Here's To Being Human
Everyone dies; that is the only fact in this world: that for a moment, the consciousness of an individual is no longer attached to a body. The rest of what we, as humans, label as our identity, is something that we take for granted. "I am what I am", and "I think, therefore I am" are statements that assume the meaning of our existence is a given, that being human is an inherent quality. However, what does it mean to truly be human? Is it our beliefs? Our ideals? Our actions? No, it is all of these and more. Being human is to go beyond existing in this world and live in it.
The basis of being human lies in understanding the self and the origin of our actions, the mind and the thoughts that reside within. From the standpoint of Shlain, the brain is oriented towards one of two sides, right or left. The right brain is emotion, music, instinct, and imagination, while the left brain is logic, reason, mathematics, and linear, yet they are more than that. The right is strongest in oral communication, and the left waxes stronger in writing. The right brain is known for being associated with females and the left brain has a reputation as being male oriented, yet this description alone does not offer justice to either gender, for it is not in the nature of humans to be entirely instinctual and emotional or entirely logical and unfeeling. John Bowker describes aspects of humanity that encompass both parts of the brain, both the male and the female, logic and creativity. Symbolism takes left brain identification and right brain imagination to fully recognize it. Rituals, overall, make sense to those who practice them, and yet the reason behind the practice is far more complex than something that is scientifically appeasing. Even something as fantastical as myth has roots in logic. Karen Armstrong described myth as a way of being able to deal with "the problematic human predicament" of attempting to explain the world. The human experience is steeped in complex situations, multi-faceted personalities, and balance.
Humans, in all of their right-minded glory, are deeply connected to nature, instinct creating the idea of sacred space, but humans are also balanced to hunt and destroy. Once, the thirst for the hunt and fire was to ensure survival, as Gary Snyder's Towards Climax suggests. However, as humans became more and more separated from nature, left brain logic conquering the need for survival, the need to survive runs rampant and the fires of survival turn to infernos of fear. Every human has moments of frustration and anger, and humans, fully in control of our faculties, channels such emotional rampancy to either destruction or self-destruction. To escape from this, sacred spaces were created where people could find some higher meaning that served as a distraction from the frightening surrounding world. Timothy Treadwell in Grizzly Man saw the wild as a sacred space, but rather than a refuge for man, it was a sanctuary that humans should not violate with their presence. Yet, just as nature balances itself out, so does the nature of Werner Herzog balance out that of Treadwell's. Herzog saw nature as a foul growth full of evil and consumption. However, just as nature is complex, so are the views concerning what forces are destructive in the world. Montaigne's "Of Cannibals" discusses civilized humans as being an evil, while tribal humans, even cannibals, are of a higher standing. Herzog, Treadwell, and Montaigne all have limited views of nature, and of the three, only two believe in a sacred space; Gary Snyder is the only individual who begins to encompass the complexity of human perspective, though he provides the least depth. All of the authors address humanity and nature, but not one is more correct than another.
Truth is central to the matter of art, beauty and love, and above all, perspective determines what is most true. Art is one of the greatest mistruths of the world, entirely at the whim of the artist and subject to perception. Some argue that art should be a representation of physical objects and the the goal is not to provide emotion, but to provide an aesthetically pleasing image. Nigel Spivey's How Art Made the World explores what humans deem as most attractive, how art provides context for the values of a culture and how dependent people are on art. Statues, carvings, and drawings are all representative of a time period, and art reinforces those images so that they are quite desirable, playing on desires to mold a society. In the case of the Greeks, they created unrealistically muscled statues, and their culture valued athleticism and holding the body of a god important beyond all other attributes, as that was beautiful. That does bring to question, however, the matter of what is true beauty? There were some aesthetic philosophers who believed true beauty was intellectual, some who considered the more pure senses to be artistic, and many who consider the general conception of beauty to be entirely physical in nature. The Shape of Things explored the connection between art and beauty, and the character Adam, though he became very physically appealing, became emotionally ugly, and his sculptor, Evelyn, held even less inner beauty. The Picture of Dorian Gray follows a similar story of a beautiful young man who has an image painted of him. However, upon indulging in his appearance and discarding his morals, his portrait becomes more and more ugly. His death was not simply one of the soul, like Adam, but one in body. Art is an illusion that portrays the true nature of things, while beauty is the true nature of things. Love is how beauty is experienced, and it is as complex as nature. Yet, what is most beautiful is deemed as such by what is most acceptable to the standards of society.
Beauty is not alone in this regard, as law and ethics are also a reflection of society. Lawbreakers see the law as limiting and unrighteous, but they are the minority since they are convicted and the laws still stand. They would not be lawbreakers if their actions reflected that of the nation's beliefs. Complete disregard for ethics, people who do not hold their own moral code, but rather none at all are the most ostracized by society, as causeless breaking of the law, anarchy, is the most evil form a criminal can take. Camus' The Stranger depicts one such character, a man who does not see right or wrong. His crimes are the greatest because he has no reason for breaking the law. However, in Crimes and Misdemeanors, the character Judah has reason to kill his mistress, but it is not a reason deemed acceptable by society. His justification of her murder, being he wanted to keep his wife and his reputation, is abhorrent, because that kind of reason seems insignificant compared to the loss of human life. While lawbreakers are frowned upon, the laws themselves might also be called into question. The Ten Commandments, most famous in Hebrew tradition, include multiple laws concerning God, including that there may be no worship, save for that of the one God. Therefore, any virtuous Buddhists or Hindus would be considered criminals, the Buddha himself a felon. What is law is determined by what matters most in a culture, and those values are determined by a majority of opinions: opinions that come from many individuals, all of whom must make difficult choices to determine right from wrong.
These difficult choices may also be described as struggles on an inner journey to find the true nature of one's identity. This nature can hold much meaning, or hold none at all in the case of absurdists, yet it brings into question the meaning of human reality. There is one reality in human life: humans die. Yet, what it means to die varies between beliefs and cultures. In the case of Enkidu in Gilgamesh, death is an equalizer, a place where all suffer. Hamlet has multiple descriptions of death, one being a place of suffering, another of salvation. However, both stories hold that death may be a part of suffering. Suffering is not limited to death, but plays a large role in life. According to Siddhartha, living is suffering. However, individuals may find their own path to enlightenment and escape the cycle of suffering. Gilgamesh's suffering begins when Enkidu dies, and he, like all other humans, begins to ponder his impending death. His suffering ends, however, when he accepts his fate. The entire story of Hamlet is steeped in suffering and betrayal, ending only in death. Suffering is an intrinsic part of the human experience that all must endure, or fall to.
What does it mean to be human? Does is mean one is complex, holding many different features in his or her nature? Perhaps it is that humans are balanced, seeking to preserve or destroy? Does one hold perspectives on what is most beautiful and how that beauty is experienced? Is the meaning of human a matter of right or wrong or is it a personal test of suffering? It is all and more. Not all humans live, some find peace, most have regrets, and all die in some definition of the word. But is not the tradition of impermanence and inconsistency what makes us human? We are so fantastically flawed, it is a wonder we exist. However, may it be wonder we find in our limited, naive existence. In one last message, we are who we are: nothing more, nothing less. Here's to being human.
Truth is central to the matter of art, beauty and love, and above all, perspective determines what is most true. Art is one of the greatest mistruths of the world, entirely at the whim of the artist and subject to perception. Some argue that art should be a representation of physical objects and the the goal is not to provide emotion, but to provide an aesthetically pleasing image. Nigel Spivey's How Art Made the World explores what humans deem as most attractive, how art provides context for the values of a culture and how dependent people are on art. Statues, carvings, and drawings are all representative of a time period, and art reinforces those images so that they are quite desirable, playing on desires to mold a society. In the case of the Greeks, they created unrealistically muscled statues, and their culture valued athleticism and holding the body of a god important beyond all other attributes, as that was beautiful. That does bring to question, however, the matter of what is true beauty? There were some aesthetic philosophers who believed true beauty was intellectual, some who considered the more pure senses to be artistic, and many who consider the general conception of beauty to be entirely physical in nature. The Shape of Things explored the connection between art and beauty, and the character Adam, though he became very physically appealing, became emotionally ugly, and his sculptor, Evelyn, held even less inner beauty. The Picture of Dorian Gray follows a similar story of a beautiful young man who has an image painted of him. However, upon indulging in his appearance and discarding his morals, his portrait becomes more and more ugly. His death was not simply one of the soul, like Adam, but one in body. Art is an illusion that portrays the true nature of things, while beauty is the true nature of things. Love is how beauty is experienced, and it is as complex as nature. Yet, what is most beautiful is deemed as such by what is most acceptable to the standards of society.
Beauty is not alone in this regard, as law and ethics are also a reflection of society. Lawbreakers see the law as limiting and unrighteous, but they are the minority since they are convicted and the laws still stand. They would not be lawbreakers if their actions reflected that of the nation's beliefs. Complete disregard for ethics, people who do not hold their own moral code, but rather none at all are the most ostracized by society, as causeless breaking of the law, anarchy, is the most evil form a criminal can take. Camus' The Stranger depicts one such character, a man who does not see right or wrong. His crimes are the greatest because he has no reason for breaking the law. However, in Crimes and Misdemeanors, the character Judah has reason to kill his mistress, but it is not a reason deemed acceptable by society. His justification of her murder, being he wanted to keep his wife and his reputation, is abhorrent, because that kind of reason seems insignificant compared to the loss of human life. While lawbreakers are frowned upon, the laws themselves might also be called into question. The Ten Commandments, most famous in Hebrew tradition, include multiple laws concerning God, including that there may be no worship, save for that of the one God. Therefore, any virtuous Buddhists or Hindus would be considered criminals, the Buddha himself a felon. What is law is determined by what matters most in a culture, and those values are determined by a majority of opinions: opinions that come from many individuals, all of whom must make difficult choices to determine right from wrong.
These difficult choices may also be described as struggles on an inner journey to find the true nature of one's identity. This nature can hold much meaning, or hold none at all in the case of absurdists, yet it brings into question the meaning of human reality. There is one reality in human life: humans die. Yet, what it means to die varies between beliefs and cultures. In the case of Enkidu in Gilgamesh, death is an equalizer, a place where all suffer. Hamlet has multiple descriptions of death, one being a place of suffering, another of salvation. However, both stories hold that death may be a part of suffering. Suffering is not limited to death, but plays a large role in life. According to Siddhartha, living is suffering. However, individuals may find their own path to enlightenment and escape the cycle of suffering. Gilgamesh's suffering begins when Enkidu dies, and he, like all other humans, begins to ponder his impending death. His suffering ends, however, when he accepts his fate. The entire story of Hamlet is steeped in suffering and betrayal, ending only in death. Suffering is an intrinsic part of the human experience that all must endure, or fall to.
What does it mean to be human? Does is mean one is complex, holding many different features in his or her nature? Perhaps it is that humans are balanced, seeking to preserve or destroy? Does one hold perspectives on what is most beautiful and how that beauty is experienced? Is the meaning of human a matter of right or wrong or is it a personal test of suffering? It is all and more. Not all humans live, some find peace, most have regrets, and all die in some definition of the word. But is not the tradition of impermanence and inconsistency what makes us human? We are so fantastically flawed, it is a wonder we exist. However, may it be wonder we find in our limited, naive existence. In one last message, we are who we are: nothing more, nothing less. Here's to being human.
(Both links to 80's music for those who want to skip that part)
Jacob —
ReplyDeleteThe amount of time and depth in synthesizing, in a succinct manner, too in writing what the role of each of the units covered play in the human experience demonstrates not only understanding, but a new perspective. There is a fine line between humanity and the overwhelming sense of reality, as well as the humanities, of which you cover in detail adding personal touches in appropriate areas (take for example your introductory paragraph, as well as at the end of what would be the Love, Beauty, and Art unit). In each of the paragraphs containing the varying topics of discussion, you touch upon some aspects and not others, for example you mention symbolism, which ties is brilliantly with creativity and left and right brain permanence, but what about metaphors and the human perspective of time? You failed to recognize those major aspects, as they were indeed covered in the introductory unit. As much as the post flows content-wise, incorporating the major points discussed in class would’ve done a fair amount of good. With keeping this in mind, there are a lot of questions asked within your text. Questions are in doubt the ways to which humans have gotten answers, but when posing one, even in a blog post, it’s important to keep in mind what exactly are you posing it as. In explaining the human experience, there is also an amount of interpretation going on between you, as the author, and me, as the reader. Your overall analysis of each of the topics points to a deep understanding of each of the topics, not only a source-based perspective, but from a personal understanding, too.
Dear Jacob,
ReplyDeleteThe content of this paper is extremely insightful, and the way in which you have presented "What it is to be Human" is quite eloquent. I thoroughly enjoyed your choice of hooks, and found that, in general, the whole paper flowed together quite nicely. I especially enjoyed the final sentence of your paragraph concerning the intro unit - I could not have explained the human experience better myself. I must say, I am not sure I completely agree with you in your claim that humans were built to destroy, but since this assignment is opinion-oriented to some degree (and I cannot deny that people have incurred an incredible amount of damage to the rest of the world), I cannot really fault you on that point. I liked that you highlighted just how hypocritical Treadwell really was in his claim that the wild should be untouched by humans, but I remain somewhat unconvinced as to whether Herzog really had as negative an opinion of nature as you seem to believe. I also would challenge that in regards to human survival, the left brain does not take over for this drive, it simply is an overpowered tool which we tend to overuse - and in doing so it can impede our chances at survival. Your thoughts on art, beauty, and love were by far my favorite portion of this post: Your comparison of what each means in regards to the nature of things was incredibly well put. I also liked your analysis and comparison of Crimes and Misdemeanors and The Stranger, as well as your thoughts on the 10 Commandments and the Buddhist Precepts. As for the final unit, you did an incredible job of bringing Hamlet, Gilgamesh, and Siddhartha all together, especially in regards to suffering and the potential for an afterlife. Overall, I agreed with the majority of your interpretations of the material from this class, and that being said, I feel that you demonstrated a clear understanding of everything we covered in regards to what it means to be Human.
PS - Love the link
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