Mark Meador
On May 31, 2008, at the World Science Festival in New York City, a panel of scientists gathered to discuss what it means to be human.
It appears to have been quite an interesting seminar, and the things that were spoken were true and insightful. Yet most were plagued by a somewhat restricted perspective. All of the contributors being scientists, the insights were mostly of a scientific nature, but scientific insights into the meaning of being human largely center on identifying the limits of science more than pointing out fundamental truths of what it means to be human. Even the sociologist’s views culminated in the summary, “I think we’re more than biological creatures. I’m not sure biology has answers.” Several contributors talked about humans being uniquely rational, having the ability to remember, having a “human program” in our DNA, and so on; but these ideas don’t seem to capture the fullness of humanity conveyed by ideas like justice, love, and friendship. At the end of the day, it was the neuroscientist in the group that had the most meaningful input: “I like to think of a generator of diversity in the frontal lobe—and those initials are G-O-D.”
Mark Meador is a 2008 John Jay Institute Fellow interning with the Trinity Forum.
Gleanings, Being Human, Tue 10 Jun 2008
Doing good is never an excuse for behaving badly.
Judith Martin
