Humans: More Than Biology

We are all here to ponder the universal question of what it means to be human. Unfortunately, there will never be a definite answer to this purely opinionated question. Sure, scientists can tell you what a human is. They can explain how the body works and tell you where your organs are located, but they can’t physically describe what it means to be human. Being human is an emotional and cultural experience that makes us all similar in the end. It’s as simple as that.

All humans experience some kind of emotion or physical feeling. Whether it’s happiness, joy, hatred, or pain, all humans know what it’s like to feel. Feelings will always be universal even if the words for them aren’t. So yes, there are language and cultural boundaries that keep emotions from being expressed, but there’s always a way to tell how someone is feeling even if you don’t have the right words for it. Humans have a sense for picking up emotions, and usually the emotions humans are experiencing are a reflection the emotions of other people around them; that’s what makes them universal.

I guess one could say the “sub-branches” of all human life are the genders. You have the binary genders, male and female, and then you have the non-binary genders that exist in the world. The only thing that really “officializes” a person’s gender is biology and how a person chooses to identify. Other than that, I feel like nothing is separating humans from being on the same kind of emotional and spiritual levels. Society has made it known that most women are more nurturing than men, but this doesn’t mean a man can’t be just as nurturing as a woman. And believe it or not, there are some women that provide for their families even though this is considered a “man’s job” in a "man's world". So in the end, the only thing that really defines what it means to be a certain gender is a personality and the culture it’s placed in.

Knowing so much doesn’t make me feel any less human. I feel so much more connected to the world now that I have so much knowledge. I can form opinions and research new things and I have no limits when it comes to expanding my horizons. My thoughts, passions, and knowledge make me feel empowered, and that’s the most human thing there is. Once a person can tap into their passions, beliefs, opinions, emotions and knowledge they can experience a full sense of humanity. They’ll have no boundaries. They’ll be self aware, culturally aware, and emotionally aware, and those are the characteristics of an unstoppable human being.