What Does It Mean to Be Human?

In which John contemplates what it means to be human, and how we define personhood, while also talking a bit about the stuff he's been trying to write the last few years.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on what it means to be a person, because this is clearly something I'm still puzzling through.

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[MyRegularNameWasTaken]

To be human is to care;
Unless you don't.
To be human is to share;
Unless you won't.
To be human is to love;
Until you stop.
To be human is to live,
But dead you'll drop.

To be human is to think,
But what about?
To be human is to utilize,
But that doesn't stand out.
To be human is to create,
And to destroy,
To have, to want,
To need, to employ.

To be human is to long
To define what you are.
Assume the answer awaits,
But that it's simply afar.
To be human is to learn
That we can't be bound
To any definition,
Action, emotion, or sound.

It's to search for an answer
And to find nothing.
Know in your heart that
You're still wanting,
But come to terms with the fact
There's no answer to see;
To be human is to know
That you're what you choose to be.

I've been working on my poetry recently, in particular about love. This is sort of an experiment to see how I do on an even *more* abstract subject. Basically, in my opinion, the way to define being human is simple: you can't.

[Scribbler]

Being human is spending 45 minutes searching the house for your keys when they've been in your pocket the whole time.

[Filet]

John, your thoughts on denying humanity to those who can't read or perform some other accepted expression of humanity makes me think of a Mark Twain quote: "But who prays for Satan? Who in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most"

[PandaKittenhybrid]

Humans are humans because of their ability to ask the question, "What does it mean to be human."
I believe that the fact that humans can think higher thoughts enough to even question why we are thinking them, why we exist, why we are human defines us.

[brwneyedgirlx]

I'm always so impressed when people can come up with answers to these big questions and express them articulately. When someone asks me what it means to be human or something similarly expansive, my only answer ends up being "uhhh, um... well... you see..." and eventually I just quit and link to a vlogbrothers video.

[loluphag]

It's true John I'm totally a robot

[TopDesu]

You're so good at talking. Really enjoyed it

[caseygriffin]

Not related, but when I scroll to the comments and see all of you wonderful people talking, sharing, and not being scared to show how amazing you are, I feel so glad. Glad for the life I live, glad for living in a place and time that gives me so many opportunities everyday, glad to know that I am not the only who has thought " why? Why can't we do it this way?", and glad to not be judged by my age or gender, but by who I am, by my innermost self

[juliaz]

Still blows my mind that I get to watch this on Youtube for free and every week and I'm just super excited every time about having the chance to consume interesting, challenging content like this. Having a hard time saying what I meant to say but yeah... Thanks for making me think about big things. 
Also: Puff levels are high I think...

[nameskibz]

To be human... This reminds me of a lecture I heard from Ze Frank's short lecture in TED, Are you Human? The talk itself isn't quite inspiring for myself but it had its honest moments that actually made me feel that the points he said does make us human.
As for myself, I believe that being human is having the ability, strength, and knowledge on knowing what you have control over yourself. By yourself, I mean every action, thought, and unconsciousness. Of course mandating every thought, action, and unconsciousness is absolutely impossible, males will get an uncomfortable boner if a hot chic entered the bar wearing tight jeans and tank tops no matter how hard they try to get it off their minds. Somethings are uncontrollable and some aren't.To know that is the art of being human. John, you said that being human is the act of congregating to find mutual trust, sympathy, and love which are all medicine to the suffering that prevails the world. That is absolutely true, yet you cannot simply control your feelings no matter how good you are at lying at yourself. There will be people you hate, people who will betray you, people who hate you, and people who will take advantage of you. The world is full of different people that sometimes people will get hurt, inadvertently or not because we cannot control these emotions. I do believe that there are at least a handful of people who we can personally trust and love out of the differing others, but that doesn't mean that they themselves aren't human. They have their own little world, just like us, just different population with different rules.
Knowing what you can control and can't control is the act of being human because there is two things that humans are innately great at; clinging on and letting go. We cling on to love and affection because we believe that it will cure us from our loneliness and mend our hearts. Yet there are also people that choose to let go because they believe that clinging on will only bring more pain because in the end, everything ends no matter how powerful that relationship is. If you know the capacity of what you can control or cannot, you can find perfect solutions that is best for yourself and for whoever is related to you, you know what to hold on to or what to let go, simultaneously avoiding unnecessary pain and experiencing joy. On the other hand, if you have no idea what you are capable of, you will blindly hurt people, hurt yourself, and when you try to open your eyes, regret will come rushing in. As humans, we will try the best of our might to avoid suffering, which is why I believe that knowing what you can control or can't is being human.
John, thank you for your perspective on this matter so that we can read everyone's thoughts about what it means to be human. I have great confidence your novel will turn out great, because I trust your judgement and words.

[MrKlonkie_official]

Perhaps we're simply over thinking things. Perhaps being human is simply the biological fact of one's birth. Being born a human, makes you a human, just as being born a flower, would make you a flower. Sounds a little obvious, but do we really need more justification than that? It's sort of like the meaning of life: The meaning of life (in the general sense – as in what is the purpose of any given organism, complex or simple) is to live. Sure, the question of what is the meaning of _my_ life, or _your_ life, or _anyone else's_ life is far more complex and up to the individual to decide, but therein lies the beauty. As long as you are a homo sapien, you're a human, regardless of what qualities you have or lack.

[MightyTrailBlazer]

"Aspire to be human"- John Green
Nothing has ever been so beautifully and eloquently put!

[MattiHeartsHP]

Being human means sunburn and mosquito bites, it means eating ice cream and getting brain freeze, it means feeling incredibly happy and then soul crushingly sad, it means lazy sundays and panic over deadlines, it means knowing what you want to do for the rest of your life but not knowing what you want to wear to school that day. It's conflict and confusion and resolution and peace, thinking you know it all and still needing someone to tell you what it's really about. Being human means making mistakes, and learning from them, realising that everyone is just trying to make it through the best they can, and that nobody has the answers...not even your parents. Being human means being wrong, and learning how to deal with that, and also being right and learning how to deal with that. Being human is the best and worst thing a person can be.

[cynthiamarie]

Good view into the study of anthropology and derailment/rerailment discussions in social science of medicine

I think what's important to recognize here is that John is implicitly giving anthropology the recognition it deserves. As he questions what it is to be human, he holds it in powerful regard, as something that matters. And these questions DO matter. Because as the definition of the human changes so does all the other aspects of our society. If what is is to be human becomes something different than what we feel it is now, then medical practice, social structures, understanding of selfhood etc will change accordingly.

In short: anthropology is devoted to studying and answering this particular question regarding what it is to be human, and it is an immensely important topic of discussion.
The very definition of the human holds more power than you think it does. It has the ability to change everything.


- Mcgill university anthropology undergraduate

[MaraK_dialmformara]

I think the difference between "human" and "person" is important here. To me, "human" is a species, and personhood is the compassion and the empathy and the culture and the choice to (or not to) see others as people.

[explainitlikeim]

I took a class in college called What It Means to be Human (or rather was forced to take) and I can tell you that studying what it means to be human did not in any way tell me what, in fact, it actually means to be human. I have found that experience has shown me a great deal more than the class itself did. And this morning, after watching this video, I was trying to come up with what I think it means to be human and every time I thought of something like, "to be able to express oneself, " I would think, well not everyone is able to do that and like you said, it doesn't make someone less human because of something they can't do. So the thing that I concluded that all humans share, is that we are all flawed creatures, incapable of reaching perfection. And in some weird way, I find that beautiful because it eliminates the stress of trying to be perfect. It allows you to let go and live life, not trying to be perfect, but doing the best you can and knowing that that is enough.

[ArianneMT]

I think asking what it means to be human is one of the things that separates us from animals. Like, we have this need to work out what our purpose is, what our meaning is on this planet, and everything else just keeps going. Although, maybe animals question what it means to be them as well. Are there dogs having existential crises over what it means to be a dog? "I am a dog because I fetch the ball... but the humans fetch the ball too..." What it means to be human sounds so poetic when John talks about it but I've become sidetracked by the possibility of philosophical canines barely a minute after considering the point, so I think I'll leave this to someone else. DFTBA!

[keciascarbrough]

To me being human is to have emotions and understand others.Not everyone can relate to each other but it's good to understand and help others when we can.

[MegBirch]

I think we have to be careful with saying things like 'being human is about being able to feel empathy' bc, you know, there are people who can't, or don't to the same extent as neurotypicals. It's so easy to accidentally imply that disabled people are less human than neurotypicals/able-bodied people, I see it all the time. But it's so, so important that we don't.

[TheLstark]

Hey John! I'm not sure if you are going to read this because you get a lot of comments but I just wanted to say that you do not deserve the disrespect and invasive maliciousness being sent your way on tumblr. The fact that people are being so rude and hateful makes me so upset because you've done so much to help your community and the global community. The project for awesome is an amazing charity event, vlogbrothers is an ongoing creative and thought provoking endeavor, your books explore complex themes pertinent to teenagers. You do a lot of good and you've had a very positive impact on my life. Vlogbrother's videos really brighten my day when I'm in a tough spot and the way you celebrate community and nerdiness has taught me so much. You're really freaking great John Green. You really really are.