Seriously. How did this all come to be? Everything that we are and everything that we do and everything that we create as humans, how do you sum it up?
There are moments where it can feel like we are facing a neat answer: moments where we marvel at the range and depth of our languages, or at the gorgeous, useful dexterity of our bodies, or at our species' great capacity for both cruelty and compassion...moments where we think, this is it. This is what has enabled us to do everything we’ve done throughout the millennia, this is the core of our identity, this is what continues to drive us forward...
Maybe there really is one answer. Or maybe it’s a kaleidoscope of intertwined features and factors which we’ll never know the order of. Maybe it’s both of these at the same exact time.
I want to know what you think it is. What makes humanity different? There are many (perhaps even more) things that make us the same from every other life form to ever inhabit the Earth, but what is it that sets us apart? What and why and how?