The Definition of a Human

A person does not become a human being on their own.

What is a human being?

This question is so familiar that we rarely think about it in our daily lives.

A human is a human.

If you say that, it's the end of the discussion.

Biologically speaking, humans are Homo sapiens.
They are creatures that stand on two legs, use language, create tools, and have built societies.

That is not wrong.

Humans have bodies.
They get hungry.
They get sleepy.
They get tired.
They feel pain.
When cold, they seek warmth, and when they sense danger, they try to escape.

In that sense, humans are certainly biological, animal, and one of the life forms living on Earth.

However, can that alone fully explain what a human is?

People are hurt by words.

They are saved by a single word from someone.

They feel anxious imagining a future that has not yet happened.

They sometimes live supported by the memories of people they can no longer meet.

They sometimes endure today for the sake of a dream that does not exist before their eyes.

Thinking about it this way, humans are not beings that live solely through their physical bodies.

While walking through the visible world, humans are simultaneously greatly moved by things that are invisible.

This is not to say that humans are special.

Animals also change depending on their environment and relationships.
Animals accustomed to humans can become gentle, while those with experiences of being hurt can become highly vigilant.
Even plants change their form depending on light, water, soil, and surrounding conditions.

Living things may seem to be complete on their own, but in reality, they change their form within their relationships with their surroundings.

However, in the case of humans, the layers of those relationships are extremely complex.

It is not just the physical body.
There is language.
There is memory.
There is society.
There is history.
There is imagination for the future.
There are things we believe in.
There are things we fear.
There are emotions we cannot even fully explain ourselves.

We feel as though we are fixed entities, but in reality, the state of our bodies, past memories, relationships with others, the atmosphere of society, and our imagination of a future that has yet to arrive all overlap at any given time, giving rise to a "self" for that specific moment.

Therefore, a human is not simply "something that is there."

I believe that a human is something that continues to emerge, moment by moment, within various relationships.

People start to move when they feel a sense of lack.

People start to move when they feel a sense of lack.

If we are hungry, we eat.
If we are sleepy, we sleep.
If we are cold, we seek warmth.
If we are tired, we try to rest.

This is the sense of lack that the body teaches us.

The body is quite honest.

If we lack water, we feel thirsty.
If we lack nutrition, we feel hungry.
If we lack sleep, we feel sleepy.
If we sense danger, our heart rate increases and the body prepares to flee.

These kinds of lacks are relatively easy to understand.

However, humans also have lacks that cannot be explained by the body alone.

We want to be recognized.
We want to feel secure.
We want to be loved.
We want a place to belong.
We want someone to understand us.
We want meaning.
We want to know what we are living for.
We want to leave something behind.
We want to be useful to someone.
We do not want it to end like this.

These kinds of lacks do not have a visible location like a stomach.

We cannot clearly point to where we are hungry.

However, they certainly drive people.

Sometimes, they drive people even more strongly than physical hunger.

People do not work just to eat.
People do not live just to sleep.
People did not build society just for safety.

Of course, those things are important.

However, for humans, that alone is not enough.

People strive to be recognized by someone.
They push themselves to protect someone.
They endure today for the sake of a future they have yet to see.
They may even spend their time, effort, and life itself for things they believe have meaning.

In other words, humans are driven not only by a lack of physical needs but also by a lack of connection.

What is important here is not to view this lack as something bad.

Because there is a lack, people move.

Because there is a lack, people think.

Because there is a lack, people connect with others.

Because there is a lack, people try to head toward the future.

A being that is completely fulfilled and needs nothing would likely not move.

That is because there would be no need to change.

Thinking of it this way, a lack is not merely a defect.

It might be something like a margin that the world creates to keep living things in motion.

For humans, a lack is both a source of suffering and a gateway to change.

Even when fulfilled, people thirst again.

People feel satisfied when they obtain something.

When hunger is satisfied, they feel at ease.
When they buy what they wanted, they feel happy.
When they are recognized by someone, their heart feels lighter.
When anxiety disappears, their breathing becomes deeper.

However, that satisfaction does not last forever.

The stomach becomes empty again.
Peace of mind wavers again.
Joy eventually becomes routine.
What was obtained eventually becomes taken for granted.
Even if a dream comes true, the next void becomes visible.

This is not because humans are foolish.

It is because humans exist within a flow.

Satisfaction might be like water poured into a glass.

Even if it is filled once, it is used up little by little in daily life.
It decreases over time.
It changes shape within our emotions.
Yesterday's satisfaction cannot fully support who I am today.

That is why people seek it again.

We were supposed to work to gain peace of mind, yet sometimes we lose the time to feel that peace by working.

We were supposed to seek money to become free, yet sometimes we give up our freedom to obtain money.

We were supposed to strive to be recognized by someone, yet before we know it, we can no longer hear our own voice.

People desire something and give something in return for it.

Giving time
Giving effort
Giving patience
Giving youth
Giving one's heart
Giving a part of one's life

And using what we have obtained, we try to fill yet another void.

This exchange does not happen only within the individual.

It also happens throughout society as a whole.

Someone's lack becomes someone's job
Someone's wish becomes someone's product
Someone's anxiety becomes someone's system
Someone's dream becomes someone's story

Supply and demand are not just matters of economics.

Human insufficiency and the movements to fill it are intricately intertwined within society.

Human society may be something that is constantly changing its shape through countless voids and countless movements to fill them.

Sometimes, a lack creates even more lack.

People move to fill their voids.

However, sometimes a strange thing happens.

We were supposed to be running to fill a void, but before we know it, the act of continuing to run becomes the goal itself.

We were supposed to be working to find peace, but continuing to work becomes the virtue.

You were supposed to seek money to become free, but increasing money becomes the goal itself.

You were supposed to work hard to be recognized, but you become unable to forgive yourself for not working hard.

At first, there was a goal.

I want to feel secure
I want to be free
I want to be recognized
I want to stabilize my life
I want to protect someone
I want to take back my own life

That is why people take action.

Up to this point, I think it is very natural.

However, as you keep moving, the purpose sometimes shifts little by little.

You were supposed to be running toward a goal, but before you know it, the act of running toward the goal becomes the goal itself.

When that happens, people can never reach their destination.

This is because the act of continuing to move is justified, rather than reaching the destination.

Moreover, in many cases, people do not realize this.

It is not just the individual who is spinning in circles.

It is because those around them, society, and the times are all spinning in the same way.

Work harder
Grow more
Earn more
Aim higher
Don't stop
Don't fall behind
Don't get left behind

When you are surrounded by such voices, you even lose sight of what you were trying to fulfill.

You were supposed to work in order to rest, but you feel guilty about resting.

You were supposed to save in order to feel secure, but you become afraid only of the amount decreasing.

You were supposed to make an effort to improve your life, but you start to feel that you have no value unless you keep making an effort.

This might be a state where the lack itself is creating a new kind of lack.

People want to be fulfilled.

However, as you keep moving to be fulfilled, you become unable to stop moving.

You were supposed to be running to eliminate a sense of lack, but before you know it, you need that sense of lack in order to keep running.

Herein lies a great human contradiction.

People dislike a sense of lack.

Yet, they are driven by it.

A sense of lack is painful.

Yet, because there is a sense of lack, we head toward the future.

We want to be liberated from this sense of lack.

Yet, perhaps we fear somewhere deep down that when the sense of lack disappears, the very reason that kept us moving will disappear as well.

It is as if we are caught in a vortex of fluid change.

A person inside the vortex finds it difficult to notice that they are spinning.

This is because the very world they are looking at is spinning along with them.

It is not just you.

Your family, your company, society, and the era are all spinning in the same current.

That is why it becomes scary to stand still.

If you stop, you feel like you will fall behind.

If you stop, you feel like you will be left behind.

If you stop, you feel like you will lose your value.

But in truth, I think it is necessary to stop there and re-examine things.

What was it that you were trying to fulfill?

What was I running for?

Is what I truly wanted really at the end of this road?

Or had the act of running itself become the goal before I even realized it?

Perhaps a part of human suffering is not the lack itself.

It might be that the movement to fill that lack ends up continuously creating new lacks before we know it.

What is wealth?

Here, I would like to think about wealth.

People seek wealth.

I want money
I want assets
I want a stable life
I want peace of mind
I want options

Seeking wealth itself is not a bad thing.

Rather, it is very natural.

Without money, you cannot eat
you worry about where to live
you are in trouble when you get sick
you cannot help someone even if you want to
and your options for the future narrow

That is why people seek wealth.

However, is wealth truly money itself?

Money can be seen as paper, metal, or numbers on a screen.

But the power money holds within human society is not the power of the paper or numbers themselves.

It is the power of meaning shared by society.

This paper has value
this number has credit
if you have this, you can exchange it
if you have this, you can feel secure
if this increases, your freedom increases
if this decreases, the future becomes uncertain

In other words, wealth is both a thing and a thread of information given meaning within society.

That thread greatly changes human behavior.

If you think you have money, a sense of ease is born in your heart.
If you think you have no money, the future becomes dark even if nothing has happened yet.
Even with the same ten thousand yen, the weight of it is completely different for someone who has a sense of ease versus someone who is worried about tomorrow's food expenses.

Wealth is not merely a possession.

It is a possibility for the future, an option within society, and an invisible support to keep anxiety at bay.

That is precisely why people seek wealth.

However, when wealth itself becomes too much of a goal, a strange thing happens.

You sought wealth to feel secure, yet you lose your sense of security in order to obtain wealth.
You worked to be free, yet you lose your freedom by working.
You strove to be happy, yet you lose the capacity to feel happiness.

Was what you truly wanted money itself?

Or was it security?
Was it freedom?
Was it the power to protect someone?
Was it the margin to choose your own life for yourself?

Wealth may not be a thing, but a form of possibility.

Yet, in order to obtain that possibility, people sometimes give away too much of themselves.

As a result, the priority of one's own existence within oneself continues to drop.

For the sake of living
For the sake of family
For the sake of the company
For the sake of the future
For the sake of appearances
For the sake of meeting expectations

And before you know it, you have become a low priority in your own life.

Isn't this something that is happening to many people?

People seem to live to be fulfilled, but in reality, they are constantly searching for 'what is missing'.

However, if you misjudge that lack, the very act of trying to fill it creates yet another void.

Therefore, thinking about wealth is not simply thinking about money.

What are you trying to fulfill?
What are you giving away for that purpose?
And what was it that you truly wanted?

Only after thinking that far does wealth become involved in the definition of a human.

Even in the same world, it is not seen in the same way.

Even though we are supposed to be living in the same world, the way people see the world is completely different.

For example, suppose one day you take a paid leave when you are completely exhausted, both mentally and physically.

You go out for a little shopping and park your car in the store's parking lot.

You open all the windows,
turn off the engine,
recline the seat,
and close your eyes.

At that moment, how does the world feel?

I'm so tired.
Work again tomorrow?
I'm supposed to be resting, but I can't.
The cars around me are noisy.
People's voices are bothering me.
Only time is passing by.

Even in the same place, for someone who is exhausted, the world feels heavy.

Even though the air should be open, the heart feels constricted.
Even though sounds should just be sounds, they become noise.
Even though you are supposed to be resting, the work of the future is already creeping into your mind.

Then, what if someone who just quit a difficult job were in that same place?

They have no income for a while.
But they have a little savings.
They don't have to go back to that painful place tomorrow.

That person opens the windows, reclines the seat, and closes their eyes in the same parking lot.

Then, the same car sounds might no longer be just noise.

They notice birds chirping in the distance.
The wind blows into the car.
The flow of time feels a little kinder.
Even the surrounding sounds that were noisy just a moment ago feel like part of a landscape from another world.

The world is the same.

The same parking lot,
the same sky,
the same sounds,
the same wind.

What has changed is not the world.

It is the self that receives it.

Humans do not see the world as it is.

We receive the world through our own state of being.

When you are tired, the world feels small.
When you are anxious, the future looks dark.
When you have room to breathe, beauty returns to the same scenery.
When you are at peace, even sounds become gentle.

In other words, humans are not just in the world.

Depending on their state, they are constantly re-establishing the world each time.

A human is not something that 'is,' but something that 'continues to emerge.'

When we say a human 'is,' it inevitably looks like a fixed existence.

There is a body,
there is a name,
there is an age,
there is an occupation,
there is an address,
there is a title.

That is why humans appear to 'be' there.

However, actual humans are much more fluid.

The self of yesterday is different from the self of today.
The self when exhausted is different from the self when full of hope.
The self when loved by someone is different from the self when sunk in loneliness.
The world when one is at ease is different from the world when one is wrapped in anxiety.

A human is not a fixed object.

It is a phenomenon that arises at every moment from the overlapping of body, mind, thoughts, memories, society, and information.

Therefore, a human is not just something that 'is.'

I believe a human is something that continues to emerge.

That is also connected to suffering.

Suffering might be what is born when the self that is currently emerging and the state of the world do not mesh well.

Sadness might be the loss of an important connection, causing the form of the self to waver.

Joy might be the lightness that is born when the current self and the flow of the world overlap well.

A dream might be a phenomenon where information about a future that does not yet exist begins to move the current self.

Thinking of it this way, human emotions are not merely internal reactions.

They might be the tremors that occur when the self emerges between the world, the body, and information.

Humans cannot be fully explained by three dimensions alone.

The human body exists in three-dimensional space.

Walking on the ground
Sitting in a chair
Holding an object
Eating food
Sleeping
Falling down
Getting up

In this sense, humans are clearly physical beings.

However, what determines human behavior is not just what is visible.

Memories of yesterday
Anxieties about tomorrow
Promises made to someone
Social roles
The meaning of money
Words from someone you love
Regrets of the past
Expectations for the future
Dreams yet to be fulfilled
Thoughts of things already lost

These invisible things make a person's steps heavy or light.

Even when walking the same path, the weight of the body differs between walking to meet someone you love and walking toward a place you dislike.

Even when in the same room, the depth of your breathing differs depending on whether it is a place where you feel safe or a place where you are blamed.

Even with the same words, how they reach the heart differs depending on who said them.

In other words, while humans are creatures that walk through three-dimensional space, they are beings that cannot be fully explained by three dimensions alone.

The body walks on the ground.

However, it is not just the ground that moves that body.

Invisible things like memories, anxieties, hopes, and promises determine where a person goes.

A human is the intersection of the world, the body, the mind, thoughts, and society.

A human is not just a body.

Not just a mind.

Not just thoughts.

Not just society.

If the body tires, the mind sinks
If the mind is disturbed, thoughts become biased
If thoughts change, actions change
If the relationship with society changes, how you see yourself changes
Someone's words can sometimes break the self you were until yesterday
A single encounter can sometimes change the direction of the future

In short, a human is not a single solid mass.

It is a place where various currents intersect.

There is a world,
there is a body,
there is a mind,
there are thoughts,
there are memories,
there is society,
there is time,
there is history,
there are relationships.

At the place where these intersect, a 'self' emerges for each passing moment.

Perhaps a human is a phenomenon called 'self' that continues to arise at the intersection of the world, the body, the mind, thoughts, and society.

This 'self' is not entirely free.

There is the environment one was born into,
the education one received,
the memories one has acquired,
one's physical constitution,
the systems of society,
the atmosphere of the times,
the influence of family, community, and culture.

While it seems as though people create themselves, in reality, they are also the result of countless currents.

Therefore, even if people can tweak their path to some extent, they cannot change everything freely.

It might be like steering a ship slightly within the flow of a large river.

One cannot completely go against it.
However, one can change the direction just a little.

Within that slight freedom, people worry, choose, make mistakes, try again, and attempt to change their position little by little.

I believe that is where humanity lies.

The future has not yet arrived, yet it moves the current self.

Humans live in time.

There is the past, the present, and the future.

That is how it feels.

However, when you think about it carefully, there is something strange.

A future that has not yet happened is moving the current self.

Losing sleep over tomorrow's anxiety,
enduring today for the sake of a dream someday,
feeling sad imagining a parting that has not yet come,
feeling lighter on one's feet due to a hope that has not yet been fulfilled,
stopping current actions for fear of future failure,
being able to endure current hardship by believing in future success.

The future has not yet arrived.

And yet, it is already driving who I am right now.

This is a mysterious aspect of human existence.

For humans, the future is not simply 'what is to come'.

It is information that, despite not having happened yet, directs the self in the present.

Thinking about it this way, humans do not live only in the present.

Supported by memories of the past,
driven by imagination of the future,
and acting through the physical body of the present.

Humans may seem to walk along a single line of time, but in reality, they might be beings that stand upright, supported by countless threads of memory, hope, and relationships.

Humans are swaying between time and history

Conflicts often occur in human society.

New values and old values,
the younger generation and the older generation,
individual freedom and social responsibility,
the present that wants to change and the history that has accumulated.

Perhaps this is not merely a conflict.

It might be a problem of how time and history mesh together.

Time is the change that is flowing right now.

Today's life,
current emotions,
current society,
current judgments,
events happening right now.

On the other hand, history is accumulated time.

Past experiences,
culture,
failures,
wounds,
lessons,
institutions,
memories,
words left behind by someone,
things someone tried to protect.

Humans exist between these two.

We must live in the present.
But we cannot live by ignoring the past.

We want to move toward the future.
But if we discard history, we will repeat the same mistakes.

That is precisely why being human is difficult.

It is not the case that we should destroy everything old.
It is also not the case that we should reject everything new.

When forced to unify, humans tend to move toward destruction.

"This is correct"
"Anything else is wrong"
"Erase the old"
"Do not accept the new"

When that happens, it moves away from dialogue and toward exclusion.

What is important is not to force things into one.

It is to keep time and history in a place where they can be seen.

And to ensure that the next generation can see, think about, and choose from them.

Raising a human is not about forcing a correct answer upon them.

What happened
Why it happened that way
What was lost
What was attempted to be protected
What did not go well
What they still wanted to leave behind

Passing on such time, history, and connections to the next generation.

I believe that is what it means to raise a human.

Education is not just the injection of knowledge.

It is a hand-off to connect the past, the present, and the future.

Humans become human within society

Humans do not complete their "humanity" the moment they are born.

A newborn baby has a body.

But there is no language yet
There is no common sense yet
There are no social rules yet
The sense of who one is has not yet been completed

People are called by someone,
held,
taught,
scolded,
forgiven,
hurt,
and acknowledged, while
gradually becoming human.

Learning language
Learning a sense of distance
Learning how to love
Learning how to be angry
Learning patience
Learning how to rely on others
Learning how to apologize
Learning the difference between oneself and others

This is not born from the body alone.

It is something that grows within relationships with society.

Therefore, a human being is not something that is completed alone.

It is an existence that is gradually shaped within relationships with society.

The society referred to here is not just countries or companies.

Family is also society.
Friendships are also society.
Schools are also society.
Communities are also society.
Language is also society.
Common sense is also society.
Values are also society.

Humans are not just walking on the Earth.

Humans live within invisible layers such as language, common sense, values, and roles.

Money
Promises
Titles
Family
Country
Work
Dreams
Responsibility
Success
Failure
Righteousness
Shame
Pride

These are not visible as physical objects.

However, they greatly influence human life.

In other words, a human being is a creature that lives in the physical natural world while simultaneously being deeply connected to a world of concepts.

Not fitting into society is also a part of society.

If humans grow within society, the fact that there are people who do not fit in well cannot be easily dismissed.

There are people who cannot work.
There are people who are hurt by human relationships.
There are people who cannot go to school.
There are people who cannot fit into a company.
There are people who suffer from the rules of society.
There are people who do not fit into what is considered a normal way of life.

If we dismiss all of that as just "that person's problem," our view of humanity becomes quite narrow.

The existence of people who do not fit into society is not just a flaw of that individual.

It is also a mirror that reflects the shape of that society.

Is the pressure of society too strong?
Is education biased?
Is common sense outdated?
Is it forcing unreasonable demands on individuals?
Is the cycle of receiving and giving broken?
Has the capacity to nurture people been lost?

Such a perspective is also necessary.

Of course, people are also beings who live within society.

Therefore, if you lean too far in the direction of only wanting to satisfy yourself, the cycle with society will break.

Humans are beings that receive.

There are times when you are protected,
times when you are supported,
times when you cannot give anything back,
and times when you are just doing your best to survive.

That should not be denied.

However, humans are also beings that will eventually give something back in a way they are capable of.

It does not have to be something big.

Being kind to someone.
Passing on what you have learned to the next person.
Using your own painful experiences to ensure you do not hurt others.
Returning what you have received to society in a different form.

Responsibility is not a word used to blame someone.

It is the ability to understand that you are a part of society and to think about what you can give back in your own way, rather than just receiving.

Not a hierarchy, but internal and external changes

Humans grow.

From child to adult,
from student to working professional,
from an individual to someone who supports others,
from the side that is protected to the side that protects,
from the side that receives to the side that gives back.

If you call this a 'hierarchy,' it is easily misunderstood.

Because it makes it look like a discussion about being above or below, or being superior or inferior.

However, what I want to say here is not about ranking.

Human growth is not about climbing higher.

Rather, I think it is about increasing what you hold inside and expanding your connections with the outside world.

Children are not below.

They are still inside a space where they are protected,
their range of connection with the world is still narrow,
and that is why those around them need to support them.

Adults are not above.

You are in a position to gradually take responsibility for the impact you have not only on yourself, but also on those around you and on the future.

Fathers and mothers are not parents because they are superior.

Within the small world of a family, they hold the role of supporting life, livelihood, and security.

Becoming a working adult from a student does not mean your value has increased.

It is a change where you gradually shift from being a receiver to being a giver.

Human growth is not about becoming superior to someone else.

It is about the scope of your relationships changing, the things you take responsibility for changing, and becoming able to care about things outside of yourself.

Therefore, humans do not have a hierarchy of above and below, but rather an inside and an outside.

And those insides and outsides are not fixed.

People sometimes return to being the ones who are protected, even adults can be supported, even strong people can break down, and a child's words can sometimes save an adult.

Human relationships cannot be expressed by simple hierarchies.

That is precisely why humans are complex, and beautiful.

Living within invisible relationships

Humans do not live only by what is visible.

Talking about this might bring us close to discussions about faith or mysterious things.

However, I do not intend to prove anything here.

Whether spirits exist or not, whether God exists or not, whether paranormal phenomena are real or illusions.

I do not intend to make definitive claims about such things.

I do not have a sixth sense. I have never had an experience of seeing anything mysterious. Therefore, I cannot prove such things.

However, I also do not believe that humans live only in the physical world.

Humans are hurt by words,
bound by memories,
saved by hope,
supported by prayer,
sometimes kept alive by the presence of those they can no longer meet,
and sometimes frightened by a future that has not yet happened.

These things are not tangible like desks or stones.

Yet, they certainly change human behavior.

If so, the world in which humans live is not just the visible physical world.

I believe it is also an invisible world, woven with words, memories, beliefs, and relationships.

To believe or not to believe.

Before dividing things into just those two choices, perhaps we could consider that each person lives while constructing a different world.

Even if we are in the same place, it does not mean we are living in the same world.

For those who believe, there is the world of the believer;
for those who do not believe, there is the world of the non-believer;
for those who have been hurt, there is the world of the hurt;
for those supported by hope, there is the world of those supported by hope.

What is important is not to forcibly try to destroy either one.

I think it is about adjusting how we interact while observing what kind of world that person is living in.

Diversity does not mean accepting everything in the same way.

It means not trampling on the other person's world with muddy boots,
not allowing others to forcibly intrude into your own world,
and thinking about how far to engage and where to keep a distance.

Humans live in the same physical world while each constructing a different world.

That is precisely why I believe caution is necessary in how we interact.

Love and happiness are not things, but states of relationships.

What is love?

What is happiness?

What is being moved?

These, too, are deeply connected to the definition of a human.

Love is not something that is placed somewhere as an object.

Happiness is not something stored on a shelf, either.

Being moved is not something that can be taken out from a fixed location.

Living in the same house does not guarantee the presence of love.
Having the same amount of money does not guarantee happiness.
Even when watching the same movie, some people are moved while others are not.

In other words, love, happiness, and being moved are not the objects themselves.

Between people
Between a person and memories
Between a person and the future
Between a person and the world
Between a person and events

I believe they are states of relationships that arise in between.

That is why love is fluid.

Happiness is also fluid.

Being moved is also fluid.

They are not fixed things, but rather emerge within relationships.

In a relationship where one can feel at ease, the heart becomes soft.
In a safe place, emotions are more likely to expand.
In a place where there have been many experiences of being hurt, even the same words can sound like an attack.

This is not limited to humans alone.

Animals can also become calm within safe relationships.
Conversely, if there is a history of being hurt, it can manifest as wariness or aggression.

Fluctuations and leeway in relationships
The safety of the body itself
Trust with those around you
These are deeply involved in the richness of emotions.

Therefore, there is no need to confine human emotions as something special only to humans.

However, in the case of humans, those emotions take on very complex forms by connecting with language, memory, society, and history.

That is precisely why human love and happiness are difficult.

And that is precisely why they are beautiful.

The world might be like string art made of countless threads.

Think of the world as something like string art made of countless threads.

Humans usually see the outlines created by those threads.

There are objects,
there are people,
there are houses,
there are cities,
there are bodies,
there are expressions,
there are events.

What we see with our five senses are those very outlines.

However, what creates those outlines might be countless invisible threads.

Memories of the past,
expectations for the future,
human relationships,
social systems,
the meaning of words,
the accumulation of history,
someone's wishes,
someone's wounds,
things left behind by someone.

These things intertwine and stretch out, forming the shape of the world we see now.

Humans cannot see all of that with their five senses.

But perhaps emotions and intuition sometimes touch the way those threads are stretched.

Feeling nostalgic for some reason,
feeling at ease for some reason,
having a bad feeling for some reason,
feeling moved for some reason,
feeling that something is important even if it cannot be put into words.

Such sensations sometimes cannot be dismissed as mere moods.

Perhaps that is because humans are touching not just the outlines of the world, but also the relationships that create those outlines.

A human is a being that passes things on to the next.

Humans are not complete on their own.

And they do not conclude in a single generation.

People receive from the past.

Receiving words,
receiving culture,
receiving ways of life,
receiving someone's efforts,
learning from someone's failures,
receiving lessons left by someone's wounds.

Humans do not start from nothing.

We receive words left by others, grow up in a society built by others, think upon a history where others have failed, and then, through our own lives, change it just a little and pass it on to the next.

And so, people live in the present.

To worry
To choose
To make mistakes
To get hurt
To start over
To connect with someone
To create something
To end up breaking something
To try to protect something

I believe that each of these acts is not merely preserving what we have received as it is, but rather the act of gradually changing its form through the phenomenon of oneself.

And then, passing it on to the future.

Passing on knowledge
Passing on experience
Passing on stories
Passing on records of failure
Passing on hope
Passing on questions

Humans exist within time.

However, that does not simply mean being swept along from the past to the future.

Humans receive the past, change its form in the present, and pass it on to the future.

Perhaps this flow itself is what it means to be human.

Raising a human is not about forcing a correct answer upon them.

It is about keeping time, history, and connections in a place where they can be seen.

And enabling the next generation to see, think about, and choose from them.

I think defining a human is the same thing.

It is not to pin down what a human is.

We define it to leave behind material for someone else to think about what it means to be human.

Perhaps a definition is not about closing something off, but about handing it over.

And even in this very moment as you read this text, you are within that flow—receiving something, changing its form slightly within yourself, and eventually handing it over to someone else.

The Definition of Human

Having thought this far, I finally feel I can say a little bit.

What is a human?

A human is a being that stands at the intersection where memories, emotions, thoughts, society, time, history, and information overlap, based on the physical body of Homo sapiens, and continues to rise up at that crossroads.

Humans do not simply walk through the physical world.

Guided by invisible words, memories, anxieties, and hopes, we give rise to the shape of ourselves in each moment.

A human is not merely something that 'exists'.

It is something that continues to rise.

We begin to move by feeling a sense of lack,
we thirst again even when satisfied,
at times we are caught up in the very movement meant to fill that lack,
we perceive the same world through our own state of being,
we grow within society,
we sway between time and history,
we come to know ourselves through our relationships with others,
and we are moved in the present even by things that have yet to arrive, such as the future.

A human is not something that is completed alone.

Nor is it something that is completed by the body alone.

It is not something that follows only society.

It is not a completely free existence either.

Yet, it is not an existence that is merely swept away entirely.

While humans are the result of countless currents, we are beings that attempt to change our direction, if only slightly, within those currents.

And in that slight movement, we think, worry, love, get hurt, dream, and try to pass something on to someone else.

I believe that is what a human is.

A human is a continuous phenomenon that keeps arising between the world, the body, information, and relationships.

We receive, we change, and we pass on.

And so, that phenomenon continues to rise within someone again today.