What does it mean to be human?

[rosey]

What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be human?
I cannot help but suspect that at one time in the history of thinking
that people believed that it meant that we were spiritual and that we
could make choices and were capable of aspiring to higher ideals...
like maybe loyalty or maybe faith... or maybe even love.
But now we are told by people who think they know, that we vary from
amoeba only in the complexity of our makeup and not in what we
essentially are. They would have us think as Dysart said that we are
forever bound up in certain genetic reigns - that we are merely products
of the way things are and not free - not free to be the people who make
them that way. They would have us see ourselves as products so that
we could believe that we were something to be made - something to
be used and then something to be disposed of. Used in their wars -
used for their gains and then set aside when we get in their way.
Well, who are they? They are the few who sit at the top of the heap -
dung heap though it is - and who say it is better to reign in Hell than
to serve in Heaven. Well, I do not know that we can have a Heaven
here on earth, but I am sure we need not have a Hell either.
What does it mean to be human? I cannot help but believe that it means
we are spiritual - that we are responsible and that we are free - that
we are responsible to be free."

Joey said this should be a separate post, so here it is. What does it mean to be human? The above is from a Christian songwriter, Rich Mullins.

If we are humans at conception, then abortion is murder. If it is elsewhere, then when? Is it when we can reason? Can make choices?

[Ionian_Tradition]

What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be human?
I cannot help but suspect that at one time in the history of thinking
that people believed that it meant that we were spiritual and that we
could make choices and were capable of aspiring to higher ideals...
like maybe loyalty or maybe faith... or maybe even love.
But now we are told by people who think they know, that we vary from
amoeba only in the complexity of our makeup and not in what we
essentially are. They would have us think as Dysart said that we are
forever bound up in certain genetic reigns - that we are merely products
of the way things are and not free - not free to be the people who make
them that way. They would have us see ourselves as products so that
we could believe that we were something to be made - something to
be used and then something to be disposed of. Used in their wars -
used for their gains and then set aside when we get in their way.
Well, who are they? They are the few who sit at the top of the heap -
dung heap though it is - and who say it is better to reign in Hell than
to serve in Heaven. Well, I do not know that we can have a Heaven
here on earth, but I am sure we need not have a Hell either.
What does it mean to be human? I cannot help but believe that it means
we are spiritual - that we are responsible and that we are free - that
we are responsible to be free."

Joey said this should be a separate post, so here it is. What does it mean to be human? The above is from a Christian songwriter, Rich Mullins.

For myself, being human means at least this much: It means that we are the only beings known so far with the capacity to ask the very question you're issuing... that this marvelous truth sings of a collective passion and intellect attained by virtue of the human mind which allows for us to interrogate not only ourselves, but the vast and mysterious universe of which we are, in the deepest and most profound ways, very much apart. It means that with our capacity to question comes also the recognition that we are indeed a novel and perhaps uniquely emergent property of the universe which bore us....a means for the cosmos to actually begin knowing something of itself. This recognition stretches further to encompass the notion that we also possess more than merely the means to question and comprehend, but also we possess a capacity to instill value...and in knowing that no matter what else may exist within the blackened void between the stars, we humans are the only humans there will ever truly be, the value ascribed by the mind perhaps has found a home in the unique, complex, supremely flawed, yet paradoxically beautiful phenomenon that is us...The human species. I know not of what else may be implied along side these truths...whether we stand as a reflection of the divine image of a God or little more than the accretion of matter through the work of both chance and necessity...But this I do know...So long as we exist, value and meaning (albeit subjective in nature) will exist, at least somewhere, within the universe...And if there is any notion to which my small mind is pleased to assign one paltry bit of value...it is surely to this.

[Bust Nak]

What does it mean to be human?

That's easy, to be human means contain human DNA. What does it mean to be a person or human being however, is a harder question to answer.

They would have us see ourselves as products so that
we could believe that we were something to be made - something to
be used and then something to be disposed of. Used in their wars -
used for their gains and then set aside when we get in their way.
Well, who are they?

It's not atheists who think human beings are created for a purpose. So who are "they" who use people? According to Christians, it's God.

If it is elsewhere, then when? Is it when we can reason? Can make choices?

You are a person when the brain is developed to the degree to support a mind.

[JoeyKnothead]

From the OP:

What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be human?

For me at least, it means being able to pee off the back deck any time I take a notion.

I cannot help but suspect that at one time in the history of thinking that people believed that it meant that we were spiritual...

Many still do.

and that we could make choices and were capable of aspiring to higher ideals...

Yep.

like maybe loyalty or maybe faith...

I'm all with ya on the loyalty, but don't consider faith, in the religious sense, to be such a "higher ideal".

or maybe even love.

Sure.

But now we are told by people who think they know, that we vary from amoeba only in the complexity of our makeup and not in what we essentially are.

Are amoeba not life?

They would have us think as Dysart said that we are forever bound up in certain genetic reigns...

Ever try turning into an elephant?

- that we are merely products of the way things are and not free

You're free to turn into an elephant, you'll just have one heckuva time trying to get it done.

- not free to be the people who make them that way.

Who make what what way?

They would have us see ourselves as products so that we could believe that we were something to be made...

So, what you're saying is God didn't make us?

- something to be used and then something to be disposed of.

"God uses me to get y'all into church" seems to fit that first part, while "and if'n ya don't go, it's off to Hell with ya" seems to fit the last bit.

Used in their wars - used for their gains and then set aside when we get in their way.

Doesn't God use folks when he goes to waging war?

Well, who are they? They are the few who sit at the top of the heap - dung heap though it is...

Are we talking about beetles or humans? Either way, that you find something to be a dung heap shouldn't lead us to conclude it is.

- and who say it is better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven.

When folks can show me this Heaven and Hell exists, and that their claims regarding their god's wants and wishes in this regard are true and factual, I'll consider such a notion.

Until that time I see nothing but fear-mongering and empty threats of Hell, with empty threats of Heaven in equal proportion.

Well, I do not know that we can have a Heaven here on earth...

That'll be Northeast Georgia, y'all come sit a spell.

but I am sure we need not have a Hell either.

I contend there's folks on this planet that deserve the punishment of this Hell. Rapists, murderers and holier'n-thous come to mind.

What does it mean to be human?

Frog legs over a campfire, cold beer, and women, with at least one of those things being nekkid.

I cannot help but believe that it means we are spiritual

While being incapable of showing there's a 'spirit' to be had (where 'spirit' is used in its common religious context).

- that we are responsible and that we are free - that we are responsible to be free.

No matter how much disagreeing I've been doing, on this notion, we share one mind.

Joey said this should be a separate post, so here it is. What does it mean to be human?

I didn't mean to lead you to think ya hadda, but just mentioned that it'd likely take more words'n we have dictionaries to tote 'em in to get to the end of this topic.

The above is from a Christian songwriter, Rich Mullins.

Never much cared for Christian music, but I can appreciate the craftsmanship involved.

If we are humans at conception, then abortion is murder.

Murder is a legal definition for a form of homicide. As such, your opinion, as valid as it may be for you or me, doesn't comport with some of the legal terms for murder.

If it is elsewhere, then when? Is it when we can reason? Can make choices?

For me, it was that first time I got to smoosh a girl's bare breasteses.

And every time after.

[bambi]

What does it mean to be human?

To be human is to be able to discern what is good and what is not. I'm a christian and I strongly believe that this word written in Ephesians 2:10 (For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.) is what answers the question.

[Flail]

What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be human?
I cannot help but suspect that at one time in the history of thinking
that people believed that it meant that we were spiritual and that we
could make choices and were capable of aspiring to higher ideals...
like maybe loyalty or maybe faith... or maybe even love.
But now we are told by people who think they know, that we vary from
amoeba only in the complexity of our makeup and not in what we
essentially are. They would have us think as Dysart said that we are
forever bound up in certain genetic reigns - that we are merely products
of the way things are and not free - not free to be the people who make
them that way. They would have us see ourselves as products so that
we could believe that we were something to be made - something to
be used and then something to be disposed of. Used in their wars -
used for their gains and then set aside when we get in their way.
Well, who are they? They are the few who sit at the top of the heap -
dung heap though it is - and who say it is better to reign in Hell than
to serve in Heaven. Well, I do not know that we can have a Heaven
here on earth, but I am sure we need not have a Hell either.
What does it mean to be human? I cannot help but believe that it means
we are spiritual - that we are responsible and that we are free - that
we are responsible to be free."

Joey said this should be a separate post, so here it is. What does it mean to be human? The above is from a Christian songwriter, Rich Mullins.

If we are humans at conception, then abortion is murder. If it is elsewhere, then when? Is it when we can reason? Can make choices?

We are not humans at conception; rather we are embryos for eight weeks and then fetuses until birth. We become human beings at birth.

As human beings in the world we are what we will make of ourselves under our particular circumstances; we can aspire to almost anything or we can opt for settled for lives, and the latter often seems to include adopting some infantile and limiting first century belief in supernatural beings.

[Goat]

What does it mean to be human?

To be human is to be able to discern what is good and what is not. I'm a christian and I strongly believe that this word written in Ephesians 2:10 (For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.) is what answers the question.

So, one is not 'human' until one knows the difference between good and bad? What is that, about age 2 or so??

[blueandwhite1789]

What does it mean to be human?

To be human is to be able to discern what is good and what is not. I'm a christian and I strongly believe that this word written in Ephesians 2:10 (For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.) is what answers the question.

Yeah you're right thats probably it. I'm sure it has nothing to do with complex language comprehension, advanced cognative functions, and complex social structures.

...Yeah its probably the Jesus thing.....

[bambi]

So, one is not 'human' until one knows the difference between good and bad? What is that, about age 2 or so??

Ephesians 2:10 (For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.)

I think you have a poor conclusion here. I don't see your point connected to the verse. Let me go a bit further in this verse for you to comprehend. It said " For we are his workmanship" Human is created by a creator. And the purpose is to progress "unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." The good work is the purpose. But if you're not into it then you might be here. King Solomon said "Ecclesiastes 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions"

[Goat]

So, one is not 'human' until one knows the difference between good and bad? What is that, about age 2 or so??

Ephesians 2:10 (For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.)

I think you have a poor conclusion here. I don't see your point connected to the verse. Let me go a bit further in this verse for you to comprehend. It said " For we are his workmanship" Human is created by a creator. And the purpose is to progress "unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." The good work is the purpose. But if you're not into it then you might be here. King Solomon said "Ecclesiastes 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions"

I was just going by what you said.. .. now it's looking like you are being confusing again. I don't see how this can relate to 'when does humanity start' ..