Amid the many questions that are shrouded in mystery, what makes someone human? Does one have to look like a human to be viewed as a human? Or do they have to be similar in biological design? If someone were to possess a trait no normal human would...
"What does it mean to be human?" "What does it mean to have humanity?"
I had asked myself these questions many times in my life, whether it was from a passing thought, or from watching TV shows that attempt to answer that question. Yet no matter where I looked or how many times I asked myself, I could not come up with a good answer.
In my childhood, the answer to these questions would've been simple. "A human is someone who looks similar to me" and "To have humanity is to be nice to each other". But as the moral complexities of life became ever so clear, my once full proof answer was nothing more than an ignorant thought.
I tried many times after that day to come up with an answer, acknowledging the many factors that made things the way they were, but even as I began my journey into my young adult years, my answer to this question was still as elusive as it was as when I was a boy.
Being a twenty four year old young man making his way in the world, I chose to distract myself from this question, and continue life as normal, trying my best to provide my clients the best services as a defence lawyer. But fate isn't as easy to control as many people claim.
Faced with a foe that I could not comprehend, I stared at my hand, eyes closed, hoping to cover my eyes and wake up from what seemed to be a twisted nightmare. But instead of feeling the warm fleshy skin on the palm of my hand, all I felt was cold, hard metal.
It was all bizarre at the moment. Why had such a fate befallen me? Why did my body suddenly change to make my fists turn to metal? Who is this strange man trying to kill me? And why was he after the man and woman bleeding behind me?
At that moment, I couldn't think about anything to answer those recent questions, choosing only to act in what I believed was right.
My answer for "What does it mean to be human?" and "What does it mean to have humanity?" would begin that day, with my fist of metal clenching in defiance, and protecting this stranger that was in danger.
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