Twilight's Disciples Forum Being Human

Twilight	Being Human 14 Years Ago Is it our intelligence, love, care for one another or something else? How would you define, what it is to be human? And also, do you regard yourself as a humane person? If not, perhaps you could explain why? In human history, many terrible dictators (e.g. Stalin and Hitler) behaved more like wild beasts than men. Do you agree? Indeed, should such people be regarded or treated as less than human? Julian
Tzedeqiel	[no subject] 14 Years Ago Tzedeqiel is going to start talking about religion. OH NOES. . . . Anyway . . . I personally take the Christian/Judeo-Christian/biblical idea that humans are separated from the rest of terrestrial life by having been made in the image of God, and thus having attributes like self-awareness, personality, ability to use language, creativity, and intelligence. As a corollary, though, I also believe that people (not pointing the finger; this includes me) are inherently bad, although the badness is generally suppressed to various degrees by cultural mores, social protocol, law, &c. So, in a way, people who fit the definition of "evil" aren't really acting inhuman, but revealing how terrible humans can really be when there's nothing to stop them. (Positive actions associated with humanity I would designate, as Twilight suggests, "humane.")
Su' Nacnetaf	[no subject] 14 Years Ago Being human is the state of being a beast, since a human is lastly an animal, dictators such as Stalin or Hitler as you say, should be treated as full humans. I'd like to say I'm not human, but I must admit I surrender myself to instinct sometimes. I try my best to be inhuman, but I'm far from real success. A beast is a beast, no matter how you try to domesticate it, an animal will never forget instinct. Dèfastus I. Dàcnovic
Michael N.	[no subject] 14 Years Ago Being human...it seems like such a simple subject, but when you really think about it it's quite difficult to dicipher. I think that to be human, you must feel certain emotions such as empathy, sympathy, anger, love, fear, things that can even be in the simplest form but are still human. A dog is not human because, although it understands fear and perhaps even love it cannot empathize nor can it sympathize. This is the same for people such as Hitler who have, at the point of their death, little or no sympathy and certainly no empathy. However, for most people, these emotions come naturally. When you see someone get hit by a car, you sympathize with them. If you've lost a loved one, you can empathize with someone else who has. We fear for our lives, or the lives of others, and love something whether it be our mothers, money, or even death. To me, this is what humanity is about, emotion that other creatures cannot understand.
Kathryn Star, Shine!	[no subject] 14 Years Ago My own opinion about being human is that we are not perfect. We were born into sin, and sin will be within us. Understanding that, we can comprehend that there are all sorts of personalities. There will be all sorts of religious or non-religious people. There will be monsters and than there will be people with great love for the mankind.
Nik Dendera	[no subject] 14 Years Ago Animals can have cognitive abilities, but it is our psychology that seperates us. Emotional intellect and our ability to adapt have made us the dominant species on this planet. In a way, humans are just glorified animals. Anthropologically, we don't differ from animals that much. Look at sports like boxing-it's a way of humans, men in particular, to still prove alpha male dominance. When it comes to dictators and even serial killers, we fear what they can do and because of that fear, we dismiss their humanity. But they are human and as such, should be treated so. When you look at cases like Bundy and Dahmer, what you are looking at is psychology in it's darkest form. Obviously, serial killer psychology is a complex subject. The film 'Max' was slated by critics because it showed Hitler to be human and we would rather declare such an evil person to be 'of the devil' or worse. But Hitler was human, and had his own hopes and fears, albeit warped and unjust. We just can't accept that.
Katherine Hall	[no subject] 14 Years Ago I think that the ability to reason, have a conscience, and develop systems of laws and morals within ourselves is what makes us 'human'. Everyone has instincts, and biologically, we are indeed another type of 'animal'. We are the only animal, though, that will be about to do something bad and take the time to go 'wait, is this the right thing?' The ability to acknowledge right from wrong, let alone distinguish between and choose one of the two, is something unique to the human species. I do believe some animal species are able to make thought processes similar to 'reason' and 'conscience'. Dolphins and wolves, for example, have developed behavior patterns that suggest they act for the betterment of the pod/pack, and different ape species frequently exhibit the ability to reason on a simple level (as indicated, for example, by the chimpanzee's ability to make and use 'simple' tools--at stick to get bugs, out of a small hole, for example. A rock to open a fruit). But these are only on a most basic level. Human thought processes are a lot more complex, and a lot more thorough. We philosophize. We debate. The ability to do those things sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. I don't know if the particularly despicable people in our history (Hitler, bin Laden, etc.) can be classed as 'not-human' or 'beastly'--certainly their acts were beyond horrific and very animalistic, but consider how they got into power in the first place. Hitler, though crazy and narcissistic, knew how to work the German government to secure the Nazi party power. This wasn't some base instinct--the man was intelligent, and through a combination of fear tactics and reason (bad reasons, true, but they seemed like reasonable arguments to the impressionable at the time) he convinced a good part of Germany that what he was doing was in the best interest of the country. Same with bin Laden--a complete nutcase, true, but one possessing the higher reasoning and ability to calculate an outcome that enabled him to recruit so many followers. They were human. Despicabe, hideous, awful examples of humans, but human nonetheless.
Vesa Lee	[no subject] 14 Years Ago In as few words as possible: To be human is to have a soul. Other than that, I share the same basic view as Tzedeqiel.
Dianah	[no subject] 14 Years Ago To say Hitler and Stalin behaved like wild beasts is I think, a bit unfair to animals.(but I do understand what you are saying). These humans had the ability and intelligence to know better. Sure, some people have terrible upbringings and warped ideas about what is acceptable behaviour and may turn to horrific practices to get satisfaction and admiration that they never got at home. To be human, to me, is to be able to rise above the sh*t that life throughs at us. Some people are superhuman when it comes to this. We need to learn to accept others differences and see things through others eyes. To have passion but be able to control our negative emotions. To be human is to care...and we need that to save humanity. Dianah
PoeticPrincess44	[no subject] 14 Years Ago Is is like how my pastor put it Sunday is that do you treat a human different for they have special needs, and the answer is no. Noah was special and God chose him to build an ark for a flood was coming and he needed to save the people. In all creation all our successors have been quite special in a way and it didn't make a different in our society to overrule them as what they were born as because God created man and man created women and in all, We are humans for we are God's creations on Earth. Do you believe in evolution or do you believe in creation is the bigger question?

Nodamselami	[no subject] 14 Years Ago Please No CSS Person: sentient being capable of actual thought. Human: sentient being capable of actual thought and evolved from the apes on Earth. Kindness, empathy, passion, ambition, and mistake are all part of what separates those who are, by stark definition, human, and those who actually act as such. Hitler, Stalin, &co are humans. They are not GOOD humans. There is a difference, and quite a large one. If we make a separate species for all who we abhor, then we will forget or pass off things that shouldn't be; or, on the flip side, we will scrutinize and reject everyone else so that all are a separate species and none are human but to their own minds. To be a human and to be humane are separate, no matter how we try to blur the line.