I’m not sure that they need to be so worried. I doubt anyone takes pride in this simple fact anymore >> (“Yeah, I’m human… so what?”). Here’s a friendly reminder of how unique we are as a species:
This figure shows that the human species is just 0.0000006% of all known species on Earth. That means 1.740329 million other types of soul encapsulation devices could be holding your soul right now, but they’re not. Why? Because YOU ARE HUMAN! Even if you don’t believe in the religious definitions, you can’t argue with the fact that we are tiny fraction of all living things. Albiet superficial, that alone can be the source of some pride.
While we dig through statistics like these to muster up the courage to say “I’m happy to be human,” others haven taken it way beyond that. One person even dedicated his own birthday to raise awareness of our human existence by calling it “Manushya Gaurav Din” (Human Dignity Day)! Dadaji said we should be grateful for our human birth and through the thoughts of the Gita explained how everyone has dignity because of indwelling God. He is the reason why I am sitting here today using my time (that I constantly claim I have very little of) to think about this subject. Tomorrow, October 19th, is his birthday.
Because we don’t think about such things often, festivals and holidays have been created to motivate us. This one in particular reminds us to consider: “What makes humans different?” You can go ahead and stick that phrase in a Google Search like I did and glance through a couple of the 182 million bodies of content that exist on the Web about it if you want.
You’ll probably come across the stat everyone knows about how 99% of our genes are the same as chimps. You may also find a list of examples that show us how humans are different from animals which includes things like the ability to create languages, the ability to think abstractly, the ability to consciously change our environment, etc. (click the previous link to read more)
The definition I find most compelling is “the ability to grasp consciousness” – aka the ability to transcend Maya (in short bursts equivalent to one birth). Humans alone have been blessed with the ability to try and understand God. Not only are we able to build meaningful relationships with other humans, but we can do the same with the Supreme. Whereas other life forms on this planet are unaware of anything more than their instincts for survival and attachments to this world (pets do have emotions towards their owners), humans can transcend this world through their intellectual power.
Having this amazing ability doesn’t mean we use it though. That was one of the underlying reasons for the birth of Human Dignity Day. Because our abilities are limitless, we tend to use those abilities for unlimited things, many of which don’t make any sense. A great BBC documentary I found while conducting research for this post concluded that our “ability to step beyond our biology” is one of the biggest things that separates us from the rest of the animals on this planet. Humans don’t always do what makes evolutionary sense for our species. Why is that? Do we really appreciate what we have been given? Am I truly grateful for being born a human? Think about it.
I leave you with this…
If you have some time, this BBC Documentary is definitely worth watching: What Makes Us Human?
Comments
One response to “Are You Human | Manushya Gaurav Din”
Usually wary of statistics, and words like “consciousness,” I’m afraid of definitions of “human.” While definitions help clarify things and allow us to compartmentalize associations, they very often are either too limiting or too grand as to not mean anything at all. When I think about a defining characteristic of human, I think the fact that we are the only order of beings who is aware that one day he will cease to exist. Attuned to our finite selves, we find solace in something like consciousness to make sense of our unconscious experiences; as Dadaji has put it several times, “the passive, but active” part of our mind. The irony is, in order to talk about unconsciousness, you are using consciousness. But if we were to define being human as strictly all that we were conscious of, or all that we can become conscious of, then being human doesn’t really amount to much. In other words, consciousness is just a tiny part of our life. Significant yes, but primary or fundamental, I’m not quite sure. Some of the most beautiful experiences we have in life are in those moments where we forget consciousness because it falls short of the sheer magnificence of the passing moment, diluting what the moment stands for.
“Are You Human” is in some ways a misnomer because it begs the question as to who “You” is, and who “Human” is. More than splitting hairs, I’m curious as to whether we can talk/express what human is from a non-conscious perspective. Not telepathy or Ms. Cleo like reading, can we simply just look at a four-limbed thing and know with certainty that it’s a human? I like this post because it doesn’t really matter what definition you have or in fact what “human” IS, I think this post is about what human MEANS, which I think is a much more approachable thought. The coming days may bring upon us a worse fate than CAPTCHA. We may live in a world similar to that in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (great movie by the way…the others in the series, eh) where we will ask not “Are you human,” but “Are you a machine.” In either case, what separates one question from the other is again something non-conscious, something like pain, emotions, soothing memories. The comfort of being human is a lost bargain if it means we live only in the world of “transcending” our primitive sensitivities in exchange for achieving clarity through consciousness.
HASTA LA VISTA BABY!