What Makes Us Human

What Makes Us Human
What makes us human? What is it that we are made up of? I know a human has a body made up of two legs, two arms, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and two ears, but that is not what makes us human. Human beings are made up of feelings, the ability to think, communication, and many other elements. Feelings show the way we feel between each other and is the reason for our survival. The ability to think is so important because just because we can think doesn’t always mean we do think. Communication is essential to human society. These are some of the elements I consider to be the most important of being human.
Feelings, is something that makes us humans. Feelings, is one important element that makes us humans because that is how we can relate how others feel and that is the reason humans have survived for thousands of years. I believe if someone does not have feelings, that is inhumane and our human survival would have extinct. Feelings are sadness, happiness, love, and very importantly there is sympathy and empathy. When someone sees another person in pain and has the desire to help that person and calls for help or helps them themselves that is humane. Sometimes it is empathy when we know how someone else is feeling and share the pain or happiness. But I believe sympathy is very important because even though you might not feel the pain, but you understand that it is painful. I believe that is how humans have survived for so long because we help each other survive. Doctors, Police Officers, Firefighters for instance help people get out of buildings in fire, help protect people that are in danger, and save peoples lives that they have never met before. For thousands of years we have helped each other survive. We automatically help the people we love and value, but when we help the people we have never met before and are complete strangers that is when we can definitely say that is why we have human survival. If everyone just took care of themselves and the people they new, I think our human survival would be reaching extinction. An example of this would be like when the Germans where trying to kill all Jews. Many German families had sympathy and risked their lives to help Jewish families survive during the war. Some German families would help the Jewish by giving them shelter, food, and clothing. The Germans who helped the Jewish had no obligation to help and were prohibited to help, but because they had feelings they felt like they needed to help the Jewish. On the other hand during the war there was so much inhumanity going on. The Germans felt like they were above the Jews and enjoyed torturing and killing Jewish families with no remorse. It has happened in many wars where people have no remorse and torture others for fun, but what makes us survive is the people who care about others and help each other survive. Well in my belief if it wasn’t for all the people who have cared for others our human survival would become extinct.
We are human because we have the ability to think. The ability to think gives us the opportunity to reason and realize what is going on. "Thinking is skilled work. It is not true that we are naturally endowed with the ability to think clearly and logically - without learning how, or without practicing." Alfred Mander, Author Logic for the Millions, 1947. This quote made me realize that sometimes we think we think, but it is not true. For example when I was younger and I was asked what I thought about drugs I just remembered what my mom told me and what my friends new about drugs being bad, but I never researched what drugs were and I always said I thought drugs were bad. To think is to go beyond what people tell us, to ask questions and go beyond what we are told and understand. That is what makes us humans because an animal can react and do what people tell them, but do they ask questions to what they are doing? Do they think to themselves what should I do tomorrow? Animals as they grow don’t have many choices, they grow, they have survival instincts, and they can adapt to life experiences. Animals can think and be aware of their surrounding, but there is no study where it shows that they develop critical thinking. Not just because we are humans we think, but we do have the ability to think. We have the ability to ask questions and understand why things happen or why we should do things. To think is an important human element that I believe not all humans take advantage of.
An essential element of being human is communication. Communication is very important because that is how we interact with each other. We communicate by talking, writing, drawings, and body language. Talking to one another is one of the easiest way of communicating because we say what we feel like we need to say and let others know how we feel. Talking is also the easiest way to get a fast response and when it is in person you can see a persons body language. Body Language is very important because it shows how we react to certain ideas or feelings. Body language like eye contact and facial expressions can say a lot more than words and is an effective communication to a natural body response. For example when a mother is told, someone from the family has passed away, and the mother may start crying and her three year old child that does not understand what is going on asks what is wrong? A mother could wipe her tears and say she is fine, when she is in pain, but does not want to alarm her child. A child may not understand at the moment, but as we grow we start understanding body language. Writing is also a way of communicating. Writing or drawings lets us describe how we feel when we cannot talk or let things out in words. Writing is a way of expressing ourselves when we do not have the courage to talk face to face or when you cannot communicate by talking. Drawings can let out someone’s emotions and ideas. Drawings by children can be an outreach to parents when they can’t explain how they feel. I believe all drawings can tell a story if we pay attention to it. Writing is not just in paper anymore, but also by email or txt. Communication with others can now be so easy with technology because there are so many forms of communicating now, but is it effective communication. I believe technology is taking away from communication. Cell phones text messaging has become so popular that now it has become almost impossible for some people to have a real conversations in person because it has become so easy to talk to multiple people at the same time text messaging that it is hard to focus in one conversation. Communication is very important, but I believe effective communication is slowly fading away with all this new technology. Overall communication is needed and is essential element to being human.
There is many elements that make us human. Feelings, the ability to think, and communication are the top three I believe are the most important elements to being human. I believe we are human and have lived for thousands of years due to our feelings. If we did not have feeling and the ability to think we would be extinct.