On being human
You know one of the many things that separate humans from insects is empathy. Yes, empathy. You are said to be empathetic towards other humans if their pain or discomfort affects you, mostly negatively. This then 'should' drive you to take actions that help out the other humans in relieving themselves of that discomforting feeling.
As humans, we are gifted with tremendous mental and physical capabilities to effectuate such changes. We are able to think, communicate, and act, all in the guise of a super-intelligent life form called the human race. Empathy drives us to write great literature, make terrific movies, fall in love, develop new technology, explore new planets, and on and on, effectively enabling global change for all of us and the generations after.
Why then do we forego this basic human trait at times when we need it the most?
I wish I could answer this question with a modicum of correctness and without getting into controversial topics of theology and social structure.
One thing is for certain that prejudice plays a role here. We are all humans, full of emotions, and sometimes these prejudices make us dispose conventional wisdom in favor of our (and our elders') prior experiences in life. After all, to be prejudiced is also a sign of possessing cognition, which we humans have successfully demonstrated over the past multitudes of generations. We deplore disobedience towards parents, for example, because we are prejudiced against any act of defiance against parents by their children. Similarly, we are prejudiced against people who get willfully intoxicated in public.
Does this mean that it's alright to shed empathy towards others if we happen to be prejudiced against them? This is where most of us stop being humans. Empathy is not temporary. It is us. It is our #1 trait.
Here are examples of people being less humans:
1. Crowd in Afghanistan silently spectating, in fact participating, over the public stoning of a young girl who happened to commit the crime of loving someone from outside her 'community'.
2. Supporting any war that affects civilians and goes against all the rules of conflict.
3. Not caring about the environment.
4. Not feeling the urge to help out the unfortunate few in the world even when they're right in front of us.
5. Not giving up your seat for the elderly on public transportation.
6. Not staying up all night to care for the sick lover who is otherwise always with us.
The point is not to tell you what's right and what's not. We already know that. All we have to ask is - if we were in the same situation as that human/entity, what would we expect from the rest.
While everyone is born with the same levels of empathy, only a few are brought up in an environment where that trait is amplified and put into use for dealing with most of life's situations. Once you start treating everyone in this world alike, you reach the point of everlasting happiness, because even if someone is doing something wrong, you care enough for them to help them get back on track. This is what being human is all about, and all of us want to be happy without the burden of our prejudices guiding us towards anything other than how to collaborate effectively with other people.
So the next time you see something that is contributing to making this world a worse place for everyone, take action.
We are all capable of being humans.
