What is it to be human?

Over the last several months I have been rattling around with some rather big questions, especially when related to education (i.e. the future of education and learning). With this in mind, I came across a great post from Brain Pickings .org (a site I check each and every day!!). The question is “what does it mean to be human?” This is certainly one of the bigger questions lying out there.

There are plenty of perspectives to draw regarding a question like this. For instance you could look into the ‘history’ of what humans are…that is, paleo-anthropology to look for some possible boundary condition which would theoretically signify the interstice between us, and let’s say…the great apes…

You could consider what the most salient characteristic we exhibit what differs from other animals…intelligence…but more specifically: consciousness. This opens up yet another Pandora’s Box of big, deep, and within the context of a little blog like this, functionally unanswerable questions.

Of course, answers to big questions are usually missing the point…to spend time considering who and what we are can only result in something of worth, irrespective of whether we have answers…yet.

What Does It Mean to Be Human?
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2010/09/07/what-does-it-mean-to-be-human/index.php

What does it mean to be human? Century’s worth of scientific thought, artistic tradition and spiritual practice have attempted to answer this most fundamental question about our existence. And yet the diversity of views and opinions is so grand it has made that answer remarkably elusive. While we don’t necessarily believe such an “answer” — singular and conclusive by definition — even exists, today we make an effort to understand the wholeness of a human being without compartmentalizing humanity into siloed views of the brain, emotion, morality, and so forth.