Humanity
Through my blunders in this year, I have come now to the conclusion of humanity is. As the age of confusion comes along with the realization of computer intelligence and smart animals, we begin to ask ourselves what it means to be human. What is it that we have that they do not? Computers now can solve problems that only humans were able to do ten years back. They have been able to achieve calculation feats we can only dream of. Animals, as we understand, also have intelligence, and they carry the same genetic marvels and mysteries that lies within each of our cells as well. So what makes us human? Think about this. What is the most cynical statement about humans? We're never satisfied with what we have which in extreme cases can lead to greed and jealously. Let me challenge you explore the other side of that. Humans strive to be better than who they are. Whether better means to be more hard-working, more pious, more friendly, or more thoughtful, we all seek to better ourselves. We all seek improvement in our lives and in ourselves. We work the hardest today so that there will be that better tomorrow. We don't give up on something or someone because we know that today is another day to improve and learn. 2 + 2 =4 and 1+1+1+1 = 4 as well, but we want to be the 1+1 = undefined. We want to be infinitely greater than the greatest sum of all our parts. We strive and seek to be more than body, mind, or heart. This drive for improvement, this constant desire to be better is what I consider the human soul. It is what sets us apart. Animals are content with the way they live, they never try to improve. They eat, live, reproduce, and die. Nothing else. Machines are a different story though. As of now, they only do what they are told to by code, but what if one day, a computer can program itself? What if it seeks to improve itself constantly? I would argue that it is human. If you were to have a human made out of metal, that uses electricity for energy instead of ATP, and that has code instead of genetic material, wouldn't he still be human? I would say yes. He seeks to improve himself to make a better tomorrow and to more than what his simple programming has made him to be. This is a human being. Regardless of one's birth, composition, class, or economic stature, this is who we are. For those humans who do not strive to be better or who simply accept the facts of life, I say that they are not human. They are no better that a street rat looking for food.