"Some say it is culture that makes us human. Others opt for our morality, language, or even our sense of humour. But putting philosophy to one side, what literally makes us human?

Surprisingly, there is no official answer. Science has yet to agree on a formal description for our genus, Homo, or our species, sapiens.

It's not for lack of trying. There are actually several suggested definitions for the human genus - and an astonishingly broad range of opinions over what does and does not belong within it.

Talk to some scientists and you'll be told that the genus Homo is little more than 100,000 years old and excludes even the most famous prehistoric "humans", the Neanderthals. But others say our human genus actually has a history stretching back about 11 million years old and includes not only living people and extinct Neanderthals, but also chimpanzees and even gorillas.

How can there be so much disagreement on such a fundamental issue? "


read on @ BBC

(ad oldie that just popped again up for me, interesting read)

-------------------------
"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

-------------------------

sneedeker

Our limitations are as vast as our abilities IMO.

 

Because THAT is what humans do. Duh

Ego

chemicals

-------------------------
So if you are a surfer I wish you the prosperity that allows you more time to pursue the salt water dream, and the true happiness that comes from warm water, clean waves and the companionship of your fellow surfers. If you are an internet troll just spewing bs then f off.

Divide and conquer. Those that try to divide people, whether it's by race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, money, place of birth, ect., are the real problem.

-------------------------
"I remember South Africa in the late 70's, sleeping on the beach at J-bay, smoking ganja with the blacks. On weekends we'd go to the pub in East London to drink beer and fight with the Afrikaners. They liked to fight, I liked to fight. It was a good time"

You think defining the human species is hard now? We are incorporating technology into our biology at a rapidly increasing pace. We are also manipulating our own genes to change our make up and in some parts of the world, designer babies are already being created. Genetic manipulation is so easy that it can be done with a few thousand dollars and some know how in a garage utilizing CRISPR/CAS9. And now we can successfully clone primates......

But cultural evolution and differentiation still far outpace genetic change.
for now

-------------------------
"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

I watched a nature type show that classified anything that we could/did reproduce with as human.

It included pretty much anything in our ancesteral tree for the last Million years.

Denosovich, Neanderthal and several unknown species in Africa  that we do not have remains of but we do have DNA evidence in living people.

-------------------------