Up@dawn 2.0

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

The meaning of the human existence Daniel Duke #8 
The reason why I picked this topic is that I find it interesting and one of the most thought about questions that people have is "Is there a meaning behind my life? Do I have a purpose? What does it mean to be human?" Since no one really knows for sure I found it interesting to read about. 

The meaning of human existence by Edward O Wilson seeks to, or at least help to, answer the question what does it mean to be human? In the book it talks about many different topics and aspects about humans. Wilson seeks to get a better idea by searching for answers and similarities in the animal kingdom throughout the book but mostly in the first half. In the second part of the book he starts to take a deeper look into the phycology of the human race and if we encounter life beyond earth how would we react? However, the part that I found most interesting starts with chapter 11 "The collapse of Biodiversity." 
Wilson starts with the statement "Think of Earth's biodiversity, the Planet's variety of life, as a dilemma wrapped in a paradox. The paradox is the following contradiction: The more species that humanity extinguishes, the more species scientists discover. However, like the conquistadores who melted the Inca gold, they recognize that the great treasure must come to an end-and soon. That understanding creates the dilemma: whether to stop the destruction for the sake of future generations, or the opposite, just go on changing the Planet to our immediate needs." To me, this hits the nail on the head because it answers at least part of the question what it means to be human. We as a race are very conflicted and chaotic. We can recognize that our actions have consequences and that there is normally better option, but we are selfish, so we want to do things with an immediate pay off. 
One of the main things that separate us as a race from most if not all other life on this planet is our emotion and ability to express them. I am not trying to say that other animals do not have feelings, because most mammals protect their young thus showing that they care about their offspring. To me it is more about the complex society that has formed around humanity and our sentience. Being human is hard to pin down and define but I think at the end of the line it comes down to intellect and the ability to communicate. It is because of this that we have built the society that we know today. Other living things have communities as well, but they do not show much if any sign of improving. One other thing that I believe is a key point in defining humanity is our ability to cooperate with other groups of humansYes, we fight with each other and commit atrocities, but we do work together and can overcome differences. That is unique in the world and you do not see it anywhere else.  

3 comments:

  1. I agree that mankind can be selfish and that we can also do great things for everyone, after all we are a species of the extraordinary, capable of the worst and the best. However I wonder if our inability to do what is right for the world is a global problem or if at the heart it lies within certain aspects of common society or is an element of certain societies themselves.

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  2. The biggest thing that distinguishes the human animal, as Gates says, is that we try to pass on what we've learned to the next generation by means of culture, education, specific instruction, ideas, memes... whereas other animals, though social, are pretty much restricted to genetic transmission. We have the capacity to think long-term about the future of life, not only ours but life in all its biodiversity. The only question is: will we exercise that capacity to the extent required to preserve ourselves and the larger ecological matrix of life on our planet? Or will we cave to short-term selfish gain? Ball's in our court.

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  3. I agree with a lot that you’re saying here. Humans do have a tendency to modify the planet to our own accord. I find the most interesting part of your post is when you say being human is hard to define, because it is. We’re the only species who knows what it’s like to exist the way we do, and we have no other species to communicate with to compare notes, so we’re kind of on our own.

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