There are millions of creatures dwelling on this planet, but one species seems to differentiate from the rest. That species is humans. We do not just rule over all the other foreign animals and living things because we have opposable thumbs; we dominate other existences because we have the ability to care, share emotions, rationalize, and we have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Having these unique abilities we separate ourselves from any other reptile, mammal, or fish inevitably making us human.
Although we possess these wonderful qualities, our desperate need to continuously find answers about the unknown has caused us to slowly lose our humanity over time. “Our insistence on cognitive knowledge may already have robbed us of some of our capacity for being human.” Focusing on nothing else but the discovery of something new has switched our brains way of thinking and functioning completely. Being so scientifically work driven our brains have learned to love technology and test tubes and become disconnected from nature. Maternal emotions and caring capabilities, whether directed towards nature or a friend, start to become lost. Once we lose part of what makes us who we are, we can no longer call ourselves entirely human. We can however call ourselves highly intelligent animals that have the ability to rationalize and will do anything to find the truth in everything around them. Again, that is not compassion or human as a whole. Can we get back to a state of emotion again, back to the right side of the brain? “The right brain’s feeling states are authentic.” (Schlain15). Is there any balance between both sides of the brains, the left and the right?
Humanity may be damaged, but it has not completely vanished. In order to regain one’s full humanity one must go back to the purest of all things: mother nature. Cities, technology, and science must all be left behind for the uncontaminated outdoors. We have to rediscover how to cherish other people in our lives. Nature will allow people to reconnect with what we all originally came from. The grasses and hills that bore us, we just choose to not remember. To be honored with the title of human again, it is our duty to remember.
I enjoyed the flow and transitions of your post, however there were a few things I felt were out of place. The quotation from Shlain in particular seemed to be unrelated to the rest of the paragraph. I also wasn't entirely sure what you meant with the sentence "Once we lose part of what makes us who we are, we can no longer call ourselves entirely human." Did you mean our lost maternal instincts and caring or something else? And while I'm not disagreeing with your opinion on humans needing to leave behind cities, science, and technology in order to reconnect with nature, I wonder if it is necessary for us to entirely disconnect with these things, rather than shift the emphasis we put on them. Do you think that if we shift our focus to nature rather than science we could still reestablish our relationship with nature and our humanity while keeping our beneficial sciences such as medicine and a higher standard of living?
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