4/30/13 Final

Humanity has changed in great ways during the past three thousand years. Their society has grown so much. I have witnessed their society grow so much during the years I have observed them. After watching humanity, I believe I have figured out the greatest question that all humans have pondered. I believe I have figured out what it means to be human.

Human

Humans are simple beasts who like other beasts crave to be accepted by their own kind. They do not live full lives unless they have interaction with other humans. In fact one of their own kind states that friendship is a necessity for humans. This human was Aristotle. However, there are different types of friendships for humans. In Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle mentions what he believes to be the three types of human friendships. He classifies them as “Friendship based on utility,” “Friendship based on pleasure,” and “Perfect friendship is based on goodness” (Coursepack,75). I greatly believe that Aristotle was on to something when he stated this. From my findings on humans, I have witnessed many of these types of friendships. The utilities gained from some of the friendships can be small or big things. Some examples include having the friend give you a ride, having the friend help them on work, and even just having the friend visit so they can have someone to talk to. Many of these friendships only last until the need has been filled. I noticed that small children and older humans usually use this type of friendship. The pleasure aspect is mostly used by young humans who are not yet adult humans. Many of them have friends who are only friends with them as long as they bring them some type of pleasure. The pleasure can be any type of pleasure. The goodness factor according to Aristotle is the perfect friendship. I must say that I agree with him. The perfect friendships are between humans who have nothing to gain from being friends, and yet still remain friends. They focus on just being with each other. I completely agree that humans require friendships in order to fully experience the human life.

Achilles

Humans have had literature like Aristotle’s literature that will use Aristotle’s work to help describe humanity. Their society has changed, but in my own opinion their society still focuses on what other humans think of them. Homer’s Illiad shows what their society was all about in the Ancient time. It was a society based on shame. Now it is true that their society has changed more into a society of guilt, but they still focus greatly on what other humans think of them. From Homer’s Illiad, Achilles has a choice. He can live but not be remembered or die and people will remember his name forever. Do you know what he chose? Due to their society being a society of shame, he chose to die just so he would always be remembered. To our society this may seem backwards, but to their society at the time he chose the correct answer. Humans base their own image on what other humans think of them. The humans have grown out of this, but they still worry about what other people think of them. I doubt any human alive today would choose the same answer that Achilles chose, but they still want other humans to think well of them.

Chain of Being

Humans have gone through many different periods in their societies. One of the greatest periods in my opinion is the period that humans call the Enlightenment period. In fact without the complex human thought of this period perhaps one of the greatest nations of humanity wouldn’t exist today. During the Enlightenment, humans’ way of thinking changed. One human even wrote an essay on humans that he titled, Essay on Man (Pope, Coursepack, 17-23). This human’s name was Alexander Pope. In Essay on Man, he describes a chain of being, which when I read it I believed he would make man the top of the chain. However, I was wrong as I continued to read his work; I noticed that he didn’t put humans at the top of the chain. He put them in the middle of the chain. Pope continues on talking about how man has his place and he can neither go above or below his place. “Aspiring to be gods, angels fell, Aspiring to be angels, men rebel” (Essay on Man, Coursepack, 18). This quote from Pope’s work shows that he truly believes that everything has its place on the chain and that no one can change it. I must say, I agree with what Pope calls, “The Chain of Being.” This thought like many others came from the Enlightenment period of humanity.

I have talked about humanity’s past, but now I will tell of humans from the present, or the Modern era of humanity. One thing I noticed greatly with humans is never judge a book by its cover and never judge a book by what is written on the page. Many humans from the past wrote many wonderful things, however only now are humans really discovering what they believe the writings to be truly about. One of the greatest poems in modern times for humans to learn how to read poetry is Billy Collin’s Introduction to Poetry (Coursepack, 6). In his poem, he tells humans by using images and symbolic meanings how they should read a poem. In my opinion this can work for any kind of literature. He tells humans not to just think of the words on the page, but to really try to see what is behind the words. The things behind the words can be images, symbols, or the human author’s true intentions. Many past human authors may have had other intentions for their writings rather than what many believe.

Did I mention earlier about how humans will use what other humans used over and over. One great example of this is the song by Kelly Clarkson, a music artist of modern day humanity. Her song, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger (Coursepack 13), was a new way to think about what another human had already stated. Friedrich Nietzsche originally had this idea. His quote is “That which does not kill us makes us stronger” (psychologytoday.com). This is a perfect example of how humans will use what others have used.

Humanity is a great civilization. They may have their shortcomings, but they will thrive. They must have social interactions with other humans. It amazes me of how much they have opened their minds over these three thousand years. They are beginning to understand what their past has to teach them. All in all, in order to be human one must be with humans and learn from humans, and before long that person will be a human.