What am I? What am I? Well essentially, I am a sentient consciousness and along with this consciousness I am able to reason (sapience). Having a combination of consciousness and the ability to reason is what I believe makes me a human being and differentiates me from other ways of being in the world. First of all, consciousness is a state of wakefulness and awareness of your surroundings. Whereas sentience is the ability to feel and perceive experiences exclusively. Having a combination of these two is the first half of what I believe makes me human. Although, we can start to break each of theses opinions down further to better understand this belief. If consciousness were a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup then sentience is the split banana and cherry on top in the sense that they both compliment each other completing this proverbial sundae. Consciousness forms the base while sentience is the rest. Now for humans, having a consciousness is essential to living life. It allows us to interact with …show more content…
The ability to reason I believe is the biggest factor of our sentience that separates us from other animals. The fact that we're able to intelligently act with judgement allows us to distinguish good from bad, right from wrong, logic and ill-logical etc. Such a high form of intelligence that sapience is, gives humans the capability to use understanding to assess problematic situations. We use knowledge, gained through experience to educate and learn. We can learn through experience new facts by observation or contact. Through the use of common sense we can think and act off reasonable and rational thought to make good choices. Lastly we employ insight to determine the nature of things or people in a clear way. None of these actions would be possible without reason and this ultimately also is what separates me from other ways of
A human person is a being, who defines themselves in this world through his/her reasoning. Through a philosophical view, humans have emotions and morals. “We find that reason, when applied to our senses and accumulated knowledge is the most reliable guide for understanding the world and making choices”.(Edwords). Philosophy believes that having the ability to reason is the essential trait that puts humans and animals into a different category. To determine what is right and wrong, reasoning is a must. Humans have the essential morals and feelings that help guide with reasoning. Being logical with our
Numerous factors determine when and why you feel tired, full of energy, and hungry. A person's state of consciousness and awareness varies throughout the day and depends on a person's activity, environment, and time clock.
In the wake of slavery, the black body is constantly under attack. The hold co-exists within the wake of slavery. According to Christina Sharpe, college professor, author of In the Wake on Blackness and Being, (2016) “The wake; a state of wakefulness and a state of consciousness” (pg. 5). Being in the wake of slavery means one still faces the negative effects it and is aware of the negative affects it has on the black community. The hold co-exists in the wake of slavery and the black body is inhibited by this hold. Sharpe defines the hold as, “A large space in the lower part of a aircraft in which cargo is stowed (of a ship or aircraft); keep or detain (someone)” (p. 68). In the hold, the black body has been introduced, taught, ingrained and continues this idea of the language of violence. Through the actual hold of the ship during the Middle Passage, to the perception of blacks which also holds the black body, and to the engrained idea of the “masculine black body” which keeps queer black bodies in their own hold. In this paper, I will examine the intersectionality of blackness and queerness which is being held in the wake of slavery.
To get a sense of what it is to be human, at least in the evolutionary world, we need only to compare our modern selves to our ancestors such as the Neanderthals. The Neanderthals were our closest hominin relative and died out thousands of years ago. Like us, they walked on two legs, hunted , made fire and tools, and lived in shelters (caves). They were more advanced than many of us imagine they were thanks to the way they are portrayed in the media. They had brains similar in size to ours, they stood fully upright (not hunched over), and had a surprisingly complex culture. When asked what it means to be human, you can compare many different aspects of our lives, such as biology, culture, and even religious beliefs. We obviously have
Consciousness allows a person to recognize their existence, and subsequently, to form their essence. The
The idea of mestiza consciousness is an acknowledgement of both the genetic and cultural mixing that come from falling between the cracks of two cultures. Gloria Anzaldua uses the idea of mestiza consciousness to describe the constant shifting between two or more cultures that Chicana women experience. She describes the issues that arise within various communities due to an “us vs. them” mentality, and argues that mestiza consciousness can also act as a tool to heal these wounds, and to reshape one’s identity by merging various identities.
It is a creature created by God. We are extraordinary machines full of mystery images of God and we were made to serve God. “Human beings are created in the image of God and thus possess personality, self-transcendence, intelligence, morality, gregariousness and creativity” (Sire, 2009). In postmodernism and scientism human beings are created by matter and there is no foundation of human beings from the beginning or why we exist.
An essential aspect of humanity that enables us to separate ourselves from the rest of the animal kingdom has been there from the start, this aspect is language. As we have evolved, so has our language. Being able to communicate in a more complex manner than other species has enabled us to perceive the world in a new light and with a more collective mindset. Therefore, we have become a species that is able to see things just from hearing people speak about them. That is not the full extent of our ability, as we are able to see with much more than just an auditory or visual input.
The apex of human existence is to uncover what is human existence or further what is the reason anything exists and especially what does it mean to have conscious thought; in other words, to find out what it means to be human. This can be further expand upon on as what is everyone’s individual purpose and how would those purposes change based on the social, economic, and political situations which vary between person to person and even civilization to civilization. Does being human mean one is just an animal with conscience thought or is the reason behind why consciousness something much more than pure natural selection, because according to the theory of evolution natural selection is only a need to either help keep the moto of survival of
What does it mean to be a human? Is it anything significant in this? Or we are simply just a bunch of nerve impulses enclosed in biological mass of our bodies? Certainly, there should be something that constitutes a person, something that discern humans from the life of plant, or even other living organism. No surprise that we feel that we are superior and special above all other species.
A human being is described as being a creature capable of questioning concepts such as “who am I” and “why am I here” in order to give meaning to their existence. (Creech Ph.D., 2015)
Scientifically, I am the result of nearly 14 billion years of molecular action. I am both a direct and indirect result of the theoretical Big Bang. I am (in my simplest form) matter, then later a conglomerate of atoms, which combine to make my molecules, which combine to make my cells, which in turn form my organs, which work into organ systems, and finally create my physical self. I am neurons and synapses; I am lobes and a cerebellum, and the thoughts formed within. I am the leaves of an evolutionary tree whose roots are 3.8 billion years old. I am one of an estimated 7.4 billion people worldwide. I am one of an estimated 319 million people in this country. I am a 9-digit, government issued number. I am a certificate printed and signed in
Roughly 200,000 years ago the first modern humans struggled to survive, each day a test of strength, cunning, and will to survive. In their lives they amassed knowledge to pass on to their children, who in turn would gain further knowledge and pass it on. Slowly new ideas form, creating languages, inventing stuff that make daily living easier, and building stable communities. Those ideas have brought us to where we are today; being able to do things our ancestors never dreamed possible. So what does it mean to be human? Many philosophers from Plato to Marx to Descartes, have developed theories as to why humans are different than other species. Most theories mention that people are conscious of things other
One of the ways an individual can understand cultural diversity is by creating a meaningful and genuine relationships with people who are from different cultures. Cultural diversity is an important phenomenal for teachers in training to become familiar with and I believe it is for this reason that the Education Department at Medgar Evers College has as one of its eight-unit standard Personal and Global Consciousness. The department under this standard expects teachers in training to examine, deconstruct, and reconstruct their own and others beliefs, values and perspective, to understand their own cultures, and to develop empathy and acceptance towards others culture. Teachers wishing to work in New York City
The age old question of what it means to be human can be answered through many viewpoints. There are several specie specific qualities that differentiate humans from any other creature, but with that being said, humans are often compared and contrasted with animals and machines. Some of these specific qualities are the ability to interpret, free will, and the use of language, but what does it really mean to be human?