There’s something funny about thinking what it’s like to be human. Humans are very frail creatures. Easily killed. We have created weapons to make it even easier to kill among us. Can humans even be considered humans at all? It seems that we resemble animals more than what you would call a human. Sometimes even worse. In reality, we just found a new way to fight and kill among ourselves. We’re like lions competing over territory. Yet lions fight more fairly than humans. We don’t settle for killing one person, we have to wipe out whole cities. All these wars that have been fought and for what reason? It makes no sense to me. People come up with ways of justifying inhumane behavior. It seems as if the world is in turmoil and has been for many centuries. There have been an insane amount of advances in our technology that make our life a lot easier. However, it seems to be destroying our planet. Humans have a way of killing life forms that we may need down the line.
I believe that the idea of being a human is still Eurocentric. The idea of the human experience was only given one right answer. The colonists were afraid of what they did not understand. The people in Africa and the Americas that were developing and dare I say thriving in their own right, were stripped away of their humanity. They were treated worse than animals, tortured, enslaved and killed for no reason. I believe as humans, we have the right to live, be treated kindly and express our ideas. A diverse culture is a rich culture. Each society and culture had something to contribute to this world. There is no right way to be human. There never was. The way of life of other human beings was criminalized and looked down upon.
Many people fail to see just how our home is dying. This egotistical way of thinking is so human. It’s terrifying. Of course these advances are nice. We are able to exchange ideas and travel to places no one would dream of doing so easily. The airplane is one of the amazing inventions that has expanded our world and perspective. Humans are quite curious creatures. That was what I believe to be a motive for many of our inventions. One recent invention that has expanded our horizons more is the internet. We get to meet people from all over the world just by sitting in front of a screen. Which further enhances our understanding of the human experience.
As much destruction that humans have caused, we have also enhanced our own lifestyle. Though, I must wonder what we have done to enhance the health of our own planet. When I think of humans, our bad characteristics stand out. We have done so much damage to our home yet there is something potentially beautiful within us. The beauty of intelligence and independent thought. We have developed knowledge and adapted rapidly to our surroundings. If only we could use the power we have for something other than war or destruction, maybe we could live in harmony. Though that seems like a beautiful dream. Humankind is plagued by greed and desires. No one seems to ever be truly settled with where they are. We have consumed rainforests and killed off species of animals without a second thought. Even if some of us are conscious of it, we will continue to be plagued and no change will happen.
