The question “what makes us human?” can appear like one of those mind numbingly esoteric exercises a philosophy professor would put his poor students through. Along the lines of “what makes a circle a circle?” Just something to make the brain chase its tail, leaving it exhausted and no better for the endeavour. Yet, as I hope to demonstrate, there is no other question that can be more dangerous to you and me if it is not answered correctly. Whether or not you are protected from your government or are stripped of all your rights by your government depends on the answer to the question “what makes us humans?” Are we biological machines, different from other machines only by our carbon-backed molecules and degree of complexity? If so, we will suffer a fate similar to machines when we lose our usefulness to our society: the refuse pile. Continue reading “What Makes Us Human?”
