What It Means to Be Human in Terms of Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology

“What it means to be human”. There are a lot of variables that play into this complicated question. In this essay, I will discuss the three concepts for Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology that can help determine what it really means to be human. The answer can be found in all three sciences. For Anthropology, the concept that can help determine what it means to be human is Paleoanthropology. Paleoanthropology can help us answer this question by digging into the past. For Psychology, the concept that can help determine what it means to be human is stress/ motivation and lastly, for Sociology, the concept that can help determine what it means to be human is structural functionalism.

Structural functionalism

Structural functionalism states that society is stable when social institutions meet the needs of its citizens. Structural functionalism is an important part of what it means to be human due to the fact that there are no other species that have different social institutions. For example, humans have different belief systems from Christianity, to Islam, and much more. Structural functionalism plays a huge part in what differentiates us from other species. Another reason why structural-functionalism plays such a huge part is that humans have classes, in terms of wealth and financial stability. Whereas other species, work together to better the community as a whole instead of themselves. The last reason why structural functionalism is almost critical in the reasoning what it means to be human is how social issues like poverty, sexism, racism, etc, affect our day to day life. However, compared to other species, social issues like this do not exist in other species’ society.

Stress and motivation

Stress/motivation plays a huge part in our lives. Everyone experiences stress whether it's due to family drama, the workplace, or school. There are many things that we try to motivate ourselves to do better. Can this ultimately determine if that is what it means to be human? There was an experiment where ten different chimpanzees were not given food for different lengths of time and food was placed in a certain position where a plan was needed. This is why chimps with the right amount of stress and motivation would be able to get the food. This experiment is important because it just shows what type of stress animals face compared to humans. Humans face stress like “ how am I going to pay that bill on time” or “what am I going to wear to that wedding” compared to animals who are more concerned about how they are going to get food or if they are going to survive the winter.

Paleoanthropology 

Paleoanthropology often called ''bones and stones''. The first human is believed to have appeared between five million and seven million years ago when an ape-like creature started to walk in Africa. The modern homo sapiens evolved by at least 130,000 years ago from ancestors. Homo sapiens brains had reached the size of today’s age brain. This all helps answer the question of what it means to be human. The closest animal to humans is monkeys but the reason why monkeys aren’t humans is that human’s evolution took a turn apart from other species due to primates such as Homo Erectus. This was an important point in what differentiates humans from other species because Homo Erectus was the first primate to stand upright.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the concepts that were chosen from psychology, sociology and anthropology were function, paleoanthropology and stress/ motivation all help prove what it means to be human. From the differences of societies to the evolution of the homo erectus and how important stress and motivation is in order to get things done. 

References

1. Kottak, C. P. (2014). Anthropology: Appreciating human diversity. McGraw-Hill Education.

2. Goodall, J. (1986). The chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of behavior. Harvard University Press.

3. Durkheim, É. (1964). The rules of sociological method. Free Press.

4. Parsons, T. (1951). The social system. Routledge.

5. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396.

6. Sapolsky, R. M. (2004). Why zebras don't get ulcers: The acclaimed guide to stress, stress-related diseases, and coping. Holt Paperbacks.

7. Aiello, L. C., & Wheeler, P. (1995). The expensive-tissue hypothesis: The brain and the digestive system in human and primate evolution. Current Anthropology, 36(2), 199-221.

8. Lewin, R., & Foley, R. A. (2004). Principles of human evolution. John Wiley & Sons.

9. Diamond, J. (1992). The third chimpanzee: The evolution and future of the human animal. HarperCollins.

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10. Deacon, T. W. (1997). The symbolic species: The co-evolution of language and the brain. WW Norton & Company.