What Does It Mean To Be Human Essay

Many people wonder what it means to be a human and what differentiates humans from the animal world. While there are many claims out there like emotion, our evolutionary standpoint, or our complex views on subjects like religion and death, I think the answer lies in the complexity of the range of emotions and bodily functions. We often talk about how similar some animals are to us, but never how we are different. The ability to have a sense of morality, unique bodily functions, and have a high level of intellectual and emotional brain capacity are the characteristics that make a person human. First, the ability to have a sense of morality makes a person human. A sense of morality makes us as humans different from the rest of the animal kingdom. While some may think animals have a sense of

Humans have several traits unique when compared to the rest of the animal kingdom. For example, the ability to have a sense of humor is a unique attribute to humans. While some animals can laugh, they aren’t responding to something they found funny. To elaborate, “Laughing isn’t a human specific thing, but jokes/humor is. Humor requires more complex functions that other animals don’t seem to possess,”(Van Den Berg Forbes Article). While animals have the emotional capacity to laugh, they do not have the sense of humor we as humans have because it requires more of a brain capacity. This makes humor a unique trait of humans. Furthermore, while other animals have opposable thumbs, such as apes, we are the only species that can bring our thumb to the pinkie finger and ring finger. This is because primitive humans have adapted to the needs they needed such as a good grip strength as well as precision gips like holding a small rock to cut food or other items. To conclude, the ability to possess these unique body characteristics makes a person