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WHAT Is IT that makes us human? Was there a gradual emergence? or a "great leap forward" from apekind to humankind? Anthropologists, paleontologists, archaeologists, and many others have offered a wide range of explanations and speculations. The puzzle is still being worked on and may never be completed. There are so many missing pieces, and we don't know where to look. And, unlike a jigsaw puzzle, in science we don't know what the completed picture will look like.
In responding to these questions, I will take a critical thinking approach. First, I will ask questions of the questions. This is based on a premise that we often ask questions in such a way that we are unavoidably lead into unnecessary confusions and endless unproductive debates. The first question, when not critically examined, is likely to lead enquirers to look for that one thing that they think makes us human. As can be expected, different enquirers will come up with different "one things." The debates about which one thing is the one thing will cloud the issue until it is recognized that it is not absolutely necessary for there to be any one thing. The question may then be modified to "What are some of the factors that constitute our particular brand of uniqueness?" (This includes a recognition that an apple tree or a lion or a whale is each unique in its special way). Another implication of the question "What is it that makes us human?" can be put this way: The process is completed; the journey is ended; we have arrived; we are now fully human. From my point of view, if this is so, I will fully agree with those who would say "Cod help us." I prefer at this time to think that we (humans) are traveling together through cosmic space-time on a symbolically constructed spaceship, and we have no earthly idea where we are going. There are among us travelers who are sure they know. They feel so certain that they want to take the whole lot of us (forcibly if needs be) in their direction. These individuals may be numbered among our most cleverly and intelligently insane fellow humans: Clever when we let their eloquence, enthusiasm, and dedication catch us...