Humanity...

[Ironside]

I disagree, i thought touch was specifically the recognition of having contact with another object while pain was the recognition of having damage inflicted upon you. I know nothing about the senses though, so I could just be an idiot.

They are handled by two different systems so you're correct. Basically you cannot stimulate a "touch" nerve cell into feeling pain, no matter how much stimulance. The pain nerve cells in turn have a certain treshold for sending out signals.

Then again itching got separate nervcells so that is also a sense if you start to be thorough.

[rory_20_uk]

"Our species," would be my definition.

I agree. Everything else is merely arrogance.

"We are the only ones that feel emotions"... "oh, in fact many animals do"
"But we are the only tool using animals"... "oh, primates, chimps, birds and even insects do"
"Memory"... "others too huh?"
"Playing?"... "Dolphins? Damn"
"Aha! Ethical code!"... "Pack animal interaction / primate groups act in a similar way as well as differing behaviour under stress"

Other animals do have wider senses than we do, ranging from eyes that can see into IR or UV, some birds that can sense magnetism, to fish that can sense electric fields.

[Rhyfelwyr]

And you get those dogs that can tell when someone is going to have a fit 30 minutes before it happens.

[Decker]

And you get those dogs that can tell when someone is going to have a fit 30 minutes before it happens.

Or an earthquake or sense that a person is possibly up to no good.

[Askthepizzaguy]

Our humanity, if you're not talking about the species itself, means our compassion and our morality. When we find an abandoned baby squirrel who fell out of a tree, apparently rejected by it's mother, and we nurse it back to health and set it free, it is our compassion, our humanity which causes this. It feels good to do a good thing, but even so, we do things we know will cause good because of the impact it has on others. It is selflessness.

Human beings can close touch with their humanity, or never develop it to begin with. Some are capable of terrible cruelties. Others attempt to heal the wounds caused by those cruelties. Our humanity is our better half. It is why civilized society exists; why we don't simply discard the lame or the sick or the old, even though they are a drain on our resources. It is why we do not torture criminals. It is why we do not lock people up for political differences. It is why people are polite, caring, and charitable. It is why many people become doctors or teachers or social workers or physical therapists; they want to help people. It is why we pass laws to protect minorities from abuse, and offer understanding instead of shunning those who are different.

Humanity is something that crosses borders, and unites races, and causes peace, prosperity, and understanding. It is apolitical; it is something that exists in progressives and liberals and conservatives and those with no political perspective. It is the thing that is lost when selfishness and hatred and prejudice prevail over reason and peaceful coexistence.

It is this humanity which is synonymous with most, if not all, of the virtues advocated by many religions. It is this humanity which is also advocated by many of the non-religious. It is a transcendent quality that makes a human being better than just a human being.

This compassionate, caring, moral quality exists even in many other species. We've observed animals raising other animals as their own, even if they are different species. We see creatures risking themselves for their human friends in emergency situations, or risking their lives to protect their family or their community. We see creatures behaving together for mutual advantage. Do they do this always because of purely selfish interest? Perhaps in some cases, but not always. I believe that compassion is not just limited to our own species. But the default seems to be selfishness. If people are not taught compassion, only pride or fear, then they will behave like wild creatures. They will attack those they do not know, and not care about those they do know, and behave only in self-interest.

Human civilization could not reach its present stage of development based purely on selfishness. We would be a group of savages killing one other in squabbles over food. There would be no sharing, no charity, no teaching, no medicine, and no law besides brutality. What keeps us from becoming heartless, ignorant cretins who harm one another whenever we feel like it, is that quality we call humanity.

That's my take on it anyway.

[ICantSpellDawg]

You can't get rid of your humanity in this life no matter how hard you try. It is a loaded and archaic buzzword.

[Fisherking]

You can't get rid of your humanity in this life no matter how hard you try. It is a loaded and archaic buzzword.

Sure you can!

What do you call the human monsters that kill and molest children, go out of their way to be cruel to everything and everyone?

Or a Ted Bundy or Jeffery Dommer?

This is what is meant buy losing Humanity.

[Husar]

Humanity are two things to me.

1. The human race and to a degree it's works and culture.

2. a certain kind of behaviour or state of mind where members of the human race try to understand and help, not harm, other members of the human race. Called humanity because it is seen as a default standard to always further the development of your own race, not harm it. This is debatable of course since some animals also kill members of their own species and animal/human(as humans are animals) behaviour is usually the basis for this kind of definition.

[Fisherking]

humanity may be a word for the human race in total, but it is not our species.

humanity is the quality or state of being humane or the quality or state of being human.

If you give in to more base animal impulses then you can be said to have lost your humanity. The same holds true for being inhumane.

Homo sapiens sapiens is the species proper.

[Strike For The South]

Smile; it'll all be over soon enough

[Ironside]

Personally I've always felt that the assumption that the opposite of being humane is being animalistic, is horribly flawed.

Are the nutters beliving that they're animals murderous bastards? No.
Are your pets murderous bastards? No.
Is a simple minded person that acts on instincts a murderous bastard? No.

To be truly inhuman, you must first and foremost be recklessy selfish at the cost of others, follow destructive impulses (that not everyone have) and devote your human mind towards fulfilling it. Patience, repression, planning and preparation is not an act of instincts, but some of the most important things that creates a human mind.

Take torture for enjoyment for example. First you must understand what that means to the other being, then you must plan ahead, be patient and keep yourself from being to eager to prevent the victim from dying. Undoubtably inhumane, but to be able to do it, you must be human.

[Azathoth]

All this raises new questions.

Such as...

What can change the nature of a man?

[Megas Methuselah]

All this raises new questions.

Such as...

What can change the nature of a man?

A woman.