Historical Theories on the Role of Government

For my research paper, I plan on writing about the evolving historical theories regarding the role of government in both society and the economy. In conducting my research, I plan on reading works by philosophers including John Stuart Mill and John Locke, among others. This field interests me because I plan on studying economics and political science in college, and these works provide background for modern times.

Beat Movement Philosophy

Most of you have heard of the Beat Movement, or should have at least, which is a literary movement whose roots lie in the post-war 1950's. In a time of monotony, regularity, and conventional thinking, a group of poets, writers, outcasts, and free-thinkers, all being intellectuals decided to break free from the norms of society and to write about their experiences in their alternate style of living. The Beat Movement and it's philosophy often gets a bad rap from the uneducated because it is notorious for, and in a way synonymous, with heavy drug usage, irresponsibility, and well "testing moral limits". This view often detracts from the true genius and motivation behind the movement. It is about freedom and breaking free from the monotony of a life already transcribed for you; about experience and experiment; about testing the limits and throwing caution to the wind in order to gain a fuller experience and perhaps understanding of life. It is about poetry and novels and sharing what you have learned and what you have done in order to inspire others and provide an opportunity to be free and to make choices that are not preordained by the social standard. The writing is brilliant and eloquent and the lifestyle is enchanting and inspirational. I guess I would like to have the opportunity to delve deeper into what it means to be "beat" and be able to get credit for it. 

Medical Ethics

For my research paper topic, I chose to do medical ethics. I have always wanted to be a doctor of some kind and am planning to study pre-med in college; therefore, I thought this was a fitting topic for my interests. I am not sure what specifics I am going to focus on yet, but as I continue researching and reading books about the topic, then I will be able to narrow it down more. I am definitely going to try to include the topics of abortion, stem cell research, organ donation, and assisted suicide. These are all very controversial topics, and I am excited to learn more about the philosophical aspects of the debates about each topic.

Jewish Prayer

Being Jewish has always been a huge part of my identity.  When I started middle school, I was very passionate about Jewish culture and traditions. After my Bat Mitzvah in 2009, I suddenly stopped studying and reading prayers at my synagogue, but my passion for Judaism never faded.  In my opinion, a Jewish prayer is a unique piece of artwork that is appreciated around the world.  People change these prayers in many different ways, but somehow its importance and beauty stays the same. Even though I participate in Jewish activities on a regular basis, I still feel that my understanding of Jewish text is not clear.  I think this research paper can give me a chance to learn more about  my Jewish background and open my mind to my religion. I’m hoping that researching Jewish prayer will help me appreciate the internal beauty of sacred Hebrew text and give me the opportunity to connect on a more spiritual level.  

Magic in Western Culture

Magic is both taboo and mysteriously alluring in western civilizations. I'm considering exploring how magic is both rejected and sought after and the institutions that are associated with each opinion. Also, there is the fact that magic can be considered the twin to religion, magic giving humans the ability to perform feats that are the providence of deities, and religion considering the deities the sole beings that can perform fantastical feats. The historical enmity between the two continue to even the present day. The final branch I am considering lies in the progression of magic, from sorcerers a thousand years ago to witchcraft to magic tricks. The exact branch my paper will be on will include magic in both historical venues and in recent times.

Blog Post 1: Being Human

Human beings are the dominant species of planet Earth. There are so many qualities that we posses that all other beings do not, from the ability of spoken language, to using only bipedal movement. I believe that what qualifies a person as being "human" is deeper than that. I think that what truly makes one "human" is a combination of our display of emotions and our own individual personalities. Unlike many other animals, humans express their emotions much more often and more clearly. This is in part due to the addition of a spoken language a human can learn. When a person desires to express themselves, they can first verbalize their feelings, and perhaps laugh, cry, or shout depending on their mood. Human personalities enhance the way each individual's emotions are expressed and how intensely they are expressed. Whether one is an extrovert, introvert, pessimist, or optimist, their respective personality can help them convey their emotions better. Deeper personalities lead to better expression of these emotions, and human emotions are therefore shown on a deeper level. Other animals surely have emotions, but they can't express them like we can.

Since humans have become so intelligent, our definitions of everything have been enhanced over time. Being a man or a woman is now more than just a statement of what reproductive organs a being possesses. Each gender is now fitted with it's own stereotypes that are forced upon every member of both sexes. If you're a man, you shouldn't feel pain, you should always have the upper body muscle mass of a professional weightlifter, and you shouldn't express your emotions unless you want to appear feminine. If you're woman, you have to "lady-like" and "classy" according to everyone else's standards, you need to be skinny but not too skinny, and many other socially forced gender descriptions brought on mainly by the media. We have become so advanced as a species, we have almost back-tracked in our progression through such foolish descriptions of genders. What it means to be a man or woman is to simply be what you want to be, no matter your gender.

Art is a human creation. And with that creation there are many different types developed as humans did. Music, painting, literature, architecture, film, and many other forms of art have come into existence because of our species. Every form of art has a respective artist that creates it. I believe an artist is simply someone who is extremely creative and has the idea and drive to create something that has never been made before.

The quote "Our insistence on cognitive knowing may have already robbed us of some of our capacity for being human" refers to the factual methods humans take information in. The Creative Impulse may have made this statement because they believe that truly being "human" has less to with factual aspects and focuses more on the abstract concepts. There are ways we could become more human, or, in other words, regain our humanity once again according to The Creative Impulse. Some of these methods could be practicing more out-of-the-box thinking, studying foreign languages and cultures, and other "mind-opening" activities. In order to live the best life and be the most human, we all must educate ourselves, embrace new ideas, and challenge ourselves through every aspect in our lives.

- Anthony Oatley :)

History of Rock Music

Rock has forever been my favorite genre of music. I guess it's probably because my parents exposed me constantly to it at a young age, but overexposure can often cause one to become bored. Needless to say, rock music has never bored me. I have a fascination with it, and not only the music itself, but also the culture that surrounds it and the amazingly unique personalities it has fostered over the years. The amazing variety of music that is encompassed by the term "rock" is also a draw for me, and the reason that I can so easily say that rock is my favorite? Practically any classic song has at least some element of rock in it. The difficult part for me will be narrowing it down enough to write a strong paper that includes logical connections to the world of humanities.

I intend to focus on American rock music, specifically hard rock, although I will be the first to admit that many of the genre's strongest groups were from other countries. The culture around rock is possibly more fascinating than even the music itself is. The most interesting thing to me about hard rock may be how exactly it went out of style. How did such an amazing movement go in and then out of style so quickly? Sure there may be aspects of hard rock still alive in today's music, but it is nothing close to what it once was in the glory days. I think that that may be a good starting point for my research, not to focus on the genre itself as much as how and why it died out.

Hinduism

        I chose the topic of Hinduism for my research project because I have always been fascinated by the culture that surrounds it. The Hindus of India and surrounding areas have such a unique way of looking at life and what it means to be a human being;  the idea of rebirth and reincarnation, which is a hard concept for western nations to fully understand. Indian society is built upon Hinduism, and unlike most people in the Western world, it affects their life on a day to day basis.

          I became particularly interested in the topic while learning about India in Advanced World Cultures last semester, but I could only learn an overview of the religion and its beliefs. I want to learn more and expand my knowledge of a religion so different from Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Through the project, I hope to learn and comprehend the religion; rituals, ceremonies, and the intricate details around Hindu beliefs.

RP: Creation Stories

Creation stories have fascinated me for years. I grew up with a religious background that encouraged the exploration of the spiritual texts and stories of other religions and cultures.

In elementary school I remember reading a story that has stuck with me for years. It's a creation story in which God asks the wolf (or possibly a coyote but for the purposes of this blog post I'll tell it as a wolf) creature to create humans. The wolf realizing the importance of this task asks the other animals for their input and suggestions. The animals gather for a meeting that dissolves into an arguement. Soon one of the animals suggests they build their idea of what humans should look like in clay. At once the animals set to do this. However each animal has fashioned their animal into the image of themselves. The animals work on the clay versions of themselves and then one by one decide to take a nap. The wolf looks around at the creatures' creations and thinks of aspects of each one of them as well as characteristic of the animals that didn't attend the meeting such as the fish. He decides to incorporate aspects of all the animals. Quickly he goes around and pours water on all the other clay figures, destroying them and sets to creating his own. As the animals wake up they realize what the wolf did but it's to late to rebuild. The animals watch as the wolf finishes his creation and breathes life into it. This story happens to be the one that captivated my interest as a nine year old, but it is simply one of many different stories from around the world. These stories allowed people to answer tough questions about where they came from.

For centuries people have tried to understand the world they live in and how they came to be. They tried to answer the question of where they came from in these stories and myths. I'm focusing my research of religion and mythology solely on creation stories. As we discussed one creation story in class today and I begin my research I'm realizing that my research might take me close to the divide between religion and science. Creation stories are one of the biggest clashes between the two (creationism vs evolution). Living in today's world the conflict over the "theory of evolution" is huge. Creation stories have always fascinated me but they are not central to my core beliefs nor do I hold them as truth. However in some other religions they are held as fact. As science improves we continue to find evidence that contradicts these creation stories. Sometimes reading these stories with their magic I wonder if we lose something when we toss aside these stories. I feel that as I continue my research I will be exploring the purpose and meaning behind the stories and what we lose when we reject them completely in favor of science. I'm finding it almost impossible to research or talk about creation stories without discussing the religion vs science divide.

Religion and Treating Psychological Disorders

Psychology has always been my passion.  Understanding how the human mind works and what motivates our actions is fascinating to me.  It is amazing to me how much psychology has evolved over time.  In the past, people with mental illnesses were often locked up and had to undergo torturous "treatments,"  today, we have much more advanced knowledge of mental illness and understand how to help people who have these conditions.  Our treatment of mental illness is deeply effected by religion.  Mental illness is approached very differently in places where people believe that the spiritual world dictates our psychological well-being. 

Since religion is also a topic that I am very interested in, I am going to write about the connection between psychology and religion.  I am planning to look into a general history of both, and study how different places in the world handle the treatment of people with psychological disorders, as well as what their religious beliefs and practices are.  It is my hope to develop a greater understanding of how different religions impact us as individuals, and as groups, based on the effect it has on our views and implementation of psychological treatment.

Humanism in Psychology

I’ve always been fascinated and intrigued by the way the human mind functions. The brain is the basis of people’s behaviors, which include their mental processing and emotional characteristics, as well as their responses to a specific situation, individual, or group. For my topic, I want to dive into the humanist perspective of psychology. Humanism and psychology go handily with one another, but humanistic psychologists also take particular approaches when they are viewing their patients’ specific needs and disorders and treating them. Often they will identify with them to the different factors within the human culture and apply them to the individual’s needs (think of: archetypes, human potential, self-actualization, nature-nurture, ideal of individualism and collectivism, etc.). 

My wish is that by looking at psychology and then approaching it from a humanistic perspective, it’ll help my understanding, as well as others’, of the role culture plays in people’s lives and the aspects that make us human. Psychology helps us to understand what goes on in the human mind and how it functioned at the beginning of our time to even the present time. It can give us an understanding to how and why our ancestors’ acted as they did in the time period they lived based on what we observe and analyze in the human culture today and the human culture seen in archaeological discoveries. I’m excited to center my focus on the study of humanism while using psychology as a research tool.

Shakespeare's Hamlet

       Over the summer, I became increasingly interested in Shakespeare and his works, namely Hamlet. My love for theatre and my curiosity for the mind behind some of my favorite theatrical works has led me to choose to write about Shakespeare, in particular, Hamlet. I hope to touch on the philosophy that Shakespeare incorporates into Hamlet and how it affects Hamlet's actions (i.e. killing Polonius and pretending to go insane for the sake of killing his uncle). Personally, I am fascinated with the ideas behind the plays that Shakespeare has written. By exploring one of his best and well-known works, I hope to learn more about him and his view of life, death, love, and the human condition. 
    I think that it is an important aspect of art, whether that be visual, performing, or written, to explore and understand the meaning behind it. By understanding the meaning, we can better understand the uniqueness of each and every one of us and the incredible brains that we humans possess. I am excited to focus on answering that question while also researching one of my favorite writers!
       

The Indie Music Revolution

 I absolutely adore everything Indie culture has to offer society. This culture is known as an "underground lifestyle trend", but there's so much more to it than that. When most people hear the word "indie" they think of a "hipster" reading a book at a local coffee shop, but that's not what the culture itself really is. The culture is defined by it's creativity. You have indie films, indie literature, indie style, and indie music. Each of these categories acts as a "sub-genre" to the whole culture and they're all powerful enough to stand on their own.

 Seeing as I love and identify with indie music it only makes sense for me research it. Weather I'm listening to the punky, upbeat songs of the newly reformed girl group, Sleater-Kinney, or winding down to the beautifully unique sound of San Fermin, I always end up feeling connected to what I'm listening to. This music means something to the people that create it. These artists put their heart and soul into every lyric they write, every melody they play, and every note that flows from their mouths. This music has personality and it deserves to be written about by someone who cares about it. I only hope I can do it justice. 

Comparing satirical and practiced religions

    For my research topic I plan to compare multiple religions.  As of right now the religions I am considering are Christianity, Scientology, and Pastafarianism.   Comparing these three is important because Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world, Scientology is often considered somewhat of a joke, and Pastafarianism is completely satirical.  I find it interesting that Christianity has so much more merit than the other two even though they all have extremely similar beliefs and the same amount of credibility.  The creation stories of all three do not differ as much as one would think and I would like to explore why people find it acceptable to declare Scientology and Pastafarianism complete jokes while they do not examine the doctrines of Christianity further to find how alike they really are.  Obviously Scientology was written by a science-fiction writer, and Pastafarianism was created as a light-hearted take on today's religions, but they are not so far off from Christianity.  I plan to do research on the start, histories, rituals, ceremonies, and beliefs of all three religions.  This is a hot topic so that is definitely a reason that I want to research this.

Post Hardcore: The Antithesis of the Hardcore Movement

When the American post hardcore scene evolved from post punk bands, the underground music lifestyle flourished and bands erupted from basement venues and garage shows. The music beamed with expression, emotion and originality. A movement began. Before the late 1980's, post hardcore was unheard of. In the popular hardcore scene of Washington DC, bands started to experiment. New sounds with strong lyrics, varying sporadic tones, and unclean vocals sprouted off from the classic hardcore standards. A new wave was established. By the late 2000's the golden era was over, but many bands today still hold the characteristics created by the post hardcore forefathers. When answering the question "Did hardcore ever leave?", modern post hardcore band La Dispute summed it up perfectly, "Punk and hardcore and the spirit that fuels it never left, never went anywhere. If anything it was just in peoples basements and coffee shops...if you have too much over saturation of one thing [hardcore] the opposite inevitably comes back." Post hardcore is much alive, and people love the music that they can emotionally connect to. The hardcore scene never left, only evolved within in itself. 

In my paper I plan to explore the beginnings of the movement. Find the connections to culture and the changes because of it. Using bands and the characteristics of each of them I plan to connect the original branch off music with the new age post hardcore. I will also delve into the lifestyle, beliefs, and styles due to it. 

RP Topic: Environmental Ethics

I have always been extremely fascinated in the natural world that we live in. It is such a beautiful, and somewhat fragile, continuous phenomenon that many humans pay no attention to on a daily basis. Our planet's environment is associated with the creation of the only known life in the universe, as well as the precarious task of sustaining that precious life through natural balances and corrections. Unfortunately that miracle is overlooked everyday. It has been dismissed because our Earth hasn't shown much evidence that anything negative is occurring until just in the last few decades. Our species has expanded quite possibly much farther and faster than we should have. We are causing our entire planet to change rapidly. Glacial ice is melting, there are hotter summers, colder winters, more severe weather and storms, rising sea levels, the extinction of many fragile species, and the list can go on forever. This problem was forged by the hands of humans. This is the issue of climate change.

Humans can choose how they interact with the world around them. Unfortunately many humans are still in denial that their actions and their predecessor's actions have altered the world they live in. Those who understand and accept the reality of climate change can choose to make their decisions with their environment in mind. The concept of Environmental Ethics only exists to those who base their knowledge on the idea that humans can and will affect the world around them, for better or worse. For my research project, I plan to look at Environmental Ethics as a whole, but then focus more on how this concept intertwines itself with climate change. I am curious to see what sort of different opinions, literature, and new facts I will encounter as I continue this project.

- Anthony Oatley :)

Philosophical Views

I've decided to write about philosophy for my research project. Although I do not know specifics yet, I plan to do some basic research on a number of philosophers and choose one person or view in particular. I suppose I wasn't aware at how interested I was in philosophy until I began this class. I realized how much I enjoy hearing different peoples views of life, and I'm excited to be able to research one view in depth.  I am really hoping that my research will further open my eyes to what others think of the world we live in, and what our purpose is here on earth. I'm also excited to learn a little about different philosophers and their views because to be completely honest I am not very familiar with many philosophers. I am definitely interested in writing this paper about a specific philosopher and what their personal opinions were. I am assuming I will be discussing their views in depth as well as comparing them to my own views. I am a little worried because I am not the best writer, and I want to be sure I know exactly what is expected of me.

Man Up!

Man Up!

A kid falls on the ground off of the swing, his palms and knees are scraped up and have wood chips all over them. One of his friends laughs at the fall and so the injured kid just shrugs it off and continues to play. When someone says to "man up", it means that they are telling you to be tougher, to be less emotional. Men are generally considered tougher than women because through evolution, men have adapted to hunt while women adapted to nurture and gather. As a hunter, a man has to have a greater focus on his surroundings and not worry about emotions or harmless scratches that could distract him from catching his prey. His family relies on him to be tough, control his emotions, and stay focused. Even though our society is rapidly evolving in front of our eyes, we still use phrases like, "be a man" and "man up". With such a great movement towards gender equality, do phrases like this hold society back or are they just harmless sayings that do not affect how gender equality is perceived?

Sayings that promote the image of male toughness or dominance are ultimately slowing the movement to reach gender equality down. Whether someone is male or female, they are still human and should be treated equally. These sayings hold on to the outdated notion that  women cannot be proficient in anything other than taking care of the home. Today, women compete in sports and have an important role in the current culture outside of their households.It is time for our society to drop these archaic sayings so we can continue to evolve and advance our society.

RP Topic: Metal Culture

There is an entire underworld of dark culture among every society. My research paper will focus on the metal sub-culture which often associates itself with being a counter-culture to the mainstream societal ideals. It challenges the norm and provokes the questioning of our own personalities. I chose this broad topic and will further narrow it down as I find inspiration from literature and research. As of right now, I am looking into the Scandinavian "black metal" scene (among other more specific topics) which has long been associated with the most extreme end of the metal cultural spectrum. Their rebellion and violence has had a dramatic effect on the people of those northern nations. I look forward to seeing how this paper will change the way that I view my music and the culture which has spawned its existence.

-MrNicky900

Myth

I have always been fascinated by mythology. Specifically, Greek Mythology has almost always been a passion of mine. I remember in elementary school the librarian let me get mythology books out of a section we weren’t allowed to go in. It started out as just another story- I learned about the characters, what they stood for, and what their histories were. But as I grew older I began to really understand the meaning behind them. People had actually believed in these Gods and relied on them in daily life. From there I began exploring other mythologies, specifically Native American and Hinduism.

It’s no secret that almost all mythologies have similarities. Most have a mother goddess, a trickster god, and a creation myth. I hope to explore one of these topics. I want to research a parallel between many cultures through their myths, and perhaps why such parallels can be found. Currently I am leaning toward the sky gods. In ancient cultures people had to use gods to explain the celestial bodies and the cycles they observed in the sky. The heavens have always fascinated humanity and I would like to explore the world’s stories about the sun, moon, and stars.

Arcadian Environmentalism

For the past several years, I’ve had an interest in environmentalism that stemmed from a deep passion for understanding how our society powers itself.  These interests have pushed me to write several articles and editorials for sites like the Sentinel and Atomic Insights, a leading nuclear energy blog.  Now these interests have pushed me to study Arcadian Environmentalism, the form of environmentalism that romanticizes nature and argues that we need to live in harmony with nature, for my research paper.  I would consider myself an eco-modernist or pragmatist, which falls into a minority of the environmental movement that tends to believe that decoupling from nature through increased energy consumption will lead to more effective conservation efforts.  As a result, my belief set tends to fall in conflict with many of the ideals of the Arcadian belief set.  For the paper, I suspect that I will be closely examining the origins of the philosophy that drives much of the environmental community (which follows a set of Arcadian views).   I’ll be studying early forms of environmentalism, and looking at how the philosophy behind the movement has shifted throughout the decades as new environmental concerns have come into play.  

EC: Human Species

This article explored the human dynamic. How humanities needs to be evaluated on a scientific level, not only on the present day level. By exploring our past as a species we can further understand our purpose and what it means to be human. Some quotes that really stood out for me are:
"insects...globally dominate invertebrates on the land"
This is true. Weather we believe it or not, the planet will continue perfectly without our existence. If we eliminated insects, all life would cease. We are a part of our environment and depend on our entire ecosystem for resources. Without insects as a keystone species other species would die, and subsequently us. Something seemingly so small and insignificant outnumbers us as a species. Even though our thought process is more advanced than every other creature on earth, we are still vulnerable and frail to things we see as so small and useless.
"Contrary to general opinion, demons and gods do not vie for our allegiance."
I think this is a strong statement. What we have to remember is that the world was not made for solely us. It developed and we developed from it. The deities we do or don't believe in do not praise us as a spices, they created us. They can destroy us. As my beliefs, nature is what is sacred. Nature has power over us as people, nature can retaliate, nature can help us. We do not own this planet, we coexist with every other species. The humanities can be explored through the understanding of our roots, not only that god was created for us and only appeared within the realm of human existence.

EC: The Riddle

     Humans, although we sometimes forget, are just one species in a world of millions.  Our presence on this planet has been limited.  If a calendar started at the big bang, the last minute of the last hour of the last day of December would be when we first started to see the predecessors of humans.  Nature has outlasted for billions of years.  The knowledge that nature can show us is nearly unlimited. Nature can  show us our biological progression, but also show us our social progression and neural progression as well.  It can show us the differences in human interaction of the past, and how it has both changed and stayed the same.
   
    Millions of years ago humans were a nomadic type of species.  We roamed to where the food was plentiful and the terrain was suitable for the time being.  As we progressed we traveled less and less.  Different tribes would have sites for separate seasons.  Tribes would divide the work.  This was the precursor of what jobs are to us today.  There were hunters, gatherers, builders, babysitters.  We became a united force.  This was an advantage to humans for many different reasons.  It helped for diversity.  There were multiple bloodlines together to help stop from inbreeding.  It also allowed us to use more of the potential of our ever-growing brain.  Living in a tribe forced humans to be a part of social interactions, to remember the right thing to do in situations, to compete in the non-stop game of  chess that is human interaction.

      Very few species are eusocial, and as nature shows us they tend to be successful.  Ants and termites are two of the largest species population wise in the world.  Humans are the most intelligent.  Something with having a nest-like structure and dividing work among many workers seems to be quite effective.  I agree with Edward O. Wilson when he says, "It is dangerous to think of this planet as a way station to a better world, or continue to convert it into a literal, human-engineered spaceship".  Earth is not just ours to control, we must create a symbiotic relationship with both the flora and fauna of this planet.  We must look to nature not only for the survival of ours species, but all species.

EC: The Human Species: A Scientific Explanation on Why We Survived

After reading a couple lines out of some of the completed blog posts, I am getting the sense that people believe Wilson is being to forward in his beliefs on religion and not giving faith the credit that it is due.Initially, I felt that these accusations are unfounded after reading, "It is time to consider what science might give to the humanities and the humanities to science in a common search for a more solidly grounded answer to the great riddle." It seems that not only does Wilson appreciate what the humanities, religion included, has to offer when concerning our history and biology. In the end, this article is about science, not religion. It makes sense that it would seem he is purposely leaving out religion because he is. Not because he does not believe it has value but that religion is not the focus of this article.

This article is not about how we came to think the way we do, how our culture came about, or why we as humans feel impelled to create myth and religion, but simply why we are still around. Why are humans so successful? What factors during our evolution has lead us to this end? 

Wilson cites eusocial behavior and individual and group selection as the deciding factors of our success and longevity as a species. Eusocial, according to the "look up" option on blogger, meaning "Zoology (of an animal species, esp. an insect) showing an advanced level of social organization, in which a single female or caste produces the offspring and nonreproductive individuals cooperate in caring for the young." This type of organization directly correlates with the family model. By extension, Wilson is saying that family is the key to our survival. The level of care and concern that is fed to us during our upbringing is what makes us superior to any other specie. This, along with the ancient ability to judge and pick up on even the mildest social cues. This allows us to make better judgements on people and animals alike. 

The combination of care and concern, both from our perspective and our parents, is the explanation to why we have survived this long; why our species is the most complex and the most successful in history.

EC: The Riddle?

I found The Riddle of the Human Species a bit contradictory. I found it contradictory because of Mr. Wilson's strong opinion of human nature - the idea that our development is owed to our changed diet and that our humanity is solely based on evolution. I think that this is an opinion. Evolution is based on factual evidence, yes, but it is also a theory and there is an element of belief within it. If it were 100% factual, everyone would take it as gospel and there would not be any different theories/stories/myths on creation and the purpose of humankind. That being said, I believe that Mr. Wilson's article proved many points regarding the development of humankind and the science behind our species.

At the end of the article, Mr. Wilson says that it "is dangerous to think of this planet as a way station to a better world...". Part of what makes us human is our ability to query and ponder the meaning of this life, where we came from, and where we are going. By stating this, I believe that he is completely disregarding religions that incorporate the belief that this world is not all that there is for us humans - that after this life, we will go to paradise, or whatever form of afterlife said religions choose to adopt. In order to understand development from a scientific viewpoint, you must understand why people are the way they are and what has caused them to be so. By disregarding religion and belief systems incorporating the divine, etc, you are disregarding an aspect of research that can further that understanding. Believe it or not, we did not just suddenly appear with an innate sense of a higher power. There are reasons for why we worship, long for, and have reverence for supreme beings/the divine.

I personally was a bit offended by this article. The way that Mr. Wilson paints those who are religious, makes us sound as if we are incompetent and less-than to those who believe in pure science. I believe in God and the creation of the universe and humankind that is outlined in the Bible. I also look at science and appreciate it, believing that it is grounded in truth - there are many aspects of science that match up with my beliefs and further cause me to appreciate and practice my own faith. There is something to be said about what makes us human, what makes us unique. I think that Mr. Wilson neglected to acknowledge that religion, to name one aspect, is what sets us apart from animals. By better understanding this, as I mentioned, I believe that we can further explore the early development of human beings.

EC: Without faith would we be human?

Wilson begins his article The Riddle of the Human Species by stating that the "majority of people prefer to interpret history as the unfolding of a supernatural design" and goes on to discuss why he believes that is wrong. He addresses a few aspects of our biological history including eusociality, the development of human bodies, and the two theories of the "grandmaster of advanced social evolution." He essentially argues that the biological and social changes that occurred as humans became carnivores and began living together at campsites is the route of humanity. He says humans developed complex social structures and a large variety of relationships. He also discussed the development of our brains and how the change in our diet led to our new social structure. He concludes the article by saying "Contrary to general opinion, demons and gods do not vie for our allegiance. We are self-made..."

I think now is as good a time as any to inform you that I don't really practice a religion, but I am not atheistic or agnostic either. However, I did not appreciate Wilson's atheistic approach in this article. I think the few atheistic remarks scattered into the article were unnecessary and took away from the well written facts in the rest of paper. I think that he should have looked a little closer at religion when examining the “riddle of the human species.” Whether he believes in any religion or not, faith has played a huge part in the development of human society. Spirituality and belief (whether it is in deities or not) is an integral part of every human being. Without faith would we be human? Other organisms do not practice any faith. I think that one aspect of what makes us human is the ability to believe in things we can’t understand with the five basic senses. Most other organisms rely on only their senses to tell them everything they need to know about the world around them.

Wilson prides himself in his evaluation of the biological evolution of humans. He looks at humans throughout the whole of their history and argues that we have been socially  changed by our physical development. I wish he had lined up the history of faith alongside our physical and social development. Religion has almost always been a part of our society and has had a colossal impact on the history of humanity. Faith has caused us to “belong to groups,” to have “competition and conflict,” and to feel and evaluate emotions such as “trust, love, hatred, suspicion, admiration, envy, and sociability.” These are all things that Wilson argues were caused by only our biological evolution, but there are certainly other causes for each aspect.

Whether you believe that we are self-made or not, I think we can all agree that having beliefs, whether they are aesthetic or religious, is an essential piece of being human. We have the capacity to believe in something we can’t see, and it has been a part of our humanity since the first person feared a deity. The last sentence of Wilson’s article is “Self-understanding is what counts for long-term survival, both for individuals and for the species.” If belief is a part of all of us, his argument only strengthens mine: faith is an essential part of every individual and of humanity as a whole, because faith provides an understanding of ourselves and our universe.

We Are All Individuals

To be human, is to be completely unique and individual. Though we all share similar characteristics and qualities, we all have unique personalities and perspectives that separate ourselves from one to the next. There are no two humans that are exactly alike. Though we can be categorized into groups in which we have similar attributes; practising the the same religion, being from the same country or culture, or having the same hobbies, we are still individuals. We can all have different ideas on the same religion and cultures, and we can all have different reasons for having the same hobby. We all think and feel differently, and that’s a part of what makes us human. What is unique about being a human, as opposed to any other animal that walks the earth, is our abilities to express our emotions and our inner thoughts through art, poetry, culture, and religion. Our minds have given us the ability to think beyond survival, and has allowed us to develop our cultures and religions and ideas that make us human. To be a man and to be a woman are different, but we are all still human. It can be proven that men think, act and feel differently from women, but every man will think, act and feel differently from each other, just as each woman.

In the modern world, I think we have lost a lot of what makes us human. We no longer are seen as individuals, but instead we are grouped and stereotyped all the time. We all go to school together and learn the exact same thing, and are put to the same learning standards as everyone else. We can not learn to be individuals if we are forced to be the same. I think that is what the statement from The Creative Impulse was trying to say: our desire for everyone to learn and be intelligent has become detrimental to us as human beings. Modern society needs to stop grouping people together and instead look as each person as an individual. We all learn differently, and have different capabilities. Judging us all by the same rubric will not allow us to reach our true potential, not just as students, but also in life.  We need to allow ourselves to find out who we are, and how we learn best, what interests us, what are we good and not so good at, and how we can express ourselves and our feelings and emotions.

The Awakening of the Human Mind

As we have evolved through time, we have gained thought process, analytical thinking, and intense focus, making us the epitome of an apex species. But what have we lost in the process? Being human means we have all capability to achieve anything, unimaginable and unthought of. With this we also hold a responsibility to care for the immense world we inhibit. 

In many ways we have lost our connection to the outside world. With the development of ego, we have separated ourselves from the environment we ultimately emerged from. This can be negative and positive, both that we have lost intuition and instinct, but that we also have constructed a world we made for ourselves through cities and homes. 

Being human means we have complete control over resources, all for the means of survival. This is not always justified. Nature retaliates from our control in natural disasters. Falsely named, because nature does not create disaster, only balances the construction with destruction to make new. 

To become more human, we must reattach to our environments. The creative, visual, basic processes we know we must again attach to. By spending time in nature we tap into our sources to balance our intense curiosity and thought with the natural growth that propelled us as a species. Listening to our own intuition is what makes us human, not only our thought process. We as humans are not separated from nature, but a part of the balance. We are made of elements that make up every aspect of the world we know of. Being human means we balance our analysis and evoke our emotions and intuition. We seek nature as healing and resourcefulness to our souls and inner workings of the mind. After all, "we come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust"-Rumi

To Identify Myself

"What does it mean to be human"? Some would say that question has plagued humanity since the beginning of our existence. I would respectfully disagree. I would consider it a question humanity cannot fully comprehend, and therefore cannot be answered by humans. No other creature or being may answer this question for us, and we cannot answer such a broad and inconceivable question. I believe there are many parts of the human experience. In terms of time, to be human is to reflect, act, and predict. In terms of thinking, to be human is to analyze and to act on impulse. While the comparisons are as endless as the answers to this question, one way to consider an aspect of humanity is to have been, be, and will be both yin and yang, opposites that complete one another. To be human is to be the manifestation of an oxymoron, and all questions involve human nature are sure to be as enigmatic as the beings that they discuss.

"To be a man" is a completely subjective phrase. Immediately, upon hearing this question, I thought to answer with oversight, under analysis, aggression, and powerful. However, the question is not what are some defining characteristics of young males, but what it means to be a man. The only way for any individual to answer this question is for any individual who identifies as a man to explain what that question means to them. It would not be plausible to ask this question to any individual who identifies as female, as that individual has no bearing on this question. Even the question itself may be perceived and number of ways. It might ask what are the defining characteristics of being a man, what is it like to be a man, and even what values a man should hold to be confident in establishing the identity of a man. After careful thought, I myself consider the question to be the last of those options, and I would have to respond by saying that to be a man is to be honorable, respectful, and reliable. Of course, I only answer as such because to answer this question, as a young man, is to describe who I should aspire to be, as encouraged by personal beliefs.

I could not possibly answer what it means to be a woman. I do not identify myself as a woman, and therefore cannot possible imagine how to answer for one. I may make the same speculation as above, that there are many ways to answer the question and the answer itself depends on the values of the individual answering. To attempt to claim to be able to identify members of the opposite sex is beyond my ability  comprehend, as it is the other side of the coin, the twin half of the oxymoron that is humanity.

"To be an Artist" is, in essence, to be able to express one's emotions or a message through a medium. There are, of course many kinds of artists, many different mediums, and various ways to present the artwork itself, the presentation itself possibly influencing the way an individual interprets the art. However, as stated in a comparison between multiple interviews of artists, many artists seek to send a message of a sort through the work that is produced. A more subtle part of an artist's identity is to be able to identify with, or make comparisons to, pieces of artwork not composed by the artist in question. To be an artist is to be able to communicate, and to understand emotion that is not explained through human contact.

Humanity, being largely composed of two primary categories, can be split into the categories of fact and faith, otherwise considered science and belief. Belief is a uniquely human characteristic in that it begets imaginative thinking and motivation beyond what a human lacking a reason to act woul be able to muster. However, if science s completely rejected, then it also begets another intrinsic trait of humanity: ignorance. Science is opposite, yet comparable. It deals in hard facts, undeniable constants that eliminate ignorance. However, "our insistence on cognitive knowledge may have already robbed us of some of our capacity for being human."Science consumes faith and imaginative perception of the surrounding world and places knowledge in its place, in essence turning human beings into machines.

Overall, there is nothing that might be able to accomplish "achieving or regaining our full humanity". There is no way to determine what our full potential as humans is, as evolution might take away our identity as humans in several million years, and it is in the nature of humans is to question. Science is an important part of human nature, yet it eats away at faith. Faith is an irreplaceable quality of humanity, yet it shuns science. To no longer question the world around us, or indeed ourselves, is to stagnate and regress as humans, but to question the world too much could lead to an explosive growth of science that would crush human imagination and strip the world of its empathy. There is no way to fully achieve humanity, and to attempt to regain it would cause as much humanity that is regained to be lost. The imperfection of humans is the pinnacle of humanity, and the latter evolves as we do.

EC: Do we need to understand the human riddle?

The fact that the author of "The Riddle of the Human Species", Edward O. Wilson, is strongly opposed to the idea of deities being responsible for creation represents the stereotypical biologist or evolutionist. He himself states that "almost all groups compete with those of similar kind in some manner or another. We tend to think of our own as superior, and we find our identity within them". Clearly, Wilson identifies himself as a man of pure science and logic. I do not necessarily consider him wrong in his opinions. There is indeed, much evidence supporting how humans have evolved and the biological sciences are key in understanding that from the viewpoint of fact.

 However, I have to wonder how an article on the same topic would be written, if the author was either an individual of faith, or or a blend of the two. The latter would be one who believes in a divine power, yet also trusts in fact and logic to explain the world. I can only speculate that for those who have immersed themselves in religion, to believe that humans evolved or transformed from a lower life form must be a severe falsification. I do consider myself to be of the latter category, though it itself may have subsets of beliefs. Pure science denies the possibility of design, and pure religion denies the facts of the natural world. A mixture of religion and science can completely support the theory of evolution, and of the possibility of the fore-mentioned multilevel selection. However, the middle ground may be considered to be the most inaccurate, as it proves fact with faith.

None of the groups can fully answer why humans exist in our current state, and no group can agree with the another theory. In this sense, I do not believe the question of human existence possible to answer. We may analyze what we are, reflect on what we have been, and predict what we will become, but to conform to any one belief is to cause humanity to stagnate. Science, by itself, explains the world around us, but it eliminates many of the qualities that make us human: imagination, faith, belief, and emotion. Religion manifests those qualities that separate the identity of humans from machines, but sacrifices our ability to understand. Ignorance is as detrimental to the human experience as loss of identity. Therefore, the middle ground helps to mediate, to prove theories and keep us human while providing enough disagreement to maintain the growth of society. The riddle of the human species keeps us as humanity pressing forward, and it is my belief that it is a question that should never be answered, for fear of losing the qualities that make us human.

Gaining Our Humanity Back

Humanity can be defined in many different ways. Most people agree that humanity is the special something that separate us from gorillas and the other beasts that we share the earth with. How can we lose this? How can we cast away our being and become less human and more beastly? What happened along the technology-driven path of evolution that we find ourselves on now? In short, I have to believe that the answer is technology. Never has there been such a double edged sword than the progress that humans have made in the realm of technology. Technology, specifically social and entertainment technology, has become the paradox of humanity.

In one sense, advances in technology demonstrate the epitome of human critical thinking, understanding, and cognitive thinking which are all aspects of what should lead to tremendous advances in humanity. We can now communicate on a global scale in a matter of seconds. We have access to a innumerable cache of knowledge without expending effort on more than the twitch of a couple fingers. There are group messages, emails, blogs, Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, websites where you can watch and share videos, cooking tips, and opinions on just about anything. In theory, we should be more in touch with each other as humans than any other time in history. In a sense that is true, but connecting with each other is more than just posting what kind of food you had or how lame the Super Bowl commercials were. It is about the time spend with one another. Quality time to learn about each other beyond the restraints of a screen; beyond the veil of an emotionless line of print posted to the world.

Humanity is about interaction. What sets human interaction apart from animal is our ability to decipher deeper meanings in seemingly simple dialogue. A dog does not hear another's angry bark and think "well he is not really angry that I peed in his territory. He is shy and being defensive and probably has been hurt by a friend in the past." Humans have this extraordinary amazing skill to know how another feels by just looking at them and judging their body movements and facial expression. It is obvious that these skills are becoming obsolete when most interaction is being done over text and social media. I hope I am not the only one who has wished texting were not a thing at times. There are things that I would have preferred to talk about in person that have been rushed by the accessibility of texting.

Humanity is about exploration. We are now able to locate and take in depth looks at anywhere on earth (with the exception of secret government bases and other buildings of that sort). Exploration should be at an all time high following the creation of GPS and apps that will tell you about the best place to eat, the best place to get a massage, to buy cereal, to rent a hovercraft. The funny thing about it is what is happening to us as humans because of it. It makes sense to say we are becoming more robotic as robots serve a more prevalent role in our lifestyles. People spend less and less time outside, too caught up in a virtual reality to take a step outside and explore their surroundings- exploration being a human trait since the dawn of time. Humans often become too entranced in the informational overload thrown at us daily. I am saddened by the amount of people that are content in saying in their hometown forever. Worse yet, the amount of people unwilling to even go hiking in the beautiful, serene, and awe-inspiring forests at our disposal as New Hampshirites. Exploring gives one a chance to become more in tune with himself and gain a wider scope of the world and how it works. It fosters a sense of togetherness with the people that come along for the journey.

These are what humanity is all about. True connectedness with each other. True understanding that is product of personal relationships with the people around you and those that you care about. People talking to people not people hiding behind their screens.

The Act of Being Human

Humans have a tendency to ask complicated questions about life.  As our lives progress, many of us ponder about the deeper meanings of the world that surrounds us.  There are a myriad of tangible objects that have a concrete significance on Earth, but the importance of individuals is not as simple.  If someone were to survey the question, “What does it mean to be human?” on the streets, it’s likely that there would be many answers to that one simple question.  The human brain is unique to every individual and has different cognitive thoughts at different times. To be a man is different from being a woman, but both men and women have the ability of becoming artists.  Our brains are capable of defining who an individual believes they should be in the world.  

There is a very powerful quotation from the text, The Creative Impulse. It states that, “Our insistence on cognitive knowing may have already robbed us of some of our capacity for being human.”  It is trying to explain that the realization of factual evidence is limiting our possible human potential.   In the case of this text, human potential is referring to individual creativity.  As humans, it is our duty to express individuality in the form of beauty.  Everyone is capable of conveying their own identity and attempting to achieve full humanity.

People create for many different reasons, but one significant reason for creation is to express human emotion.  Without intuition, there isn't much logical reason for people to live.  As we reveal our true connections and feelings, we are fulfilling our responsibility of making a positive impact on the world. For full human potential, we need to be comfortable with revealing some of the strongest emotions like grief, fear, joy, trust and love.  By welcoming others into our lives and accepting each other for being unique, full humanity might be able to be restored.  

Passion

What does it mean to be human? Being human means being in love, experiencing death, feeling emotion and passion, aging, reaching goals, being unique, telling a story, experiencing culture.  The list can go on and on about common characteristics all humans across all cultures share, independent of geography and language; that's what being a human is all about.  Each culture and person is unique in their own way, whether it's age, gender, social class, or ethnicity that categorizes them.  Regardless of the differences each person shares, we all feel the same in some aspects; we all feel passionate about something.  Learning to accept the fact that all humans feel the same is a way to regain and achieve our full humanity. Even though humans experience different life events and and come from different worlds, we are all human. Once we learn to accept our differences and each other as people, we will be able to expand our horizons and appreciate all cultures, genders, ages, and ethnic groups, which will ultimately help us recognize each other for the wonderful, passionate beings we are.

Humans have played sports steadily as we have evolved. The primal nature is part of who we are. Aggression, competitiveness, and emotion are part of the human experience and reside in every human.  For me, this aggression and emotion can be expressed through athletics. I have always been particularly passionate about sports, and would define myself as an athlete.  But when people think about sports, they usually associate it with males. Everyone has a little male and female in them and depending on the situation and environment, one exudes. Through sports, I am able to reach goals, feel emotion, experience culture.  Even though I feel more passionate about sports than others, that doesn't mean other people don't experience the same aggression and competitiveness as me. As humans, we all share common qualities, but the way we choose to express those characteristics are different. It is important for us to recognize these differences and accept them because we are all human.

Emotional Response

Emotions are central to being human. Each day, we feel and react to our surroundings. These emotions and the way we react to them, together, is what makes us human. When something hurts us we react. That instant reaction is impulsive and fully charged with emotion. But then our brains take over. We think about the event and our reaction and our next action is planned and purposeful. We consider the consequences and outcomes, we factor in the other people, and any possible damage, we think of hurting people, ourselves, our surroundings. We rationalize our emotions, reactions, and decisions. This is what it means to be human, not only to feel but also to rationalize.

Artists may have the best reactions to emotion. An artist takes what they feel and turns it into a beautiful work. A painter uses brushes and paints to craft a piece that can evoke emotion in the viewer. In the same way a dancer portrays an emotion through dance. The audience feels the sorrow or joy in a piece. Artists express themselves through art and people can connect through art. Many people have posted song lyrics to represent how they are feeling, discussed the feelings caused by a painting, or discussed the deeper meaning of a poem. Art is a way for humans to connect and to share how they are feeling.

The way in which we rationalize our emotions often reveals a lot about a person. Emotions come from the heart. They are raw and real. Then the brain takes the emotions of the heart and rationalizes them. Our brain takes desires and helps to determine the appropriate response to them. This is what it means to be human. When someone feels love in their heart it’s their brain that tells them how to show it. Sometimes people ignore their brain and are impulsive and crazy as they follow only their heart. Often this leads only to pain. Our brain helps to control our actions and to be careful. Unfortunately sometimes we allow our brain to control and restrict our heart causing us to miss the opportunity out of fear. This constant give and take between our heart and brain, our emotions and rationalizations is what makes us human.

To some extent society has divided genders by the way they are expected to deal with their emotions. Society has created an environment filled with stereotypes based on emotional response. Women are deemed to react more to emotions. They are allowed to reminisce and become emotional. Men are expected to bury and ignore painful emotions.

As our society starts to dictate the appropriate reactions to emotions we lose part of what it means to be human. In order to achieve our full humanity we must allow ourselves to feel and react. We must express ourselves and connect on an emotional level. Allowing emotions to play a role in our lives separates humans from robots and the ability to rationalize our responses separate us from animals. Emotions and rationalizations together make up what it means to be human.  

On Being Human

In his work, the author of The Creative Impulse states "our insistence on cognitive knowing may have already robbed us of some of our capacity for being human." By writing this, the author intended to imply that mystery behind our existence is what drives humanity, and revealing the true nature of this mystery would strip us of this quest. Personally, I disagree wholeheartedly. I believe that not only is the quest important, but the answers themselves, and the new questions each answer brings. Therefore, while I do believe that the goal of humanity is to increase it's collective knowledge, this is an unattainable goal, as the pursuit of proficiency regarding the natural world will be ceaseless.

As the goal of humanity is to build upon its collective knowledge base, to be human is to in some way facilitate this end. While one may not directly contribute to the fields of research or education, their work provides a foundation upon which this is possible. In this manner, there is no distinction between man or woman, as both are equally capable of serving this purpose. Without sounding collectivist, in a way, it is this cooperation and interaction that promotes a culture of growth and learning.While art may appear unimportant in the system which I described, I firmly believe that art is an integral piece of society. To make art is to express emotion, and to question commonly held beliefs. Art is progressive, and can bring about important changes to a culture, inspiring others in their work. To be an artist is to be dissatisfied with the status quo, and desire to express this dissatisfaction for the world.

Feel

As we were discussing our observations and conclusions regarding the human collage, I noticed a reoccurring concept: emotion. We categorized the people in the collage by the emotion they were displaying, from happiness and candid joy to focus and anger. I think that emotion is one thing that is truly universal, because everyone feels something.

Emotion, and the ability to recognise and associate with others’ emotions is what makes us human. Despite the tremendous range of emotion that each individual can feel, humans tend to categorize their feelings. All over the world, no matter the language, humans know the feelings of love, anger, happiness, sadness etc. Of course, each person feels each emotion in different ways and at differing levels, but the basic feeling is the same. I think this is the route of all cultural ties. We can understand the essential emotions that others are feeling, even if we have never been in their situation before, because we have categorized an emotion that we think is close to what they are feeling. We use our emotional history and experiences to sympathize with (or scorn) other people’s emotional states.  

I think there is no difference between man and woman- besides hormonally and biologically. The emotions that the sexes are stereotypically tied to have been caused by our society rather than our nature. I think that each individual can feel any emotion as little or as much as the situation dictates and that is not altered by their genetic makeup.

Art is the manifestation of emotion. Humans make art to discharge latent or overpowering emotion. We want to share the feelings we have with others, commonly seeking a reaction or sympathy. Since all humans have emotion of some form, all humans can create art, or at least something creative that was generated out of emotional thought. So, any person can be an artist if they feel compelled to express themselves artistically and emotionally.

Our desire for “cognitive knowing”, as discussed in The Creative Impulse, leads us to develop logical and unemotional responses to situations. We begin to doubt and try to suppress our emotions because -logically- they don’t make sense and they are uncontrollable. This is an internal fight against our own humanity, where the left and right brain are essentially fighting for control. So far, the left brain is winning, slowly diminishing our emotional humanity.

I think that people shouldn’t be afraid of their emotions or try to suppress them. These emotions are what makes us human and without them we would lack art and music. There’s nothing wrong with displaying emotions in public or having emotions that are ‘too masculine’ or ‘too feminine’. As our society makes more discoveries and relies more heavily on cognitive knowing humans are going to have to be able to find a separation between the logic and the emotion so that we can retain all of what makes us human.

To be Human

What does it mean to be human? Well, that can imply a lot. Does this question refer to our biological origins or our specific abilities of which no other animal has? I would like to focus on the specific abilities that are unique to the human race alone. These certain qualities involve our incredible sense of emotion. We grieve, love, and hate so strongly. Other animals, such as dolphins and elephants, show grief and love but not in the same capacity in which humans do. To be human incorporates our emotions, but most importantly, how we act on them and react to them. Having a strong sense of emotion has allowed us to be caring, helpful, loving, etc - all attributes that are essential for surviving. Our innate ability to care for a neighbor or watch after our children has allowed us to survive, and thrive, for thousands of years. The metaphorical sense of what it means to be human has been argued and discussed throughout history. I believe, like I said at the beginning, that to be human is to incorporate several abilities. I also believe in the complexity of being human - there is not one answer, but rather, thousands for why we are, who we are, and what we are. From a religious (Christian) perspective, to be human is to be a creation of God. Our purpose in life, according to this faith, is to glorify our creator. To be human is to be a representation of God and His goodness, mercy, grace, and incredible love. To be human means to be forgiven, to be freed, to be in union with a savior. This is a good example of the myriad beliefs of what it means to be human. Religions tend to relate our being to a supreme being - that our very existence is to be of use to said being or that we are divined in a sense that that supreme being has chosen us, humans, to perform a task/carry out a duty that only we can. This sets us apart from other animals - the concept that we were created for so much more. 

What does it mean to be a man? I look at it from this perspective - a man is known for being a provider, hunter, and father. Their role in society is to be an example, to help provide for their families, and be leaders of government, etc. To be a man is to encompass all of these ideals - the aspect of being a provider, father, and leader. 

What does it mean to be a woman? This is a tough question because the idea of feminism and women's suffrage. Recently, women have advocating for their rights. They want to be equal to men in education, politics, health care, wealth (pay), and voice. To be a woman in today's world means to be strong, independent, and viewed as equal to men. It no longer means (entirely) to be a mother, carer, or nurturer, although those things most certainly are still important and valued. 

To be an artist is to express the world through painting, drawing, music, writing, photography, etc. It is to interpret the world through the lens of a different nature - artists see the world for what it was, what it is, and what it could be. The general public tends to see the world simply as is. 

The quote from The Creative Impulse,  "our insistence on cognitive knowing may have already robbed us of some of our capacity for being human," implies that the development of writing and the dominant use of the left brain has taken away aspects of our original nature. I would have to disagree. If anything, it has allowed us to better understand one another, our place in the world, and the world in which we live. To be human has evolved over time, yes, but the same ideas behind the reasoning are the same, no matter the advancement of cognition.