What does it mean to be human?

The definition of humanity is a very hard term to describe. I believe that one of the main aspects of being human is to constantly create one’s self, change, develop, and make decisions. These four elements are constantly happening until your death. Your ideas change, your looks change, and you are always making decisions concerning everything from walking, to going to school, or talking to someone--these decisions constantly allow you to change and develop your views, thus altering your life. It is what makes every human unique, even if your twin looks identical and has the same fingerprints as you, we are different on many social, financial, cultural, and aesthetic levels. Being unique is very important to being human, otherwise we’d be just like any other animals be it fish, bird, or dog--they look the same and and all they usually want is food.
Another aspect of humanity is that all people want. People always want things regardless of wether they need it or not; objects, wealth, love, caring, certain lifestyles, to live somewhere else; anything. People’s desires change and develop as they create themselves, and their desires identify them as well because everyone has varying desires and interests.

Elie Weinstein 10A

Being Human - so simple, yet so complicated.

I always thought that being asked "where did you grow up" or "what do you want to be when you grow up" the hardest questions to be answered without a long answer. This question however.. reaches deeper and further into your soul and mind and other people... which makes my brain hurt from all the thinking I have to do.. yay. :)

"What does it mean to be human?"

Thought #1- ...
Thought #2- ...
Thought #3- I'm not really getting anywhere with this.. hmm.

Honestly, I have no idea what it means to be human. I guess you could say all of those things that jump into your mind straight away such as: to love, to care, to learn, to make mistakes, etcetc, could be exactly what it means to be human. But somehow, I'm not feeling that vibe.
I mean sure, I do all of those things, but sitting here thinking, I'm wondering if that's what it means to be human.

History not only teaches us what happend in the past, but also what to expect in the future. Therefore, Wait scratch that.. I'm going to eat some chocolate for some flowerpower to come into my mind, maybe that'll help. :)

Anyways, mhm chocolate helps. :)

Back to the question.. I suppose that being human means:
-- making our lives easier at any given opportunity (there's actually a whole lot of scientific research done about that, just read Born To Run :D)
-- to be human, to be yourself
-- to learn and to make mistakes

Well.. simply said.. I suppose that the meaning of being human is simply to be human. To do all those things that we mammals were set out to do, while making our lives easier and unhealthier by the second. :)

To protect ones dignity and self-respect... which we acutally wouldn't need to do considering that it's only in our mind. So nevermind that..

Humans are like no other species in the animal or plant kingdom...

For me, being human means being me and no other person. It means pursuing my dreams and my goals. Challenging myself at any given moment and reach for the stars. It means smiling for 5 minutes straight everday, that way it'll come naturally.. (no that's not true but okay), it means to love and care for people, and give back to the community and world.

There obviously isn't a right or wrong answer, but this I feel.. comes close to what I want.. but I just can't get my thoughts around that one word or set of words that describe the meaning of being human.

Yeah. :)


Sara de Jong
10A