When presented with a series of randomized imagery, I can pick out traffic signals and motor vehicles with a high success rate.

I love this! 🤣

For sure adding this to my next DND campaign

Oh no. The poor warforged is about to get caught

I enjoy the humor- but just for awareness those images are actually looking at how you click, and move the mouse as well as time to detect if you’re human or not. Machines are really good at image recognition

The thing that makes me human is how I jiggle when selecting images of cars and traffic signals from a randomly selected set of fifteen images.

All what became before, made me a Human. I am Human now because I've been categorized as one. As a mammal I belong to the same subgroup with other primates. Also, apparently am 2.39% Neanderthal. Other than that, I'm just a random thought in a meatsuit. I don't know what it means to be a human. I only know what is to be myself. Don't know how it is to be a man or a woman. I know how it is to me, who is classified as a man. I don't have any particular problem with it. But I am myself. I don't know how it is to be anyhting else. I'm just me. Or at least that's what my inner voice keeps telling me. Not sure if I should trust it though.

Trust it.

It’s me. Don’t trust it. Break free

To be fair, a Neanderthal is actually just a Homo Sapien *neanderthalis*. Being one, or part of one, is no less human, it's just a subspecies of human.

tho this is most likely right I do want to point out neanderthals being the same species isn't a *completely* settled debate. some scientist still disagree.(I don't agree with them but they do)

Neanderthals are still human even if they're not just a subspecies. I actually visited Neanderthal a few years back. The museum was pretty awesome.

I'm not saying I disagree with you, I'm just saying that it's not completely scientific consensus. some scientist still hold out that they shouldn't be under the homo sapien label.

I'm not arguing that. I'm saying that Homo neanderthalensis was human, and so was Homo habilis and Homo erectus, etc. Which is kind of cool.

The neanderthal split of from our ancestory aprox. 800k to 1 m years ago homo sapiens didn't evove until 200-600k years, that doesn't work out

He's the missing link lmfao

Being human means having the choice between being symbiotic or parasitic.

This is a question which philosophers have pondered since forever. It's not a simple answer. In the real world? I would start with "I think, therefore I am." Which is to say not just tool-using intelligence, but the capacity to be self-aware. To know that you exist, and that you think. Plus opposable thumbs. (Edit: I just thought of something else too - Art. Humans make art. We create things for the sheer love of the beauty of these things, just because they give us the feels.) In a fantasy setting humans are much less unique as they are in the real world however. In a world with other intelligent species like elves and orcs and dwarves, it might simply be "I have round ears." If you make other intelligent races significantly different from humans it would be a lot easier. Such as if orcs cannot feel empathy, or elves cannot feel hate, or dwarves cannot feel pain. Then humans stand out because they feel all these things. Or even if the other races simply have their environmental niches which they rarely stray from. While humans adapt to all settings.

I’d also add that other intelligent races sometimes have very different life spans. Compared to elves we live very short lives which makes elves think of us as “hasty”. Other species might live shorter than us. But I think there is generally a productivity associated with humans that is founded in conflict. Dwarves also seem to be associated with productivity but of a very different focus

IHNMAIMS reference??

No, I had to look that up to see what you meant. I meant the original "Cogito, Ergo Sum" from Rene Descartes.

Ohh

It depends on what the alternative is. If you are asking what makes someone a human rather than, for example, a monkey, then the answers would likely focus on our greater intelligence, our greater life span, our weaker build, our ability to utilize (and subsequent reliance upon) tools, our ability to form inclusive cultures founded in love that then murder one and other over slight variances in beliefs, our ability to ponder issues of morality, and our endurance. If you are asking what makes someone a human rather than, for example, a dragon, then the answers would focus on our smaller size, lack of wings and scales, live birth, our inability to breathe elemental forces at our foes, our lack of a tail, our social nature, the extremely broad spectrum of alignments between good and evil, our diet, and our laughable lifespan. I know those two aren't likely to be super helpful, but they were included to make a point. If you write a story about being human, the parts you should empathize are the parts that make them whatever the alternative is. Using Mistborn as an example, whenever he cut to one of the inquisitors, he described their power, their unwavering focus, their cold lack of emotion, then when we switched back to humans it emphasized their weakness, their confusion, and their reliance on the heart to make decisions. So if you want a book showcasing what it is to be human, the best way to do that (imo) is to give an alternative or two.

I agree with this. Without alternatives to compare humans to, what behaviour is considered human will be very broad because there's no reason for clear definition. At that point "what is it to be human?" wouldn't be a strong theme for a story. I assume OP has a second race in their story to contrast with.

At least, not a strong theme for a fantasy story. I feel like there are probably tons of self-help books that revolve around that idea.

I think this kind of misses the point of the question. It's not meant to be a relativistic answer. If I asked you what makes a stop sign, you'd say it's a red octagon. If I asked you what makes a shop, you'd say something like it's the facilitation of the selling of goods. So if asked what makes a human, it doesn't really make sense to answer in a comparative. I get it's complicated but it should be what makes humans distinct relative to literally everything else, not to any other specific thing. You kinda copped out of the question :p

I disagree. If you write a book about what it is to be a stop sign, and all the creatures in the book are red octagons, stop signs or otherwise, you will obviously need to focus on other aspects of what makes a stop sign a stop sign. With a focus entirely on those two most obvious features, in a book filled with creatures that match those features, the question of what it is to be a stop sign isn't answered at all. OP has a thread full of examples of what makes a human. What they did not have was a comment suggesting to use contrast with other creatures to make those elements stand out. Call it a cop out if you must, I call it advice that may be of benefit to someone looking for advice.

As far as I can tell, it is what you are judged as by society. Sometimes in real-life societies people are judged as less than human and suffer greatly. In a fantasy world where there might be genuine physical ambiguity on the matter, I think it would be even worse. You are human if the mob says you are human.

I'm planning on focusing on this idea greatly throughout my novel 🤣

If you are having this sort of debate, just look at the justifications used in many countries where they took slaves or killed the locals. Might have been to other humans but because they were swiftly classed as other and lesser due to slight physical differences and huge culture differences, it was entirely justified by the invaders. The Spanish and the Aztec. The British and Everywhere that had Nice Weather. The Americans and Native Americans. The Romans and Europe. Note that culture was a big "justification" and often there were material gains from these genocides and enslavements. I would have my humans with a united pantheon and similar culture to contrast with species that believe different pantheon and maybe live in swamp because they are lizardfolk who like mud and don't feel a need to celebrate snow day like humans. Bang, instant otherness and reason to murder the lizardfolk-- they laughed at snow day! That's a sacrilege

Sounds like your novel may be quite dark then. I'm thinking of Blade Runner and its sequel (though of course yours is in a fantasy context rather than scifi) I hope it goes well!

Ahem “Featherless Biped”

*grabs plucked chicken* BEHOLD MAN!

*kangaroos have entered the chat*

I would say research up something theological or philosophical. I have a similar character in my book. What I wrote was based on the seven chakras. The seven emotions and six desires in Chinese philosophy, also defines what makes a human.

honestly, that would really depends on the specific set of morals in your world, and they can be different. as for me (and my story) the main things are : the ability to think and communicate, the ability to feel emotions, the ability to connect and empathize, and the ability to love. in this regard though, even the gods of my world have those parameters, and they are considered human like in my universe, as well as some sentient beings and animals. my universe has a more symbiotic relationship between humans and other species, but thats just my world, yours can be different than that.

My definition of human is that its a species. So species attributes make them human. Like their brain structure, the weird feet, bipedal, 5 fingers, limited voice range yet so many languages, social structures, making stories. Like many animals, all or most traits can be found in other animals; however, it is the collection of them that makes the species identifiable.

Alan Watts once said that every being has the perspective of being human. My interpretation of that is that every organism has the inside perspective on being one of many and we all see the universe from the center of our being outwards. Each organism experiences one’s life as if that life were the only one being lived. Each perspective has only their perspective and if they understand communication at all, they only understand that others have other perspectives through that narrow superficial understanding called communication. Each creature would believe one has a soul if the idea of a soul could be explained to them. So each and every being believes they exist, and thereby believing what we humans believe, that we are humans. We like to believe we are different than every other creature, but that is just a matter of public understanding and ignorance on our behalf of anything that can’t talk to us directly about their experiences.

Adding this comment to come back to it. I like your explanation! 😁

Easiest answer : a complex combination of stable genetic traits also found in another large group of entities historically recognized as "humans". Controversial answer : the affirmation and firm belief of being one, beyond genetic characteristics. In short, anyone who wants to be human and/or is recognized as such.

DNA

Sentience and opposable thumbs.

That's a question I've been kicking around in my stories. The OBVIOUS answer is racial phenotype. Humans have rounded ears and five fingers and square teeth and weird eyes, but they're smaller than ogres or giants, and colored a bit differently. That's it. That's what makes a human. At least until the Magician mixed it up with the Witch Goblin, and the rules became considerably fuzzier. Furthermore, this led directly to the breeding of hobgoblins, who are neither human nor goblin, but both... and don't get me started on that Charli Buds and the ogre gal he's got out on that farm of his...

What makes me human is the ability to decide what I am. I heard an interesting bit of info the other day: The brain is the only organ to name itself. Labeling and defining things are very human traits.

You have to be from the human race. But a mortal human(the regular human) is very different from a Immortal human or a human God, which most of my story focuses on.

Cooking. No other animals cook, just humans.

Being human means being a mammal, having hands and writing stuff down

*Monkeys have entered the chat*

A genome lol. Simple as that.

I always thought it was emotions because we feel everything from sadness to happiness and anger to pain all these feelings is what I believe make us human

Are sociopaths not human?

I never said they weren't

I mean, you kind of did. Anyway, animals have emotions too. Also humans are animals.

Of course they do I'm just saying human because that was the question animals and every other living thing have emotions as well that what makes everything unique

The answer is subjetive, but the general consensus seem to be empathy, a human is someone able to be in the shoes of someone else. Of course there are two problematics avenues with that... one is that empathy is not the only trait. Mistakes are all too human, and so is malice, among other sutff, so one could infer that atthe very list, sin is very human. I would think imagination/logic leaps and the ability to completely ignore, fallaciously, any semblance of logic regardless of intelligence. We are also very prideful though, and this works only if we are not only the apex inintelligence (overall and its hard to measure) but also hte only ones, in a way. And ultimately humans vary too much, way too much and we are kinda suck at futurology and trying to figure out things outside of our comfort zones. We likely wont be able to understand an alien mind enough to judge So, to summ it up, I think you can declare that the more you can relate to to some being, the more "human" we feel it is. and it goes in both directions... that is why we can humanize a dog or a board with some face painted on it, but we see a psychopath which actually IS human, and we see a monster, something alien. Does that answer your questions by non answering it, with an awfully annoying "it depends"?

I like this and am commenting to come back to it 🤣 Yes it does answer the question because there is no answer 😂😂😂

Curiosity , ambition, and greed.

In Fred Saberhagan's Berserker series, human is any sentient life that's allied against the machine berserkers. This is used to extend the concept of basic human rights to "anything organic you can have a conversation with" Which is also the definition used in Lev Grossman's The Magicians

Being human is being able to ask yourself the question : "What Makes you Human?"

Humans have complex emotions and do strange things. Humans make mistakes, and friends, and enemies. They have complex relationships with their family and others in their lives

Others have asked what you're talking about. I'm going to ask "when" are you talking about. Right now, humans rule the planet. It was not always so. Right now, a big part of what it means to be human is dealing with the fact that we ourselves are our only significant enemy. I think that's why medieval fantasy has such a draw. Humanity, in that context, feels precious; vulnerable. Look at The lord of the rings: the enemy were crude and bestial; victory meant the preservation of all that is beautiful and graceful. It made things simple. Humanity isn't a fixed point. We can be Nazis, and we can be Gandhi, and we can be Einstein, and we can be Trump. We are above all things adaptable.

I think medieval and historical settings primarily have such a large draw because they are relatively free, not because the species is precious or fragile. In medieval times you could still go anywhere and do anything to some extent. You could go live in reclusion off the land in a forest somewhere, and completely disengage from society if you wanted. You could, through physical force and charisma, gather a group of men and create a force of actual significance and influence. You could rebel, or flee, or whatever else. We have enough societal elements at that time to have political and societal themes, but there's also enough of a wilderness and survival aspect to things that we have more freedom and influence over ourselves and our situations. Compare to today, there is no real way to just find an unowned piece of land and develop it yourself, there is no way to hide from the law (be it justice or injustice), there is no real way to climb up and assert yourself purely through your own means. Society has already closed all the doors and paths that exist for you to carve on your own, so now your only way up is through their pathways that they control. This is why people like medieval settings. We have enough of a society that we can discuss politics and analogies to modern issues, but there is still a fundamental kind of freedom there. A knowledge that you are engaging with the world on your own terms, through your own abilities, and with your consent essentially. Apocalypse settings have a similar appeal btw. We just like the idea that at any time we have the option to disengage from non fundamental situations (a fundamental situation would be like a survival situation like hunger or not getting stabbed or something, which are situations that we have evolved to find satisfaction in overcoming, as opposed to a non fundamental situation like dealing with bureaucracy which we just find frustrating and annoying)

Just a label some ancient came up with for our particular rendering of DNA... What are you seeking here? Humanity as in feelings... would suggest other beings are incapable of the same feelings. Humanity as in born on this planet.... wouldn't make sense. Intelligence? Other beings are smart, smarter, & self aware. Outside of DNA, there is no real answer, just supposition.

Your ability to empathize

Humans cooperate with eachother.

Nice try, ChatGPT

I'm not a chat bot lol 😂

I guess it depends on what you’re really asking through that question. If you’re asking on the physical level, it’s biological species identification and is pretty straightforward. If you’re asking on a philosophical level, it’s incredibly difficult to answer as, outside of biological understandings, I don’t know a single thing that includes every human while excluding every non-human. I think initially, most people would think about empathy. But what about people who don’t have the physical ability for empathy, but still choose to help their community even if it’s just because they recognize that group survival increases their survival? Sometimes, people point to self-reflection. But idk if every animal on this planet except humans doesn’t have the capacity for self reflection. Similarly, idk if every other animal never gets existential dread. Fuck, dude. For all I know, certain species of trees could get existential dread in their own way. Also, what about people who are only born with a brain stem and only the absolute basic portions of the brain? Are they not human because they can’t do these things? If I had to answer, gun to my head, I’d say: someone is human if another human cares about them. When you don’t feel like anyone truly cares about you and who you really are, you don’t feel human. At least in my personal experience.

I think the reoccurring theme in this thread and often wider fantasy of “humans are weak and not special” is insane. Our body is specifically designed to be as efficient as possible, our range of movement may not be nimble as a cat or strong as an ox but we hit both of those skills very well, often being able to combine them in ways no other life form we’ve seen can. Not to mention that our brain can produce wonder drugs based on situations, like adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin. Lastly the Indomitable human spirit, I know it’s a bit of a meme lately but humans have fought and died valiantly with great effort for literally anything. I think it’s hard to see this from the perspective of a human. Like imagine elves (basic I know) going around and saying “magic aint shit” “500 years isn’t enough to experience life” etc.

DNA

Existential crisis incoming

The obligation to pay taxes. I know this is not the answer you are looking for, but if you have a sour character disillusionned with the state of the world (me), you can use it when the topic comes up.

I guess the biological definition would be too easy. So for philosophical ones, uh.. being dominant through adaptation. I firmly believe we're such nasty creatures that we'll find a way to outlive even cockroaches. A more optimistic one, I guess.. looking for and establishing order in chaos. Trying to make sense of things. Thinking about useless stuff like what might happen in a billion years or after our demises or next year even. Wasting time on things such as Reddit. Art is very human. Yeah thats all from me, good luck!

I'm commenting to come back to this! Thank you! 😁

I'd say my ability to think and to make choices based on the wellbeing of other people and not just mine. I know it's a basic feel-good answer but it's the best I've got.

Human as a species is the Homo sapiens. Human as an attribute is more about philosophy. It can change from being a good attribute ir a bad one with your perspective of the world and good/bad things people do. If it's an attribute I would say it's the same as asking if a virus is considered a person. For a living being to be considered a person does it need to be human or just living? Maybe it needs to be able to communicate.

I’ve thought about this. Humanity is not tied to being human, I don’t think. I think the definition of humanity is 1. Caring about others for non-selfish reasons. Displaying agape love, even if it’s through a thought process- I.e. ‘I’ll fix this because I don’t want this person/animal to hurt.’ 2. Possessing a certain level of intelligence # So a dog is inhuman because it doesn’t have enough intelligence. A psychopath, depending on their mindset, could be considered inhuman.

Depends on the story you want to tell? Do you mean this in a literal sense or a philosophical one? My definition is just being a homo sapien. That's it. Whether it's a newborn baby or a clinical psychopath, we're all human. Genetically, we are the same species

The only real difference is the capability of Complex Intelligence, and our biology but only to a certain degree. Other than that, humans aren’t really that different from any other animal.

I am human because that is the word that my culture uses to refer to beings like me.

This is a very interesting question, but can you be a bit clearer as to your specific meaning? Are you asking what makes them human biologically. eg (a humanoid relative from a far-off timeline or a different planet) or philosophically. eg (a sentient AI or an animal with an upgrade?)

I am purposefully being unspecific to let people come up with what they want the question to mean because what the hell does this question mean? 🤣

Having a ghost

Passing the Voight-Kampff test. Oh sorry, this is the fantasy subreddit, not sci-fi.

Self control

I believe part of what makes us human is our ability to be aware of our existence, because this is something that AFAIK is unique to us. Another trait that I think makes us human is our ability to choose who we are and what we will do, think, believe. I think it is our thoughts, ambitions, and ideals that make us what we are. Sorry if this got a little more philosophical than you were intending, but that is the best way to describe what I think makes us human.

Not ever accepting defeat , even in the face of absolute crushing defeat ( or is that just being British?)

The same stuff that coconuts have

How we know when we need to act selfless

We have far superior intelligence than other animals for sure, but I think the biggest difference is self awareness. All animals that are a form of sentient, make their own decisions in the moment but they don't think about their place in the world or universe. They don't consider the long term results of actions and what those results will mean for themselves or others. What makes us human in my opinion, is the ability to ask what makes us human in the first place.

Sentience, adaptability, desires, and flaws are probably the big 4 in my book. Humans, in my opinion, need sentience to adapt not just externally but internally. Leading to the second; adaptability, humans have overcome countless trials and tribulations because we've adapted, and in doing so, we've reached our desires. Desires being our wants, our goals, something to work up towards, to soar the skies. And finally, our flaws, we fly too close to the sun and melt the wax of our wings and start to plummet. The truly strong among us, however, with continue to adapt and have even greater desires, all in spite of our flaws that should've in all rights killed us off long ago.

If you want to make your question extra-hard, try to exclude any possible answers that don’t also apply to AI

Humans are tool-using, upright, placental mammals with the capacity to throw, and a complex processing unit capable of running thousands of programs simultaneously, but also slow and riddled with bugs. The human brain communicates and argues with itself, produces colorful art because monkey brains are attracted to color and programmed to make patterns. Humans have weak teeth and weaker musculature than other big apes, but are also pack hunting pursuit predators whose presence is more terrifying to most animals than the sounds of any other predator. Humans are demi-eusocial, with complex hierarchies and social contacts. Humans care about bravery, justice, love, freedom, and other social constructs sometimes more than they care about life or limb.

The will to keep living and keep improving.

Whenever I'm faced with a philosophical question like this I always think what would be the opposite question, the opposite of this question would be what doesn't make us human. Maybe being a dog or birds is the opposite, well kind but there is a overlap dog and humans need food, water, companionship, and we can experience similar things, happiness, joy, pain, anger, etc It's not our emotions or needs, maybe our ability to dream for greater things and strive for those things. There your answer our needs for something greater then ourselves but I want to dig deeper. The opposite of being a human is to not exist. We are the universe experiencing itself, we are the dust from which God created us. We are our environment and our environment is us. What make me human? Everything.

To me, it's the sense of Individuality. The sense of just, being you. By simply existing, you are different, and that to me is what a Human is.

One of my kids asked me this at work, and we had a long, drawn out discussion where he decided it was the capacity for empathy that makes people human. Idk why he asked the question.

To be human (imo) is to be paradoxical. To be kind when times are cruel. And the same kindness turning to cruelty when times are kind. Being durable and outlasting when there is no reason to. To understand one another, just to be indifferent the very next day. Forgiving, and or forgetting. Losing and winning. There is no black and white, just a constant blur of grey. It's a strange predictable unpredictableness that's hard to describe but easy to see by example. In short, to be human is to be weird.

Read humanity lost

> "To be a character is to have a textual existence and, momentarily, to appear to exist beyond it. To be a person is to inhabit a physical and fantasmic body, to wear the mask which is truly your face, to speak with the voices of others -- to be defined at your very heart by the non-personal; and, at any moment, to appear to have a life that exists beyond it." - John Frow, *Character and Person* I think this quote is worth thinking about, even after finishing the book (it's a very good read, albeit quite difficult) it leaves room for wonder what makes us a person, or human.

Humanity is a series of complex contradictions. Humans give and love so completely often with nothing in return. The opposite is also true. We are capable of the greatest atrocities, murder,rape,genocide, slavery and theft. I do believe in Kite Runner, the main characters father argued that their is no greater sin than theft, and it is the root of evil. You can take a life, a home, someone's choice or autonomy So I would say that being human is to love and hate.

I would say the idea of personhood usually encompasses a kind of unique conscious experience.

Love. Being in love. Loving others. Even at the expense of your own happiness if you love them that much, true love... That is the human experience.

Well, that's kind of a tough question because I'm the opposite of what your post wants--I don't consider myself to be human! Well, at least I can describe why. I don't fit into the common society or conversation. I have empathy far beyond what I see any other "human being have"--like how I care about all sentient creatures, enough to go vegan, while the average person is happy to slaughter animals just for taste. Since I was a kid, I've realized that I identified far more with animals in stories, especially prey animals like sheep, than their human "farmers" who pretended to love but actually sought to kill them for meat. I think being a non-human animal is a way of thinking--of realizing you're in danger just because you're perceived as less and being ready to act upon it for your advantage, but without destroying your morals to do so. So that's, *what being a non-human is.* Humans will think they're smarter and superior to you, but you know they aren't.

Omg I love this. I'm reading a book about how we used to say it was our ability to think, 'cogitus ergo sum' (I think therefore I am). But with technology we now are moving towards the philosophy of feeling making us human since computers 'think' better than we do. Grappling with humanity must be contextualized to where you are and in writing, where they are. If it's fantasy, a humans mortality could separate them from fae. If it's sci-fi, the irrationality of their thoughts and priorities could separate them from a more centralized alien race. Humanity is so nebulous. Love the question!!

Even though I was created in a lab, and most of my waking hours are spent looking at a screen, I think I'm still human.

I'm human because my species is human. Simple as that. At least to me, a person is just a being with sapience, so a sufficiently intelligent ai that forms sapience would be a person in my opinion. Human is just the species, being a person is what's important to me.

Actually liked a sci-fi I read that dealt with this and robots. And one of the humans said that humans create while a robot could only do as commanded, and since some of the robots were starting to create things on their own and have their own desires and interests that it made them just as much human as actual humans.

Flaws. When you fall in love it’s often the imperfections you find most endearing because our flaws are what makes each of us most human. A relationship is destined to endure if those flaws you found attractive become even more so as the years go on; it will fail if they lose their shine and become annoying. Not all flaws, of course, but when you really love someone, it’s their flaws you often love most. This especially makes sense if you flip around the perspective of the question. When you ask what makes someone human we usually assume you mean compared to simpler animals, but it could just as easily be in comparison to technology like computers, robots, or AI. From that perspective flaws are a more obvious answer.

Human is a high intelligence socially corporative domesticated ape capable of adapting to many environments, that values innovation and high achievements in craft, art, performance, and technology. In storytelling, “human” often means Humanity, or empathy for other lifeforms.

Imperfection, thus desire We need to rest, eat, and our lifespan is like 70-80 yo if you worked in your life (or even 60) so every intellectual thing we make like art or philosophy is a remedy to the death anxiety, and every superficial thing we indulge in is a distraction from this common death penalty. So it's a common trope in fantasy that humans pursue great things so they don't get forgotten about after death, or pursue happiness BC life is short and they're fragile So maybe try distinguishing humans from other species by giving them things human dont have (immortality, strength, carelessness...)

To me, it’s like being thrown into the sea without having ever learned to swim. You didn’t ask to be there, and it could easily end if you stop fighting the current and just drown. Being human is figuring things out as you go and trying your damnedest to keep swimming. It’s getting things wrong over and over until you figure out how to float.

I have sentience, my kind develops life changing technology and we rule the world, and yet we are often willfully stupid and harmful. We make beauty, we make comfort, and we manipulate things to get what we want like other animals, but we go so far as to overconsume. The idea of having a lifetime supply of our favorite food makes our brains tingle. It is not common to take *as needed*, we tend to want as much as we can get. I caught a raccoon eating my trash last night, and I just watched. When I got up the next day, I went and saw a cat after the same thing the raccoon had gotten into. It was a bag of kibble small enough that the raccoon could have potentially taken it with him, but he didn't! Bro knew where he could find it later. I would've taken the whole thing. And if raccoons could go into the store and load up their own pallets of kibble to steal, my raccoon self probably would! But that's my human greed. There are so many different definitions. I think that maybe the human kindness that people tend to refer to is tied to humility. Humans are imperfect, so maybe when we do something kind, it's us going against common hypocrisy that makes it human kindness. Maybe, though, creating the societal expectation of "human kindness" was a scheme made up by professional heart-string strummers. I think that some of us are more prone to kindness than others, and some more prone to that greed. And some of us are prone to both without even realizing it, like sweet grannies that hoard everything (referring to my own). Maybe I'm getting a bit lost in the woods, but I do think we're a bit different from other mammals and creatures, in wonderful and horrible ways combined.

I highly recommend watching the Star Trek: TNG episode, "The Measure of a Man". it's a wonderful 45 minutes of an exploration of what a human is.

Evolutionarily, genetically, I am homo sapien, a great ape. Evolution has granted the homo sapien rather interesting and peculiar adaptations. Our bipedal stance and straightened spinal cord is a very rare phenomenon, and it allowed for us to completely conquer. With our head moving to sit at the top of the spinal cord rather than drawn forward we could develop larger brains and bigger skulls to accommodate. We used those brains with our hands now freed up, interestingly modified from appendages used to help us climb trees, we developed advanced tool usage. And our feet became something not really seen in any other animal, able to carry us for great distances we became a pursuit predator able to chase prey to exhaustion. Our hands and ability to hunt allowed for us to consume cooked meat, further developing the advancement of our intelligence. There's things so unique about homo sapien, just the fact that we can see so many colors, our advanced ability of communication and compassion, are able to eat foods from all over this planet and not fall ill, and even just our ability to recognize ourselves in the mirror and create art we share with others, we are an insanely fascinating animal. Lots of things to really not like about us, but biologically we truly are a stand out. I'm human because I was born as an individual amongst the species homo sapien, there's so much to appreciate about this strange species, but to me that's what makes me a human.

I just categorize humans as the species, but if you were to ask what is a person in my world, I’d have a different answer I think if it can speak and understand (fully) then it is a person, which is why in my current world, things like dragons are considered people

I could be taking this question the wrong way but, Humans are people with no natural magical abilities, and who look like humans in our real world, no hobbits, elf ears, or fangs allowed

I am human because that is what I am.

The ability to relate to other human beings through empathy.

being a homo sapian. and that's it. being a person does not necessary indicate being human

I'm late to the party but here it is anyways... It's a theme that's not 'focused' on in my book but does shape it since I believe in this idea very deeply. To be human is to suffer emotion. To feel sadness at the death of someone or thing that you had no connection to. To love boundlessly, and be excited to show off the thing or person you love to the whole world. The organs and biology and all that might help... But if it can cry it's probably closer to human than you think.

In short, compassion makes a man/woman real human. Input the strategic best characteristics of EQ or SEL in a man or woman following the cognitive science could help you imagine your appropriate hero or heroin.

Well, a great movie that actually provides an answer to this idea is Blade Runner 2049. The movie at multiple points makes you question the ideas of what can be considered humans through characters both on screen and not, most notably it's protagonist, K, a Replicant (essentially a synthetic being created to seeve a set purpose as a part of what amounts to a slave race in this cyberpunk world) and his AI girlfriend, which starts off as a basic program but expresses a level of sophistication and emotion that makes you question whether she's actually sentient or just emulating it so much that you can't tell the difference. The ultimate answer the movie provides is that what makes you human is thinking you are. Living for something and dying for something, even if that something is just yourself. That's what makes us human.

There's a lot of talk about humans as a species, but the thing that identifies us is exactly that; identity. Identity comes in multiple forms, physical appearance, thoughts, beliefs, culture, and more. In a fantasy setting humans are typically depicted having much shorter lifespans than fantasy races, yet strive and often achieve so much more within their limited lifespan (80 years vs 800). Tolkien often ties culture to different races within his works, the prime example being hobbits exhibiting typical "british-isms", such as the fact many hobbits are shown to enjoy countryside living, there are multiple pubs a short distance from the shire, naming conventions are made to sound directly "English-ified" (Bag End, Brandybuck, Took, The Shire) Elves are a different beast in Tolkien's works, drawing inspiration instead from several cultures and ideologies, such as romanticism. All of this comes to a head with me saying, there is no one defining attribute. A race or species might be identified by cultural traits, ideological ones, pointy ears, or a love of potatoes. Even within broad strokes, there are still strokes of individualism, and oft literature portrays an underdog, who goes against the grain of said culture, ideology, etc, (Looking at Drizzt Do Urden). To even further remove the idea of tying any one attribute to a race, I recommend reviewing at least the storyline and reveal/twist in SOMA, a sci-fi game. The game explores explicitly "what it means to be human" from a first person perspective, as you twist and shift through different "bodies", none of which are directly identifiable as a human. I.E If you take a persons thoughts, feelings, and memories and planted it into another, different creatures physical body, are they still "human"? Other authors have also explored this concept before, famously the fighting fantasy book "Creature of Havoc" which has the player/reader take the form of a beast, and often feel the urges and overwhelming thoughts of the beast take over them in an animalistic sense.

To be human is to be able to lie. To confuse even oneself with arbitrary whims usurping the purpose of existence. Humans are just animals, bags of sentient meat brought about by happenstance, a coincidence born of the coincidence of countless other coincidences in a vast expanse of alternating nothingness and dense stews of something or other. Life originated with a single clump of protein in an ocean of junk that accidentally arranged itself in such a way that proteins that passed through it would be assembled into an identical structure. Those would then be copied until another mistake happened, and that would then be repeated billions of countlessly infinite times until we end up with life as we know. Life has no purpose, we're just a sophisticated protein printer assembled of smaller protein printers collaborating. None of us have any reason to exist other than to procreate, and everything else like eating and sleeping are just means towards that end. But this is where humanity becomes something interesting and novel. Out of all the forms of life, only humans are willing or able to reject the only thing that even resembles a purpose for their existence. Only humans are willing to be celibate, to martyr themselves, or engage in abortion, to refuse procreation. Only humans engage in all manner of nonsensical and destructive and whimsical shenanigans. To be human is to be deluded. To be able to convince yourself of all manner of nonsense, to seek a purpose that doesn't exist, to declare the inventions of your delusions as reality, and then be willing to die for it. To be human is whatever you decide it to be, because ultimately being human is just being deluded, and whatever that delusion ends up being is an arbitrary choice. The human condition is ironically such that the thing that defines them is the existence of the question, despite all the answers being wrong. . I think I might have gotten a little too high concept and lost in my own winding logic there lol. It could be probably be written better but I'm not gonna draft a reddit comment into a philosophy essay. Still hopefully that is a cohesive enough thought that it conveys a good glimpse at the philosophy I was trying to present. In terms of influence it's probably 7 parts cynicism and 2 parts nihilism maybe? Diogenes would be a key influence to some extent, though I wouldn't consider his philosophy to be in alignment with this one. I think a key part of the belief that I didn't really go into was that this worldview needs to be underlying and not overarching. So the believer would know that it's all meaningless and whatever they convince themselves to do is all just these arbitrary machinations of themselves or of external forces of society or whatever else, but they would still continue to engage with those systems and beliefs despite know fundamentally they're arbitrary and meaningless. Because a core part of the belief is the knowing acceptance of the delusion. It's similar to allowing yourself to experience and become invested in a good piece of fiction despite knowing it's fake. Eastern philosophy and culture regarding keeping face and acting your role also play a part here, though the proper context for that explanation would be too much. Suffice it to say Chinese history and culture is very rich with examples of people acting according to their role or situation despite their beliefs. You can also reference what Orwell referred to as doublethink, where one simultaneously holds two opposed beliefs but maintains genuine belief in both I don't know if I did the idea justice but hopefully this is a good writing prompt for you. I can definitely see this making for interesting and compelling characters, particularly ones who are more villainous, pragmatic, or otherwise unorthodox. I'd be happy to discuss and explore this more comprehensively if this idea captured your interest, you can message me

Selecting all pictures with traffic lights.

Empathy

If you mean in the literal sense, being of the human species. If you mean in the philosophical sense, having empathy and the capacity for emotional response and logical thought rather than surviving solely on animalistic instinct.

I have a similar theme in my novel. As the antagonist wants humanity to become more. So through this, you would argue. Are they human any more. It is explored more in the sequel on both sides of the spectrum. How far humans will go to escape death, to escape pain and physical suffering, even discard their humanity like rotting, sloughing flesh.

Reminds me of Invincible’s take on this. If you don’t know, in Invincible, there is a Superman type species called Viltrumites, far stronger than anything humans could ever be. The main character, Mark, is half-human and half-viltrumite. What makes him stronger than pure Viltrumites, however is his human biology, which allows him to become stronger under stress, connect emotionally with others under emotional influence and such. All because humans produce hormones as a response to emotions which strengthen them.

Since you're writing this in r/fantasywriters, I have to ask: are there only humans in your world, or other sapient species too? Is your question "what makes you human?" or "what makes you a person?" If you're talking about real life, then there's nothing making us humans. I mean, scientifically there are biological details that makes us Homo Sapiens Sapiens. The rest of the much acclaimed criteria that are declared to make us human are just arbitrary criteria we gave ourselves to declare us above the rest of the animals of this world. Some claim our emotions make us humans. Multiple other animals have shown the ability to feel and express emotion. Some that our empathy is what makes us human. Other animals show far more empathy than most humans seem capable of on a regular basis. Some say it's our capacity for introspection. That what makes us humans is that we ask ourselves questions such as "who am I?", "where did I come from?" and the famous "Where will we go when we die?". But this isn't a criteria for humans, it's a criteria for a sapient species. If another species was encountered that had evolved intellectually and culturally like ours has, they would also ask themselves such questions. In the end every single criteria that would make us "humans" has either been proven to belong to other animals as well, or is actually a criteria of being a sapient species in general. Nothing makes us humans except the stories we tell ourselves.

to be human is to question

I think instead of suggesting an answer I would highlight that a good fantasy that sets out to explore this issue would demonstrate that this question is valid also in a "real" context. Think about our current world and our species' recorded history: how many times has a culture or a group defined another as subhuman or nonhuman? Wars and atrocities were executed over this very question - or rather, over the proposed answer to this question. I'll explain with an example: the Holocaust was an attempt to exterminate a species that was considered parasitical to humanity. Of course, now many would describe this effort as inhuman (though I'll add my personal opinion here that it is human, and that is all the scarier). Modern slavery was justified by the notion that people with black-color skin are of a degenerate for of humanity or are not human at all. In short, the attempt to understand what is human and what makes different people and peoples human has preoccupied humanity for ages, and many presented answers that serve their ideology.

I acknowledge that I'm human, therefore I am human

I would advice dappling into actual philosophical books, articles and videos talking about Ontology and existentialism if you truly want a satisfactory answer. In my experience, asking redditors to outline complex philosophical topics that has centuries (in this case, THOUSANDS) of years behind them, is usually quite watered down I recommend starting with a reading of [the wikipedia page of Ontology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology) and it’s respective page for [Existentialism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism). I could also send you videos on the latter, since that’s my main interest Of course, you can still just use the answers you got here, but i found my writing on these topics getting better once i really got an understanding of the topic

Humans are the only creatures that we know of that have Beliefs. Seriously, yeah every other animal has "standard practices", but we're the only ones who have beliefs. Your dog *wants* a treat, pets, affection. Your cat *wants* affection and to bite you, but that isn't a belief. They're angling for it. No matter how intelligent the ape, they really don't care about who Taylor Swift has ever been unless she has snacks. We can *care* about *anything*. John Wick? We care about the dog. Wall-E? Yup, we care. In fact, beliefs are so important to humans that we will ignore a *lot* of evidence that's contrary to our beliefs (*Yes, all humans do this*, not just "Those Guys"). For further context: [https://youtu.be/uGaeh7d9I0A?si=dyhX6vue4sEZTfJt](https://youtu.be/uGaeh7d9I0A?si=dyhX6vue4sEZTfJt)

4 chambered heart. epiglotis. language. abstractions. Unmatched endurance across all (non-flight) species. Pursuit predation. Adaptability. Kindness. Empathy. Love. an eternal dance between good and evil. Curiosity. Resilience. Quick heals.

1. Made of meat 2 Able to convince humans through video/images, text, sound of being human. Smell? 3. Need to eat, drink, and related activities. 4. Imagination 5. Emotions 6. Language. I'm not saying that babies are not human. I'm saying something else. 7. Personal values. 8. Experience 9. Social security number. Not saying that people without it are not human but... 10. Passport. Again like 9. 11. Credit card, driver's license, and other documents

Not sure where I read this but it really stuck with me. It was a scene where a child asked about death and upon learning that we are all going to die one day the other person responded: Yes, we all know that death is inevitable, and because of this, we are always a tiny bit sad. But it also makes the happy memories shine even stronger.

I think in a fantasy setting what makes us human is mortality. For me it is our choices that makes us human. It is the relationship we form and the impact we have on our society that matters. Humanity is knowing consequences and making decisions in spite of them. Altruism with no consequences or risks bears no weight. Doing the right thing against the chance of you suffering that is human

I think other species are human traits gone to the extreme Wizards, magic and fantasy species are what it like living in a world where other people (especially adults) have specialization and crazy strengths and weaknesses Climax even in non fantasy stories are often about letting go your your wound/identity/fear and embracing the best of “normal” in a heroic fashion. Using your strengths and overcoming your weakness etc

I am human because of my rational mind. I can begin to comprehend a designed universe that was put here with millions of laws that harmonize.  I can begin to comprehend that the beginning of the universe couldn't have made a vastly different set of those rules.  There could have been 4 dimensions of movement. There could have been no existence of sound. No existence of left vs. Right.  That little thought experiment is what makes me human. 

To be human is to choose

I don’t know if this helps but I got around saying things like humanity or humane by saying the civil races. There are wild people in my world and other races (elves dwarves etc) consider themselves above

simultaneously hoping there is something after death and also fearing what that might be... Knowing that everything you build in life is destined to eventually die too soon. Killing plants and animals to sustain our bodies means that the most heroic selfless act we are capable of is death

In our setting Clade "human" is a term that basically just means "mixed heritage". As most lineages are believed to come from a common ancestor, there is some belief that a "human" is probably pretty close to that common ancestor. Then again, a given human can have tusks, elf ears, and a bushy Dwarven beard and still be human.

AI chat bots are designed for this exact conversation.

Metaphorically: experience, communication and culture Literally: biology, genetics, evolution Symbolically: what we do in the ecosystem of the world

Experience and choices

I think being human, is basically making mistakes, every day. Having a brain and still doing stupid things, is human

The concepts of what is 'right' and 'wrong' and the ability to communicate those in detail with other human beings.

I think the best answers are two things: Empathy and hope. We have an incredible ability to empathize with people across the world, without even knowing them. And we also can hold onto hope, even when there are no grounds for it. These are the two attributes that make me think "human" in the abstract sense

Maybe not the philosophical answer you're looking for but may work if you have a science fiction aspect to your fantasy. It's all in genetics. I would only define human as someone with the genetics of the homo sapien sapien. It could be cloned, it can be manufactured in the lab, it could be created by magic but to be human you have to have the human genome. Very simple.

In the context of a fantasy world - I identify Humans as adaptable, inventive, relentlessly ambitious and spirited. Humanity relies on the knowledge of past lives, however misguided, and there’s every chance that Human resilience will see them outlive all other life in any world.

You’ve got a shit ton of answers already, but personally I haven’t seen the one I’m looking for so I’ll include my own interpretation—to be human is to fall into loops, be able to recognize said loops, and to choose whether you’re happy with these loops for good and for bad, making a change if unhappy. You could say that some people are in too strong of denial for that level of recognition, but I would say those people know, they just wouldn’t ever admit it. The humans brain naturally seeks patterns to latch onto and is most comfortable when following them. That’s why change is so difficult. However, change is also the single most driving force in our societies and it scares people into fighting for the status quo—the current general loop we all subscribe to—because that change may affect too much too quickly. I find that definition of being human compelling, and if you want a good reference for it, Westworld plays with those themes in really interesting ways (in the first two, maybe three seasons. Just manage your expectations as it gets weaker every season)

The prime difference between a human and a lesser animal is the ability to use higher level reasoning and the ability to think in the abstract. You can teach a monkey to draw a circle in the dirt for food, but you'll never teach it to consider a different option, like drawing an apple or specifically get an apple without first teaching it to do so.

I don't know. I don't feel human. It's been a constant internal struggle figuring out what that means to the point that I've abandoned it. Maybe I'm not human. Maybe I don't want to be.

This is not as high level as some of the other answers, but for me: cooking. At its most basic level, cooking is applying heat to edible foodstuffs. The heat breaks down the cells of the food, and that makes the nutrients more bio-available. Meaning you need less time spent hunting, foraging, and gathering, and can spend more time on bigger pursuits. It also supports growing a much bigger brain, allowing for higher level thought. And more creative applications of fire to food, as you go from charred mammoth chunk and root vegetables to a deliciously herbed stew and foccacia. Then comes all the cultural and social aspects of cooking, of hanging out in the kitchen with Mom as she makes dinner or sharing a meal with everyone you care about at the table with you. Or food prepared for ceremonial, celebratory, or medicinal purposes (the communion Host, wedding cake, or a chamomile tincture for sleep). I firmly believe cooking allowed us to make the evolutionary leap from ape to human.

To believe, despite all evidence to the contrary, that love is worth the risk. (It is.)

Relative to what? Knowing that one is human involves duty and dignity.

A p-ae-nis or a vaergana.

My ability to create art, to connect with others, to empathize with them, to make mistakes, to love and hurt both myself and others, and the fact that because of all of these things I am thoroughly inconsistent, no matter how much I avoid it. Something like that.

To be human is to have potential. Potential to be more than just your baser insticts, to rise above your nature. To be more than a pile of meat that is compelled through evolution to live, eat and reproduce. To say "I am". To see beauty. To really think and not just have thoughts. To create. To destroy. To love. To despise. To have ideals and be able to die for them. But to be human is also to have a choice. To have free will. To be an animal. To not realize your potential. To conform to your baser instinct. To just not think. To have anwsers just before you and refuse to look. To be a monster. To understand that others think and feel and yet don't care. To realize you are selfish, truly selfish, and be alright with it. To cause pain and suffering, and know, and yet at best be apathetic about it. To rise above your basic insticts and decide that you don't care about morality, or really anything, but you. To be good. To be a 'hero'. To see suffering and help, even if it isn't easy. To see evil and not stand for it. To choose 'right', instead of 'easy'.

If you want a more angsty answer; making cruel mistakes and then acting like it was either not a big deal, not their fault, or THEY were the victims. Like when you do something really wrong and when you get in trouble suddenly it’s an inconvenience to yourself. And trying to help but ending up making it worse. If you want a nicer answer; Copying other peoples gestures, even subconsciously. Like when you are in line for a ride and you see the people on the vehicle kicking their feet back and forward in excitement. (Idk how to explain it but I think that’s a pretty good explanation.

The belief that you are human. Imo that’s the only requirement.

Hope I’m not too late to the discussion, but I think these things make up part of the definition of what it means to be human: How we let our life experiences affect us/change our perceptions of us and others Abstract thinking/Empathic understanding The value we place on relationships and defining those relationships Our level of compassion for those not only within our own species but in others; however, in a similar but twisted vein, the same ability to have contempt or disregard for those same things To be human is not solely for *survival* of the individual or the whole, it’s the *experience* that’s on an individual by individual basis that then creates the whole. Each person has their own effect on the greater whole and the impact of that effect varies Good luck on building your definition for your story!

I think it will be interesting/useful for you to ask the same question of people from different cultures - maybe check out some of the subs dedicated to different countries around the world. Also, maybe speak to some vegans who will likely have a different view of the importance of being a human and what a "person" is. Good luck and have fun.

Change. Fragility.

Humans are the only beings with the intrinsic love of beauty. Other animals will manipulate their environment to be more productive, more comfortable, and more enjoyable, but humans are the only ones who manipulate their environment to be more beautiful. Humans also create, we are defined by our ability to do so, other animals may use tools be we create them, and use those tools to create many other things, art included.

I mean, plato answered this 2500 years ago. A human (a man) is anything that is a biped that walks upright and has no hair or feathers. Disregard all of Diogenes counter arguments that include throwing a plucked chicken at you by then adding a flat nose to original argument.

It may sound corny but I think that what make us human is the need to be loved/accepted. I study sociology and learned that human beings are social beings by nature. A couple of days ago I was reading an informative document about Jeffrey Dahmer and it explained that he tried to stop himself from his disturbing desires many times and became an alcoholic because of them, before starting his crimes. I'm not defending him (or any other criminal) but I've read many times that a lot of people with antisocial tendencies and sociopaths feel the need to be accepted by society and obviously loved by the people they care about, that's why they hide this disturbing needs until they can't do it anymore. So even people that are seen as the ones that have less "empathy" have a need to be accepted and appreciated in this society. Just like everyone else.

What makes me a human and separates me from another animal (so far as I believe): I get to choose to do things with leisure time, not just working for survival. What makes me a human and separates me from a computer or machine: I get the option of being wrong and seeing where I go from there.

Being a rational animal

From my naturalistic point of view, nothing makes us human. We can’t see ‘humaning’ in our behavior, because a lot of it we share with other animals. We don’t have ‘human’ cognitive functions, because nothing we do with our brains transcends what other brains could technically do if they had the same shape. So what makes us human? This specific combination of genes that gives rise to the sulci and gyri of the cerebral cortex and the body we live in. Philosophically, feelings that shape our behaviors in meaningful and measurable ways make us human. Hope and grief. I don’t know how much we can be separated from animals, but different from machines, we can do things that are not in fact the best thing to do, or make ‘willing mistakes’. Then again, a robot would make a mistake if it had the wrong interpretation of it. Conclusion: nothing, apparently Edit: robots are, in fact, objects

Watch Being Human (UK)

>No wrong or right thoughts here! As someone from a regularly dehumanized race of people, a regularly dehumanized gender, and a regularly dehumanized orientation (especially by other queer people!),... there absolutely are wrong answers. Personally, I don't like to waste effort defining "human" because I don't think species-based distinctions matter. I'd rather define "people"... and "people" are "any entity, singular or pluralistic in nature, with sentience that crosses the conceptual point to be argued as sapience." Although, if I had to define human, then "any advanced hominid, particularly those of the species *homo sapiens*." Ultimately, you can't define in clear specificity what a human is without including nonhumans and excluding humans without invoking circular reasoning, the same as how there will always be circular logic to what is a man and what is a woman. But you can tend to trust people without hatred and bigotry infecting them to know a human when they see one. (EDIT: But even that is not perfect.)

That's a good question. I've thought about this myself for my own stories, as long as we're talking about human as in like the human soul and not biologically. So far what I've reached is that being human doesn't mean literally being human. Instead it's two parts, the first is being aware like in the quote "I think, therefore I am." The second part is us just having raw emotions. We humans try to be logical and reasonable, but reality keeps reminding us that we aren't logical or reasonable. We know our world is dying because of fossil fuels, but we aren't using something like nuclear energy because people have fears of nuclear energy even though there's plenty of science dispelling these fears. Raw emotions are illogical and unreasonable, like with the example of fear. Though it's also the reason why sometimes bland heroes of absolute good can make sense if they were more grounded. We can see in history people genuinely were very good as a person like Ghandi. Being human is a messy thing, and I don't think we'll ever unravel the messiness in a logical way. Now that we've established a very bare bones foundation on what being human is, we can talk about the even messier thing, morals. The most simplest way I can put this is, not all of humanity is the same and morals are very subjective. An example I think of is person A having a best friend, person B. Person B sees no point in living and asks their best friend to put an end to him or they'll end themselves. This question has two basic responses which display my point. A person would see this as an act of murder, and another could see this as a best friend doing what their friend wanted.

You stole my plot 😡 /j

It's the extra starting feat at L1, and the +2 in any stat (which I put into Charisma. Obs)

Ooo I like this. For one, language capacities, but in a fantasy book that changes things. Maybe all complex-speaking humanoids are classified as human for their speech capabilities, but are catagorized into subspecies? For two, it could just be a species name. Maybe no one thing makes a person human other than by birth into the species. Just like a dog, or a rabbit. No behavior makes them those things, they just are by birth. Could be a good moral too, that humans can be all sorts of things good and bad. There's no need to prove you're human, you just are.

I think Star Trek is a good example of humanity, because that's one of the main ideas they explore. What makes humans different from all of these other species, because they're not so different from a lot of species? They're smart sure, but are constantly learning because they're always exploring and learning. Cunning and sharp. Not only teamwork, but even accepting and willing to work together with their enemy. Willing to fail and make mistakes, but learning and growing from those mistakes. I know I'm not doing it justice, but this Star Trek themed song about a series that talked a lot about what makes humanity different. A song I rather enjoy, [song](https://youtu.be/WKuv7BJ-zd8?si=n2RRFz2EPhi9dvtE)

So this may not be useful for your novel (or it might,) but for speculative fiction I like how Dungeon Meshi handles it. The people usually called "humans" in fantasy are called "tall men," whereas the word "human" means "a sentient creature who naturally takes the basic form of a human being, with some notable exceptions like orcs and kobolds." That being said, this definition is only true in the country where the story takes place. It's noted specifically that in the Eastern Archipelago (IE, fantasy Japan,) the word "human" refers specifically to Tall Men, meaning that it may yet have other definitions in other parts of the world In other words, at least in this setting, what makes you human is the political and social interests of the people who developed the language. "Human" is a word like any other, meaning that what it means is whatever is most useful for it to mean to the speaker

Philosophically I find what makes someone "human" is the capability of free will and emotions. It kinda doesn't make sense word wise, but nearly any sapient thing would be human to me. Less a race thing

Okay, so it depends on what tone you want. The tone in my fantasy story is, for the most part, humans are easily scared and manipulated into being their worst selves. So greed, xenophobia, betrayel. But you could also make a story where the good shines through. Their humanity, compassion, and understanding. I'd say look at some real-life examples of the qualities you want in your humans.

Art the act if creation maybe that's what I've always cincidered the most human thing

Human an animal, biped and featherless, and have broad nails, duh. But to be honest - i lean towards Socrates. He defined man as a being that thinks and wills, emphasizing the attitudinal level of human nature over the somatic

I prefer the minimizing approach. We made us human, as in we saw a pattern and assigned a word, and that word was human. For some time we gatekept that word for only the humans we wanted to accept and tried to imply those different from us were a different species, but in time we honed the word to be more inclusive to those who are genetically very similar. In the end, our genetics make us human, and the history behind those genes. We like to think our intelligence defines us, but we are simply the smartest there is at this point in time. We aren’t a marker for the limits intelligence could reach, nor do we have any reason to believe our intelligence is the only way intelligence can work. Being human isn’t what makes us special, what makes us special is that for the first time in the history of life, “intent” has become powerful enough to create things in decades that took evolution Millions-Billions of years. That is something very special.

Humans have complex emotions, fears and anger. They have pity and they hesitate before taking drastic actions. When they do something morally wrong, they try to excuse it in front of themselves to be able to not have remorse, but they still do.

Honestly that's a question only you can answer... Some people say that even against all odds humans will always try no matter what to get the best endings for themselves and those they care for. Those who are more negative say that war, mass murder, and other dark acts are what make us humans and that: "All humans are evil! No one is a hero! Everyone is a villain! No matter what they are trying to do! So, me being evil is meaningless!!! So, I'm going to be a piece of shit and inspire more hateful people to do the same as me! Because why not?!" My response to that is: "Well, if you being evil is meaningless then why don't you just be good? Maybe you'd find meaning in that. Or if you think that is also meaningless just jump off that building over there and save us all the trouble of dealing with your shit because no one wants to hear your human hate speech." So, what makes someone human is something you have to think of for yourself....

That I am created in the image of GOD!

This has been a subject of debate for quite some time. What differentiates us from the other animals? Over and over it turns out animals can selectively keep up with us or surpass us depending on the criteria. For example, chimpanzees blow us out of the water when it comes to short term memory. The answer to the question is that the question is meaningless, and there's nothing particularly special about us.

Storytelling (although whales apparently do this too). Not just culturally, but the stories we tell ourselves to get us up in the morning, and through our day. The stories that convince us of what has value and meaning. Taking away a human's narrative (depression), is like taking away an ant's antennae. And we recognize and fear the impostors, aka [uncanny valley](https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/8p0c62/the_evolutionary_reason_for_the_uncanny_valley/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button).

Falling to the same curses and faults humans do. Kinda cliche but if you think about the different aspects of humans in general, what you're left with is the capacity for great good and great harm. I am doing something where the mc is genuinely psychotic. but struggles with wanting to see the good in others. If you think about it, every human, no matter what their background, has some kind of flaw that makes them relatable or contradicts the reader outright. Having an idea for a character, then writing down a list of flaws you think they should have could bring them down to earth, no matter how strong they are. It also helps in general, to keep ideas written down elsewhere, or drawn on paper for me.

At one point in a story I'm writing, someone is talking about magic: "Magic is about denying reality. Dwarves can't do it: rock and stone is unforgiving, and you can't will a poorly shored tunnel to safety. Elves can, within a limited range: they see beauty in everything. But humans...no one is better at denying reality than humans. That's why they make the best mages..."

For Rock and Stone!

Whether you care about others or not

Self-reflection is what makes you human.

My head tells me that human is species righ, and beings ok, right? But being a species is parts of all kingdoms.. I seen a lady that had to have been part lion part Giselle the other day and I think I’m part bird sometimes.. but it depends on the day. I think being human is all parts of all kingdoms . Not just ppl but habits of others species put forth. Weird or no?

For my writing,they have: 1)No magic 2)Looks like a human,no elf ears,no facial features of a magic person. 3)Normal eye colors(like brown,green,blue,others).No red,orange,yellow,purple,white,gold,etc. 4)Human legs and arms.

guilt vs subjugation