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What Does It Mean to Be Human?

2015-06-09 · letter vlog · John · 3:30 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Philosophy & meaning · mode: Personal essay · tags: civic or action cta

Prompted by Bill Gates's Big History video contest and his own novel-in-progress, John argues that definitions of humanness by biology, stories or literacy exclude and dehumanize people, and that we confer personhood on each other through empathy, compassion and trust.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; Bill Gates's contest for videos on what it means to be human; John's three years writing a novel on personhood (and tortoises)

  • ★★ John says Bill Gates is encouraging people to make videos about what it means to be human, with a contest offering money; link in the description. — 00:00:01
  • ★★ John says that for the last three years he has been trying to write a novel about what it means to be human, how we define personhood and why it matters; he has also written a lot about tortoises. — 00:00:07

00:00:19 — Why definitions of humanness fail: biology, dehumanization, stories and literacy exclude people, slavery, ID cards and class; empathy not unique to humans

  • ★★ John finds biological definitions of humanness uninteresting: personhood is more than membership of a species, as shown partly by the common belief in a unique human consciousness or soul. — 00:00:19
  • ★★★ John argues personhood is more than a species category because people deny others' humanity: governments refuse to acknowledge ethnic minorities, and he dehumanizes people by imagining them as less complex than himself. — 00:00:37
  • ★★ John says it is easy to know he contains multitudes, but he too often imagines others as merely sick, merely poor or merely a 'them' to an 'us' that includes him. — 00:00:58 · othering
  • ★★★ John rejects story-sharing and literacy as what makes us human: people with some intellectual disabilities or who cannot read are still people, and such definitions often exclude the poorest, sickest and most oppressed. — 00:01:16
  • ★★★ John calls narrow definitions of humanness dangerous: for many centuries Europeans and white Americans denied the essential humanity of black people to justify chattel slavery. — 00:01:44
  • ★★ John says this is not just history: today being treated as fully human may require an ID card attesting citizenship, and wealth, race, sex and class affect how human the world treats you. (hedged) — 00:01:56
  • ★★ John says humans tend to be capable of empathy, collaboration and hope, but he doesn't think humans are unique among animals in these respects. (hedged) — 00:02:13 · empathy
  • ★ John says a universal yet specific claim needs weirdly careful wording, e.g. that when able to access and comprehend our ancestors' teachings, we tend to value them. (hedged) — 00:02:21

00:02:32 — John's belief: we confer personhood on each other through empathy, compassion and trust; being human is something we are and must aspire to be

  • ★★★ John believes people confer personhood on each other through empathy, compassion and trust. — 00:02:32 · empathy

    “I believe that we confer personhood upon each other through empathy and compassion and trust.”

  • ★★ Stuck inside his own consciousness, John cannot verify that other people are really human; everyone else could be a realistic humanoid robot, but he chooses not to believe that. — 00:02:39

  • ★★★ John believes acknowledging each other's consciousness and complexity makes lives better and less lonely; we are human because we believe in each other's humanness, listen, and work to alleviate suffering. — 00:02:55 · perspective-taking

  • ★★★ John concludes that being human is both something we are and something we must always aspire to be. (hedged) — 00:03:12

    “being human is both something that we are and something that we must always aspire to be.”

  • ★ John allows that he might be wrong, as he often is, which he thinks is quite human too. (playful, hedged) — 00:03:17

00:03:21 — Asks Hank and Nerdfighters what they think it means to be human; sign-off

  • ★★ John asks Hank and Nerdfighters what they think it means to be human and invites them to continue the conversation in comments or via the linked page. — 00:03:21 · Nerdfighteria, Hank Green

In the description and comments

  • ★ The description says the contest is organized by Bill Gates and Big History: videos made before July 8th could win $5,000 and a contract to make more videos. (hedged) — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: dehumanization · empathy · personhood

Also: People: Bill Gates

Works: John's novel in progress about personhood (2015)

Concepts: citizenship · consciousness · intellectual disability · literacy · othering · perspective-taking · problem of other minds · slavery · social exclusion · storytelling · tortoise

Only in the description or credits: Big History Project

Also centred on dehumanization: An Army of Mindless Drones · Aida and Majeeda: Thoughts from the Azraq Refugee Camp · Zaatari: Thoughts from a Refugee Camp · The Psychology of Package Thieves · Uncertain and Afraid · Moving to Hope from Hopelessness (3 ways)

Also centred on personhood: The Myth Reawakens

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