What Makes Us Human?

What is it precisely that makes us human? What characteristics that we as humans share that differentiate us from the animal world? What makes us better (or worse) than animals?

Or to be more specific, other animals, because for all our human arrogance and pride in ourselves, we are after all still animals, mammals that share the planet with other animals. So why is it that we consider ourselves the superior species, of all the species of animals that ever roamed the planet? What makes us so special, after all is said and done?

To tell the truth, I am not so sure that we are the superior species. Research has indicated that members of the dolphin family, for instance, may have equal or superior intelligence to us. They may even be telepathic, and they hunt in supremely well-coordinated packs and communicate with each other, and recognize each other just as we do.

Elephants are very intelligent and have very large brains and very long memories. They also communicate with each other, care for their offspring and mourn the loss of one of their own. Certain species of monkeys and gorillas also share in a community and work together to solve problems and communicate with each other.

So it is none of the above characteristics. It is not the recognition of one of us from the other, the sharing of thoughts, feelings, and emotions, or the cooperative problem-solving methods that make enterprises successful and worthwhile. None of these are exclusively human traits.

The nurturing, feeding, and care of our offspring and the sense of loss and grief that overwhelms us when we lose a loved one are all shared traits with the other animals that I have mentioned. We are not unique in any of these characteristics. We are different, not superior to animals.

Yet somehow, there is more. I do not know if this is an entirely valid reason, but I think that one of the main reasons that we consider ourselves to be superior to other creatures, the one difference, is the fact that we as human beings have one gift that these other species lack: The written word.

Whether it is a novel, a short story, a newspaper, an article, or even a comic book, humans can read and write and thus communicate with each other in far more lasting ways than the day-to-day interchanges among other animals.

But the written word is not confined to just literature and reading. It extends to music, great art, statues, and paintings. Visual representations of the human spirit, or soul, are tangible expressions of solidarity and communication that can last for centuries. We have printed books, manuscripts dating far back into antiquity, papyrus scrolls, clay tablets, and visual impressions of past lives available to us at all times.

We can now today in our enlightened society of 2022 CE access all the great wisdom of the past at the touch of a computer keyboard. We can revisit all the beautiful works of art from the past, and compare and contrast the main religious themes that have motivated and inspired millions of people all over the world, then and now.

We can visit with all the great philosophers and thinkers of the past and ponder all the knowledge and wisdom they possessed. They had the ability and skill set to preserve their thoughts and musings because of the gift of the written word. The ancient Egyptians and Greek scholars, the law of the venerable Hammurabi, are some of the oldest preserved documents of all time.

Homo sapiens, or human beings, have been around for roughly 200,000 years, according to archeological records and findings. For most of that time, however, they had no written history.

During this time of “prehistory,” prehistoric humans spent most of their lives moving from place to place, hunting for food, building crude shelters, living in caves, and protecting themselves from wild animals.

Around 5000 BCE, things slowly began to change. For the first time, some humans started to settle down in one place. They began growing their own food and building more permanent homes. The first cities were formed. People began using metals, such as copper and bronze, instead of stones to make tools.

Then, roughly around 3000 BCE, some of our ancestors created a system of letters and began to write. This new form of communication was the beginning of civilization. King Hammurabi of Babylon drew up one of the first recorded sets of laws, The Code of Hammurabi, to regulate human behavior.

The Egyptians developed their own system of writing called hieroglyphics. This system was based on a series of pictures showing common objects such as the human eye. Later, a group of people known as the Phoenicians, master sailors and traders, developed a system of pictures or symbols to represent sounds. This was the first alphabet.

Another early great civilization, and considered the launching pad that led to our present-day way of life was that of the ancient Greeks. The pharaohs in ancient Egypt held absolute power, they were regarded as gods.

About 500–600 BCE, the Greeks, who lived in city-states, set up a very different form of government that became known as a rudimentary democracy. In a democracy, the people rule themselves. Even so, not everyone in Greece was equal since only free men were allowed to vote.

Each Greek city-state was like an independent country because each one had its own government, languages or dialects, and its own laws and customs. Sparta and Athens, for example, were very different.

The Greeks made many major contributions to the development of Western civilization. For example, Greek architecture is still widely copied today. Modern theater is based on the principles established by the Greeks. They also made key discoveries in mathematics, science, and medicine.

Euclid discovered the basic rules of geometry. Archimedes found out how to measure the circumference of a circle as well as the law governing floating objects in water, like why boats sail instead of sink. Hippocrates attacked the use of magic in medicine and wrote a code of ethics for doctors.

But the greatest contribution of all was in the field of philosophy, the love of wisdom. The ideas of Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, who lived in the city-state of Athens, have shaped and guided the way Westerners have thought through the ages.

These ancient Greek philosophers asked hard questions about the meaning of life, the true nature of the world, and the proper role of citizens. Many of these ideas still resonate today in our modern world.

Dating back to antiquity, it is the written word that differentiates us as humans from animals. Not only all the words and philosophies, but the ancient artifacts, the art treasures, the sculptures, and paintings that embody and glorify the indomitable human spirit are still around to bear witness to this fact.

It is the written word, able to be passed down from generation to generation, that most clearly separates us as humans from the rest of the animal kingdom….