Humanity and the Lies We Tell Ourselves

Humanity. What does it mean to treat someone humanely? Warner claims that our own humanity is intimately tied with our ability to perceive or sense others needs and feelings. Warner also states that “to recognize another individual as a person, even if we don’t see a face or hear a voice, is to know that we should treat him or her differently from the way we would treat a mannequin or a statue.” A statue doesn’t mind if you take advantage of it or if you ignore it for days. The difference between a statue and a person is a person has feelings. A person has needs. But how can we know how to fulfill these needs? One must find in them a willingness to act upon the impressions that they receive; one must learn to act.

We must learn to look outside yourself and search for the opportunity to fulfill those needs. We know what you should do to help someone. We receive thoughts and impressions that we should go visit a friend at work, say a kind thing to a stranger, or write a note to an old friend. But what keeps us from actually doing them? Selfishness. Selfishness, in large part, is the belief that our situation is more difficult or more important that those who surround you. We often justify our tendency to put our needs and desires above others, but that does not make it right. We must fight the urge to get so caught up in our own lives that we forget to look around us—that we forget to treat those around us as people, as individuals who have feelings and emotions, and who experience life just as we do. When we can learn to stop justifying our mistreatment of others, we will become more humane.