Some get annoyed when words are brought into question. I find an examination of words to be fascinating. If we don’t think carefully about the meaning of our words there’s a good chance we don’t know what we’re talking about.
The word “human” has a very interesting history. It comes from the Latin word “humus”; not the chickpea mash — it means "earth", "soil" or "dirt".
“Human” is also related to the word “humble” meaning “not proud, not haughty, not arrogant”. Humble is “lowly” because it’s close to the earth. We become grounded through humility.
In this world we are perpetually told that human beings are exceptional creatures with the potential to rule the earth, transcend all limits and perhaps one day venture forth into fantastic realms beyond our earth.
But those who succeed in leaving the earth (even if only symbolically) may in actuality no longer be human — at least on a technical level if not in essence and character.
In our present situation many of us share the concern that humanity might lose its humanity. The pandemic crisis may have brought some of us a bit closer together (while living under quarantine, ironically) but over recent years there’s been an alarming increase in social polarization and unrest around much of the world.
Any student of history will be painfully aware of the potential cruelty humanity can unleash when it fails to see the humanity in others. If we hope to restore our humanity we may need to come back down to earth and embrace the humility that is inherently (and definitively) our lot in this life.
Am I mistaken? Can we somehow continue to be human without sacrificing our hubris and returning to humility? If so — will someone please explain how?
It may be worth noting that the word "hubris" is tantalizingly close to "humus" — particularly when you consider that the "b" and "m" phonemes are easily mixed up (they’re both labial sounds — made with the lips).
This possible relationship between humus and hubris contains a suggestion that lowly creatures compensate for their low status with delusions of aggrandizement (a species-wide Napoleon complex, if you will).
When it comes to hubris we distinguish ourselves above all other species. Indeed, we often look down upon the humble with disdain. The word "humility" is conspicuously absent from our contemporary vocabulary.
In the context of today’s rapidly developing technology it’s become clear that some of us just don’t want to be human anymore. Trans-humanists and their ilk are ready to abandon humanity for their utopian (or dystopian) visions of a tech-dominated evolutionary future.
There are plenty of good reasons for people to feel they’ve had enough of humanity. “Human” as a designation signifies a number of realities that range from the inconvenient to the grotesque —all the way to the profoundly horrible.
Nevertheless, what we will become if we abandon humanity is anyone’s guess. Likely it will not be anything better — particularly if it does not include an embedded sense of humility.
We may have forgotten that the word “human” is a variant of the word “humble”…but so long as the etymology continues to be available to us the relationship is enshrined within our language such that others may realize it again, and again.
Did the ancients who devised our language encode a wisdom message within it? A reminder of who we really are? If you wanted to preserve a word’s meaning— what better way than to place it within a constellation of related words?
In our tech dominated age we may have forgotten that humility is one of the keystone attributes of humanity — one of our greatest strengths. How might things change for the better if we embrace our humility? To be happy with little and not want for more is the greatest blessing. If under humble circumstances one comes into greater fortune— it’s just the icing on top of a foundational blessing.
Humble means being comfortable even in lowly positions. How many of us today would be happy in humble circumstances? Humble doesn’t necessarily require living in poverty — but it does mean that you make the best of wherever you find yourself.
But here’s the rub: humble pie isn’t horrible — and this is our present predicament. It’s to the shame of our leadership that we as a species have allowed so many to suffer in miserable circumstance. Here in the US (supposedly the wealthiest country in the world) people are living on the streets, children don’t have enough food, people work two or three jobs and are still unable to pay the bills…this too is human, no?
As the global economy has now essentially come to a halt and the whole world is looking downwards into the abyss — we might ask ourselves whether we would be in this predicament had we retained our humility and not aggrandized arrogant, proud, greedy hubristic individuals who promised us the stars and delivered us fuck-all.
And when I use the term “fuck-all” I am using it precisely: the people with the hubris to think they could run the world as they pleased have essentially fucked us all, including themselves (imHo).
If there’s anything the present pandemic crisis is teaching us it’s that we are all fundamentally humble creatures in the grand scheme of things. After all, we can’t even keep this world running in the face of a pathogen that only kills about 2% of us (don’t hold me to that number — just a rough estimate from the present incomplete data). What will remain of us if (when) a more severe crisis arrives?
Let’s come back down to earth now before it’s too late. Humans are meant to be Humble.
