To be human

It’s getting harder and harder to identify actual human beings, isn’t it? I mean, they look like us. They have eyes and noses and mouths and hair…some of them have hair, anyway. They wear clothing that covers their bodies. They wear shoes on their feet.

But do they feel?

My mother taught me most of what I know about being human. As a boy, I was extremely concerned with the way I looked. I wanted a shirt that was not identifiably from the Sears or Montgomery Ward catalogue. I wanted shoes without laces called “loafers.” I wanted a haircut that did not look like I had received it from a trusty at the Fort Leavenworth military prison, which is where I got my hair cut, because it cost 10 cents, 15 cents less than the PX, where it was a quarter. In essence, I wanted to be noticed.

My mother taught me that it didn’t matter what other people thought about you. What counted was the effect you had on others.

If you showed respect, you received respect in return. If you cared about others, they would care about you. If you were kind to people, they would be inspired to return your kindness. If you stood up for others, they would stand beside you.

These seemed like silly rules to me, until I saw that they worked to reduce the friction that naturally occurs between children. There are laws of physics that apply to human bodies. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When actions are well intended, reactions tend to be the same.

To be human is to move through the universe aware of other human beings. To make a decision to act, you must be aware of its consequences to others, because their responses act upon you. John Donne knew what he was talking about in the 16^th Century when he wrote that no man is an island. Because we are not alone in the world, we do not live by a system of rewards and punishments. We are defined by our actions and their consequences to others.

What happens when human beings attempt to get away with breaking the laws that bind humans to each other and to the earth? Bad things. Pride overwhelms reason. Greed replaces kindness. Lies attempt to cancel science. But because the laws of physics cannot be broken, because actions necessarily create equal reactions, because matter can neither be created nor destroyed, the consequences of attempting to deny reality are deadly.

If you make war and wreak havoc upon the human beings who control access to necessities of life, such as oxygen and nitrogen and carbon, their reaction will be to deny them. The Strait of Hormuz comes to mind.

It has taken us more than 80 years to learn that it is not possible to start a war that can be ended without splitting the atom. Everyone who is warred against knows by now that even if resources are not on their side, time is. Because life is finite, so must be war.

To be human is to know that you will come to an end before the laws of physics do. If you are young, know that you will grow old. If you are old, know that you will die. Because you are not alone in the world, and because we are all human beings, the same laws of life apply to all of us equally.

If that makes you angry, deal with it. You are not going to run out the clock. Because you are human, the rules dictate that the clock is going to outrun you. In the meantime, as my mother counseled, be kind to others. You, and they, will live longer.