What Makes Us Human?

In Key Idea 2 I will be talking about what I learned about chimps. The book showed many things about chimpanzees that I did not know before. When someone is talking about any animals, the first thing that comes to many people’s minds is: They will never hurt somebody, they are always nice, and are not as smart as humans. Before I read this book that was my thought process about chimpanzees. I did not look at them any different than other animals. Although, after reading the book I realized chimpanzees are very smart and can be

As scientists continue to their research, fundamental questions about intelligence are brought to the surface.

Within this essay, we will study more in depth the behavioral as well as physical traits of two primates at a zoo from their interaction with their peers to their place in the group. This observation would enable us to further understand the possible existing correlation between humans and primates. First, I studied a female chimpanzee with her baby, and then, a dominant male gorilla, in San Francisco Zoo at about noon, on May 23, 2015, for an hour each. Even though they share some similarities such as having a large brain, living for a long time, and being bored in their enclosure, they are still different; when gorillas are the largest, chimpanzees are the smartest. In fact, chimps use tools to catch food, they would not be able to reach

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

What makes us human? What makes us human is our curiosity and constant evolution. What makes us human is the ability to create social categories and to form opinions. Abstract emotions including love, thought and creativity are what make us human. In 1984, George Orwell uses his dystopia to show that if we were to abolish these abstract emotions we would cease to be human and become the simple primates we once were; surviving for the sake of survival.

I feel that each response has hit on key factors of what society, religion, and science classify as "human". For example, DNA ties us all together, and is something that we all have in common (whether we like it or not). As a species, humans all look relatively similar, yet none of us look or act exactly the same. Our brains are incredible! We can process abstract thoughts, solve

Primate intelligence correlates to primate cognition which is the study of the intellectual and behavioral skills of primates (Low). In the book Human Evolution and Culture, chapter five "Human Evolution Biological and Culture" states that primates share a lot of common features with mammals but what makes them uniquely different than many other mammals is that primates have a wide range of physical and social traits (86). The social relationships of primates are unique because just like humans, they relationship begin with the mother and other adults that the younger dependable primates. "The dependency of infant primates offers an evolutionary benefit that allows infant primates more time to examine and master the intricate behaviors necessary to survival while enjoying the care and protection of mature adults."(87) Primates have the privilege of having a large brain the size similar to body size to learn the culture and the way of life they live. Larger brains give primates the advantage to obtain an enormous amount of learning and integrate data. Primates have a special gift in areas of their brain that's dedicated to speech and language. (94) Primates have the special ability to communicate with each other as well as with humans and are the "only habitual toolmaking animal" (96). Although primates are more cognitively advanced than many other animals/mammals, researchers and critics still debate on how to define, compare and study intelligence and the growth of

“We were all humans until race disconnected us, religion separated us, politics divided us and wealth classified us.”(Minds). The word human is defined as “of, relating to, or characteristic of humans”(Webster Human). This definition gives us a perfect example of why the meaning of this term is so ambiguous. Debates over what truly defines a human have been going on for decades. The disputes over this have ranged from Frankenstein’s monster to Data the android from Star Trek. The question still remains, what truly defines a human? More importantly, can this be defined for us by society?

What it means to be human? To me what it means to be human was walking, talking, breathing air, being the superior mammal. Now that has changed into a much deeper thinking of what makes us human. Our bodies have

Firstly, it is important to understand the evolution and development of human brain. An interesting idea is that our human brains are becoming smaller in size through evolution of time. It is commonly believed that more content requires bigger space. Let 's take an example. A bowl that needs to fit ten identical objects needs to be bigger to a bowl that only needs to fit five identical objects. Likewise, our human brain has continued to develop through evolution and has much more complex capabilities as well as content to carry since the birth of our species in the Stone Age. Now

Humans have subjugated the world, populating almost every continent. Homo sapiens have risen to an overpowering, dominant level. But why us? What gave Homo sapiens such an advantage? Homo sapiens are special in a cognitive sense, and the only major evolutionary advantage they have been given is able brains. Humans are intellectually driven- we want to learn things. They have more inventive ability than any other living creature. They enjoy expression and explaining things to those around us. In fact, Homo sapiens think so big and so inventively that human bodies have had to change to fit their ability to think and to create. Humans have learned so much over the course of our 200,000 year existence, and we continue to strive for knowledge.

What makes us unique? What makes us human? These are complex questions to which humans have struggled to find an adequate answer, even after the course of hundreds of years. I personally believe there are many reasons and factors as to why humans today are in control of the planet, with the most defining feature of our species being collective learning, empowered by the creation of symbolic language.

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?

Human nature, the essence of what makes a human person what they are, is something that everybody has. Every person is innately a person, but how they put their personhood into action is the biggest indicator of their character, or the projection of a person’s human nature. At their core there is human nature, but their actions are what direct this source of humanity. The quality of someone’s actions is shaped by their environment and sometimes their biological makeup as well. Human nature does not have good or evil characteristics. It is how a person thinks and acts that is the true factor in the shaping of their character.

Conversely, other scientists disagree that brain size alone is the sole indicator of intelligence, preferring instead, the theory that the answers lay in the brains synapses and the way information is exchanged and gene duplication (DNews, 2015).