What it means to be human - Part I

Several days ago I posted on YouTube the second video in a planned series on my science fiction saga, The Alarai Chronicles. It was long overdue. The title is the same as this post. There is only so much you can communicate in a seven to ten minute video, and I want to elaborate on the subject here and in following posts.

What does it mean to be human? Is it such a broad and complicated topic that the effort to get my arms around it is hopeless? Perhaps in part, but I don't intend to attempt an exhaustive review. What I intend is a more focused examination on aspects of being human. Actually, given the breadth of the topic, I suspect this is what most writers do whether they admit it or not.

Even as I sit here at the keyboard contemplating the task, I am nearly overwhelmed. Just think about the diversity of the group of mammals we term human. The profound differences in size and physical appearance alone is amazing. And yet, as far as I am aware, successful breeding is possible and has occurred even at the extremes. Given that, it is not surprising that studies of the human genome reveal that we all, the entire human race, possess at least 99.9+% of the same genetic endowment.

And yet, something, somewhere along the tortuous path of our evolution forever set us apart from other species (and, I have come to believe, from one another as well in spheres other than the purely physical). Some would say the ability to reason sets us apart from other species. Others say it is our ability to speculate on the future or to attempt to manage our environment. And, of course, the sophistication of our verbal communication and being self-aware. Well thought out views, but, other than the last item, secondary to what interests me.

Actually. I find that some of the simplest creatures are quite good at reasoning, learn quickly, are flexible in approaching problems, and convey intent to their fellows in highly complex and succinct patterns. Crows are a good example, wolves are another. Both species are curious, intelligent, highly social, and communicate quite nicely. I've even seen squirrels solve complicated problems. Generally driven by the desire to fill their bellies, of course, but is that so different from the thrust of our own problem solving? So what about self-awareness?

We are all, we humans, aware, conscious, at some level from an early age that our life span is finite, and that at some point we are going to 'die'. The corollary is that, therefore, we exist. And then we cease to exist. Thus we pursue our lives with one mental eye firmly fixed on that statistically adjusted life span, leading to so many of the diseases and insanities peculiar to our race. Opinions of what lies beyond the curtain of physiologic termination are as varied and remarkable as the species itself, and well beyond the scope of this discussion. The existence of those opinions (whether in belief or disbelief) are critical, however, to our period of life and in some ways central to what I find pivotal in understanding what we are and where we have come from.

In writing Exile to the Stars, the issue of what we are as humans looms large and is threaded throughout the fabric of the book and series. Thing is, I really wasn't aware of that thread at the time of writing. That is a major clue to what defines us as human. However, This isn't about me it's about us. I want to start much farther back in time than my eye blink of an existence, or yours.

I won't be gone so long this time.