What is Humanity?

Today, while surfing Twitter, I signed up for an email list for a product that I am interested in following. After filling out my information, the form prompted me to click submit. I selected “submit” and almost immediately this popped up:

Well, I am not a robot. But, to confirm my Humanity, that is a much bigger question.

Aside from the semantic dance in which educated paleoanthropologists might engage, I’m not sure there is a simple way to “confirm my humanity.” It’s not an answer I can provide by selecting a radio button on a basic form, which confirms that “I’m not a robot.”

And is it that simple? I’m not a robot; thus, I am human. Of course not.

Now, I know this is only a security protocol that weeds out spambots and nefarious hacking programs. But the question is unsettling.

Can you confirm your Humanity? What is Humanity?

Here’s what I think. Humanity is the ability to love, to have empathy and compassion, to show mercy. It is the ability to be creative and artistic. It is the ability to be patient, generous, and kind.

You don’t measure Humanity by success or money. It is not about how you look are where you live. And it’s not calculated by how many followers you have or how many likes you can get.

Today, in the middle of my hectic Tuesday, rushing around with my schedule and checking off my to-do list, this was a poignant, sobering question and reminder. It was a question that stopped me in my tracks. It was a reminder for me to slow down, for a moment, now and then, and look in the mirror to remind myself that I am alive. It was a reminder that we are human beings on a planet spinning in space; that we won the most improbable lottery in the universe, which is the one where humans exist. We get to experience life. And knowing that, just the simple ability to realize what we are, that is what makes us human.

It feels good to stop for a moment to confirm my Humanity.

—

Ok, that’s all for today. Good luck out there!

#CreateSomethingGreat