Difference obligates

When a horde of locusts sweeps over a land destroying all the vegetation in its path, neither the horde nor the individual locusts have any idea that they are destroying at all. They are just being what they are. Many in the world would consider them pests that need to be eradicated, others hear of locusts and think of a fried-peanut-like delicacy, and far too many people think absolutely nothing at all, because they weren't directly affected one way or the other.

When a horde of marauders or bandits or whomever sweeps over a land destroying everything in its path, both the horde and the individuals within it know perfectly well that they are destroying. They are not being simply what they are, they are being what they, at that moment, want to be. Those affected by their actions certainly see them as more than just pests that need to be eradicated. Others hear of what has happened and think how awful, and far too many people think absolutely nothing at all, because they weren't affected one way or the other.

The difference between the actions of all involved in both cases is that we can tell the difference between what just is and what needn't be. Another difference is that we can hear about both, regardless of how far away we might be. In other words, we know; we are aware; the event has become part of our individual experience, perhaps not radically or existentially, but a part nevertheless. Fish don't know about locusts, and neither do most other animals. But we know because we're different. We are capable of knowing. That makes all the difference in the world.

Whereas a bear or a dog or a fish may simply go on about its business, we can't. We would never expect the bear or the dog or the fish to react at all because we know they don't know about locusts or marauders so it would truly be unfair for us to expect them to care. We, however, are different. We know. We know the difference, because we are different, and that difference obligates.

When you know, when you have been made aware, you can no longer claim ignorance as a defense. Once you know, you are involved ... perhaps only tangentially, perhaps only remotely, but you are involved. Sure you can maintain that you're half-a-world away so what could you do? Quite a few of those that are helping those people, though, often come from half-a-world away. So why should we allow you that excuse? You can claim you're just one person, what effect could you have? But you have no friends? You know no one? You live in a bubble?

But, hey, we don't even have to go that far: what about the homeless person you pass on the way to work? The street musician you love to hear but cross to the other side of the street so you don't have to toss anything into her hat? What about the guy next door who keeps beating his wife or girl friend? What about, well, anything you know and do absolutely nothing about? Yes, what about it?

A significant difference between us and the animals is simply that we can know. But when you know and you do nothing, you aren't doing anyone a favor, especially not yourself. You are simply denying your own humanity.

The human part

It seems to me that the only creatures on the planet who aren't pulling their weight, so to speak, are us. Yes, we humans have been and continue to drop the ball. Our mineral and vegetative co-inhabitants can't do otherwise, and my point in the last post was no more than our animal cousins are doing their part as well. Chimps are being chimps, dolphins are being dolphins, dogs are being dogs, and on and on and on. The only creatures in the Grand Scheme who are -- at least to my mind -- are not living up to their potential and possibilities are us. We humans, who should be at least a contributor to the solution, are in fact the root of a great number of problems. Why? Because we -- for whatever reasons -- refuse to be what are, namely human.

We don't have to agree on the whole spectrum of things that make us what we are, so we can take any of them at random and ask whether we are somehow exhibiting that characteristic. For example, self-awareness: I wouldn't argue that most people are aware of themselves; I would maintain, however, that too many of us are too aware of ourselves ... it's called egotism. Or, let's take questioning: most people I know can handle asking for directions, but things break down quickly as soon as they ask themselves why are we here, or why do humans exist. A completely different kind of question, is it not? Or, how about morality, knowing the difference between right and wrong: there things start breaking down -- rates of incarceration, violent crime, war, torture, abuse ... the list goes on. And if we take it to the next level and think about acting accordingly, we really find little, if any, support: bankers know they are scamming their customers, but they do it unreservedly till the economy crashes causing pain and suffering to millions of people ... and then do it again, the first chance they get.

This is what I mean about being human. We know that we're destroying the planet and the environment, but we have (or those with enough influence and power have) made the decision that money is more important. It is that simple. That 100 people should enjoy a short-term benefit even though billions should suffer is not exactly what I understand under "living up to one's potential". Good and bad doesn't have to be about anything big. We can literally start small: admitting we were wrong, pulling back when we realize our egos are storming ahead, choosing a less harsh way of criticizing another person ... here, too, the list is endless. What is more, a lot of little people could get together to make (alleged) big people aware of the damage they are causing (i.e., the bad they are doing) and getting them to stop.

There are many things about us that constitute our humanity, what makes us human. They are everyday things. Things we, for the most part, take for granted, because they come so naturally to us. When I admonish all of us to live up to our potential, it is any and all of these things that I'm talking about.

There are two parts to being human, then: to acknowledge what makes us different from our animal cousins, and to start trying to act accordingly. It's really not all that difficult when you stop to think about it.

Everybody's got a part to play

The admonition to "be human" is all well and good, but I'm fairly sure that we all don't mean the same thing when we say it. This is one of those simple, everyday phrases that flow over our lips ever so lightly, but are nevertheless exceptionally hard to grasp and hard to wrap our heads around. So just what am I talking about? Fair enough question.

For those who may have missed it or those who still aren't sure, let me say it again: I do not believe that human beings are "just" animals, or just animals who can talk or ... fill in any blank you like. Having said that, I also would hasten to add that I don't consider human beings better than any other living creature on Earth, I don't consider us "special" in any meaning of the word (even the negative ones), I don't think we are any more than what we are: humans, a very different species that is just as embedded in Nature as are dogs or cats or amoebas. So why all the fuss?

It's very simple really: since we are different, since we have abilities and capabilities that other living creatures do not have, such as awareness of our self-awareness, refined, complex, and subtle language capabilities (e.g., tenses, the ability to question), and since we have created such an subject as morals and morality (in simplest terms, knowing the different between good and bad), in order to warrant the distinction of being called "human", we are required, obligated, condemned (?) to exhibit precisely those characteristics that make us different from other living creatures.

I don't know about you, but I never expected Charley the Chimp or Flipper the Dolphin or Fido the Dog to find a cure for cancer or paint a Mona Lisa or write the Great American (or any other) Novel. I also never expected any of them to preach the Sermon on the Mount or understand and advocate living in accordance with the Ten Commandments or the Golden Rule (in any of its variations) or to prove the existence of the Higgs boson. And I also don't know about you, but I don't think any less of any of them for not being able to do that. It's not their thing, and it need not be their thing. They have other, equally important and significant, roles to play in Creation or Nature or Reality or whatever else you may want to call it. When we take a step back from our subject, we quickly realize that in this wonderfully diverse chaos we call The World, there are a lot of roles to be played and a lot of functions to be fulfilled, and no single species or entity can do any more than what it -- individually and collectively -- is able to do.

And it there that we find the rub. You see, the chimps and dolphins and dogs and whatever else do everything they need do. They fulfill their own reason for being. They play their parts in the Grand Scheme of Things and make their contributions to the balance of the Universe. For my part, I'm convince that they can't do otherwise, but that doesn't lessen their contribution to that balance one little bit. They are what they, they are true to their nature and they do their part to ensure that things are as they are. For that, we should be eternally grateful.

Flogging, fogging, and finding our way

There are no doubt some who think I'm flogging a dead horse, or at least it seems to be so. That's not what's going on. There are some things in life, this this shared Reality of ours, that are simply very difficult to grasp, simply because the things in question are things we simply take for granted. No one should ever underestimate the power of taking something for granted.

The minute we take something for granted, we consider it a "given". It's one of those things that we can't imagine could ever be questioned in any way. They are simply instances of "the way things are", and they are things that we, individually or collectively, can do nothing about. And nothing could be farther from the truth.

For as much as we might like to think, and for as much as "science" may want us to believe, that we are "just animals", that's not how things are. For those philosophers among you who are asking whether we can really know anything at all, I can only say, yes we can. We know that we have a lot of characteristics that we share with other animals, especially primates, but there are just simply a few things about us that make us different. Viva la difference. It's the difference that, well, makes the difference.

We need to be clear on this. Without interpreting in any way, shape or form, human beings are simply different. Our degree of self-awareness (not self-awareness per se), the intensity of our language capabilities (not just having or not having a "language), our ability to point and beware of "the other", our ability to be aware of and plan for the future, to question, to speculate and hypothesize, to create art for its own sake are all indications that we simply are not just like other animals. It's OK that it is that way. We don't need to be "just" animals, but if we are not, we should, at a minimum, be true to whatever it is we are, and that, in the end, is human.

Humans, it should be noted, are the only creatures who possess the notion of "inhuman", which is very different from the notion of, say, "non-human". We recognize these distinctions in the simplest forms of expression, in the concepts we use (and in this case, this concept can be found in all languages, not just English). Whereas "non-human" may merely distinguish us from our animal cousins, a word, a notion, a concept, such as "inhuman" carries with it -- in every language -- a negative connotation. When we hear the word, we know what is meant is not good. To be inhuman is to act in a way that negates (or ignores) one's own humanity.

Again, I'm not making a case for a special treatment or consideration of humanity. I believe we are, just like all other species, sentient or not, part of a greater configuration we call Nature, or Reality, or whatever. We have to acknowledge, however, that we know we are a part of it, that we know we are different, and this knowledge obligates us to act accordingly. It's not a matter of well-that's-just-how-things-are, rather, we need to behave in a manner commensurate with our difference. We need to be human.