UKC

Brains a little under stimulated during lockdown and been meaning to ponder this topic more. I've got a few ideas but would like to hear yours too.

So how do we define human beings in a way that differentiates us from everything else? What if a person or group of people doesn't meet these criteria, are they still human? If it's simply to be born of another 'human' then at what point did it begin (chicken and the egg)?

You have an unbroken line of ancestors back to some slime or whatever we all began as. A no stage(?) was the next generation a different species that could not interbreed with the preceding generation. Despite that, you are human not slime. There isn't a point at which human began. There was a process.

Humans bury / cremate their dead.

I think you could listen to Radio 2.  They have had a "What makes us Human?" series of guest speakers give a short answer to that question for a few years now.

Does that mean canibals aren't human?

Animals of the same species can reproduce with each other. Animals from different species can’t. I think that’s the general rule. But yeah, at various points in time one species becomes two.

My understanding is that the splits are generally thought to happen when two groups of the same species become geographically separated. They slowly diverge genetically until a point where they would no be longer able to reproduce with each other. So there isn’t an obvious point where a child represents the defined emergence of a new species. In theory I guess that happens at some point but you would only know if you reunited the separated groups. 

So do elephants.  

The only species on Earth that is intent on destroying itself and as many other species as possible?

What about those religions/sects which use sky burial?

Seems Neandertals and the ones from the Denisova Caves are both human by a strict definition. I can certainly vouch for having met some of the former.

Humans are possibly easier to categorise than other species as a result of population bottlenecks in anthropological time.

However attempts to further define humanity in anything other than scientific terms are beset by a number of obvious pitfalls...

This chap is pretty interesting:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svante_P%C3%A4%C3%A4bo

and he has a practice of ducking your question at every opportunity!

Isn't 'human' literally defined by DNA?

Tricky.

Human is normally kept for Homo Sapiens with people being certain up until a few years back there was no cross breeding. Now though quite a few of us have at least some genes from Homo neanderthalensis and some of the others. Hence why there is now some use of Homo Sapien Sapien and Homo Sapien neanderthalensis which still doesnt really answer the question.

That is super cool! I did not know that  

My answer was obviously a facetious but the fact remains, humans honour the deceased in a manner unlike any other living thing. 

Not sure what you're asking. Defining it for a person who is alive today is easy. They have human parents, human DNA, etc. Defining at what point our prehistoric ancestors became human is elusive. 

How do you define their human parents? 

What is human DNA - what about chromosomal errors such as aneuploidy

Easy. It's the opposite of "dancer". I heard it in a song. 

We don't define them as human. We recognise them as human. 

As so often, Aristotle got it right: the rational animal (the animal bit already having been defined by him much more precisely). Of course, he didn't mean we always behave rationally, far from it, but that we have the capacity of reason, which means being able to talk about, to analyse, and criticise ourselves.

Possessing humanity. That's why the vacuous skin-shells that fill the houses of parliament don't qualify as human.

Has it been observed in chimpanzees, or was that just extended mourning and not actual burial? 

I have no idea, but it’s an interesting question.  I know dogs mourn.  

What about those that don't have the ability to rationalise, criticise, analyse, predict, communicate etc. Plenty of persons born with significant cognitive or functional disorders aren't able to.

Same goes for those unable to reproduce. Or do we only apply definitions to those in the median range of a species?

Humanity - now what's that then, sounds like being human

I remember being told as a kid being human was having the power to choose not to follow our natural instincts or reactions.

Then again I'm sure I've seen the cat do exactly this plenty of times so I'm not sure this works.

I've definitely seen dogs do that.  Wait for a treat until they are told to have it.