We’re Only Human

I’ve heard that expression many times: in conversation, in insurance commercials, in literature. In some ways it has lost all meaning, becoming not just a remark on human imperfection, but an excuse that can cover just about everything. I cheated, well, I’m only human., I crashed into your car, well, I’m only human, as if that resolves responsibility. But perhaps how we come to grips with our darker nature does, in some ways, define us.

Most books, if you think about it, are all exploring what it means to be human; in literature that means conflict, and usually brushing up against the dark side. This is no more evident than in science fiction, where humans often encounter beings from another world. I’ve been thinking about what makes humans human a lot lately, since my current project is science fiction.

Some of the robots I’ve read about lately and seen on TV are so life like they make me shiver. And although they may nod, blink, and smile, no matter how much they may resemble or behave like humans we know they are not. At least right now. I’m still hoping for Azimov’s positronic brain. :-)

Conversely, sometimes “real” humans can act in inhuman ways. Recently I saw the creepiest scene ever in the newest Bourne movie. SPOILER ALERT. Scene build up: scientist works on a government project which is going to be shut down. The government kills all of the scientists except one woman; she doesn’t know she was meant to be killed. So these same government agents, masquerading as psychologists, come to visit the woman to see how she is getting along. While searching her house they discover her gun. One supposed psychologist sits next to the woman, the man holding the gun on the other side, the faux psychologist calmly says “on three.”…they were going to kill the woman and say she killed herself. (She escapes.)

What chilled me to the bone was how matter- of- fact the agent said “on three.” I wondered how many times did it take for her to become so deadened to killing…. at what point did she lose her humanity?

With aliens, of course, they never had humanity to lose. But they must have a semblance of it, in other words, if you can’t recognize yourself in an alien it becomes a monster. Which is fine if that is what you are going for, but I want my aliens to be a definite shade of gray, no pun intended.

A fabulous example of this concept is from Star Trek Next Generation. The ship comes upon a new planet and some of the ship's children are spirited away. The aliens, when confronted, can’t understand why the crew is so upset. You can have more, the alien woman says, we can’t. Even though the kidnapping of children wasn’t tolerated by the captain and wouldn’t be in any real life situation, the viewer can still feel sympathy for the aliens.

Exploring humanity is so interesting…if an alien or robot acts humanely, are they more human than a “real” person who behaves with no sense of right or wrong? That’s what I’m pondering about right now…