam around the world, holding our heads up high, feeling like we are the leaders of the universe, here’s why the question of are we human or are we monsters really makes sense.
Destructive
As humans, we’ve gone to war, killed billions of other humans for power or wealth, destructed natural habitats, killed animals for not only food but fashion and are always ready to prove we are the most powerful. Is that what it means to be human?
Aggressive
How many weapons have we created and been willing to use just to prove a point or to let out our anger? With the understanding of empathy disappearing from our dictionaries, we have become savage animals. Or actually, calling the human race animals is kind of unfair to animals.
Pretentious
To get what you want in this world, you need power. And to become powerful, most of the time you have to be living a certain lifestyle or, in other words, living a lie. People judge you by the car you’re driving or the house you’re living in. People have become so fake, so expected, and living clones of one another to the extent that it makes us sick to our stomachs.
WE SAID THIS: Don’t miss Why Our Generation Is So F*cked up