What makes us human?

https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueAskReddit/comments/1i9589v/what_makes_us_human/

created by NoOpportunity7847 on 24/01/2025 at 20:32 UTC

5 upvotes, 2 top-level comments (showing 2)

Hi guys, I have been asking myself this question while reading “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells, since in the book it is told that in the future there will be two human species, the Eloi (childish and superficial) and the Morlocks (brutal and cunning). So the question: do you think humanity is defined by knowledge, compassion, strength, or something else? In short: what defines us as human? Thank you for your attention!

Comments

Comment by AutoModerator at 24/01/2025 at 20:32 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Welcome to r/TrueAskReddit. Remember that this subreddit is aimed at high quality discussion, so please elaborate on your answer as much as you can and avoid off-topic or jokey answers as per subreddit rules[1].

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Comment by JacquesShiran at 24/01/2025 at 21:09 UTC

6 upvotes, 1 direct replies

The thing that defines us as humans is our belonging to the human species, i.e our genetic similarity. Everything else is just self importance. There's no reason to believe other sapient species (including artificial ones) will have less or more of any of those traits. And none of them are exclusive to humans. Other animals show compassion, perseverance, etc. The one thing that might separate us from other animals is self awareness and individuality, the thing we call "consciousness", but it's hard to tell if other animals are also self aware since we can't really communicate with them. The mirror test implies that at least some animals might have some kind of sense of self.