Human being is a kind of primates that has its own cultures and uses tools for some purposes. The word also includes abstract meanings: cultures, moral, norms and art. Other primates but Homo Sapient have none of these as those kinds of animals just take actions instinctively; thus, those are not human beings.
Human beings are social animals since they cannot live alone. Some might argue that, however, a human can make a modest living undependably from others, but I would call it JUST a Homo Sapient, not a human being. Living in clusters, they form a social unit in which they have mutual responsibilities and relationship. An astounding number of these small social units constitute a whole society, leading to a nation, and each nation is also dependable to one another.
To talk about human cultures, human beings pertain to the use of money, which cannot be found in other species. Furthermore, art and religions also play an important role in human beings’ activities on each day. Religion defines appropriate ethical behaviors of each society, and we human tend to adhere to the rules. For example, most of Thai people are Buddhists and have their own cultures and norms which help identify their morally good behaviors, while most Americans are Christians and have almost totally different cultures from Thai which define their moral conducts in different aspects.
In conclusion, human beings are different from other species in that we have our own cultures and logical thinking processes. We are also in the highest rank in the species hierarchy. Ironically, we human can sometimes take some unreasonable actions without rational thinking, such as committing suicide.
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2 comments:
Pach,
I really enjoyed reading your response, and it shows a great deal of depth in thinking. Like Joyce, you started with a biological definition, and then moved on to the things that make humans unique: culture, morality, norms and art. You deal with the criticism about living alone very well, and like this to a world view very nicely. The United Nations would love this definition (and I like it too)! It's interesting you mention art, because I also think this is a uniquely human characteristic, although we shall see in the readings for the chapter coming up that animals can do (with a great deal of help from their trainers) something that looks a bit like 'art'. I also like your comments about religion and morality, and the point you raised at the end about the consequences of our own actions. Let us hope that as a race of human beings, we don't commit racial suicide, and remove ourself from the face of this planet by our own stupid actions. The sad thing about this is that not only would a war of this nature be terrible for humans, it has the possibility of destroying the planet for most other species as well. However, I remain optimistic. I think there is enough common sense and innate 'goodness' in human beings, perhaps just barely enough, to save us from the consequences of our own actions.
I really enjoyed reading this. It made me think.
Pach, how can you write this. Fantastic... What a human being you are!!
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