Have you ever met that one person? The wierdo who you feel kinda bad for because they're half a person? This got me thinking of what it means to be a full person, experiencing the full range of everything a person should. So I started making a little mental list of what it means to be a full human being. This is what I came up with.

A full adult human being has:

A professional life or interest
A love life
Music preferences
Art preferences (I lump in movies, plays, and books in here)
Friends
Family (not necessarily by blood)
Traveled
Something to look forward to
Something fond to look back on
A space to call their own

Tommie

China658 Posts

April 11 2013 20:43 GMT

A love life.
Sure
Are escort girls a love life?

Kasaraki

Denmark7115 Posts

April 11 2013 20:44 GMT

I understand your list, and these are very typical things we use to measure people by. But, I think, perhaps these are merely means to an end? Friends for the sake of friendship makes no sense. What is the real reason to want these things? If you find the real reason, you'll find that there are many paths to that goal, each legitimate in it's own right. Or so I think anyway.

Tommie

China658 Posts

April 11 2013 20:49 GMT

The goal is to decompose. That is where it all leads to.

FryBender

United States290 Posts

April 11 2013 20:52 GMT

This is silly. So somebody who doesn't appreciate music (or at least doesn't care what they listen to) is not a full adult human being? It sounds to me like you just listed things that make you happy and that's what you expect for others to have in order to be happy. Why does one need to travel in order to be a full human being? And where in your list is there a mention of hobbies and interests? This question you asked is one that humanity has been asking for over 6000 years and you think you can answer it with a list?

FatNikE

United Kingdom52 Posts

April 11 2013 20:54 GMT

On April 12 2013 05:44 Kasaraki wrote:
I understand your list, and these are very typical things we use to measure people by. But, I think, perhaps these are merely means to an end? Friends for the sake of friendship makes no sense. What is the real reason to want these things? If you find the real reason, you'll find that there are many paths to that goal, each legitimate in it's own right. Or so I think anyway.

Yeah, this. This list seems very weird, I'm not really sure what the "meaning" behind it is.

"Somehow forgot my name,
She blew out the flame,
A means to an end...
Can't even be friends, it's a song about a friend."

I mean, for a lot of people "music" isn't important at all. Hence, modern pop music. To me, music is poetry and emotions and would not only be in the "art" part of your list, but comprise most of it. but to a lot of people it is meaningless.

Kalingingsong

Canada633 Posts

April 11 2013 21:02 GMT

On April 12 2013 05:35 Nikoras wrote:
Have you ever met that one person? The wierdo who you feel kinda bad for because they're half a person? This got me thinking of what it means to be a full person, experiencing the full range of everything a person should. So I started making a little mental list of what it means to be a full human being. This is what I came up with.

A full adult human being has:

A professional life or interest
A love life
Music preferences
Art preferences (I lump in movies, plays, and books in here)
Friends
Family (not necessarily by blood)
Traveled
Something to look forward to
Something fond to look back on
A space to call their own

we only talking about North America or Europe here?

Lots of people in the third world can't have anything of the bolded things. Do you consider them to be half persons? (if the answer is yes, then you are spoiled)

matiK23

United States963 Posts

April 11 2013 21:15 GMT

That is a list full of desires that in the end do not matter. To be human is to accept everyone who they are and love the ones who hate you.

Bommes

Germany1226 Posts

April 11 2013 21:18 GMT

On April 12 2013 05:35 Nikoras wrote:
Have you ever met that one person? The wierdo who you feel kinda bad for because they're half a person? [...]

If you think of other people that way, I think you are the weirdo. I feel bad for you.

Nikoras

United States115 Posts

April 11 2013 21:19 GMT

#10

Distance doesn't matter, I consider "traveling" spending time (several days maybe) outside of familiar places. Some people have never left their home town and that strikes me as missing out on a piece of the human experience.

When I said a space to call their own, I didn't mean a space they physically or legally own. For example I have a little hiking spot that I certainly don't own, but it's a place I can go when the world is just too much for me to handle. Maybe that was poor phrasing on my part. Maybe that should be "A place they can feel comfortable and safe." I realize that some people don't have this but it does feel like they are missing a piece of something important when they don't.

Perhaps my tone was too accusatory, maybe I read too many adventure books, and maybe I am spoiled. But it seems to me like when people in the third world have these things robbed of them through an unfair global economic system yes, they are missing out.

bonifaceviii

Canada2890 Posts

April 11 2013 21:19 GMT

#11

"Without land a man is nothing, Duddy"

bonifaceviii

Canada2890 Posts

April 11 2013 21:21 GMT

#12

But seriously, quite a lot of these things seem to be distractions at the top of Maslow's hierarchy.

Kalingingsong

Canada633 Posts

April 11 2013 21:25 GMT

#13

I think this list has some merit if we are only talking about experiences here.

But then we can also add some more things like: have succeeded at something, and have failed at something, something to be proud of, something to be grateful for etc etc..

Nikoras

United States115 Posts

April 11 2013 21:30 GMT

#14

On April 12 2013 06:25 Kalingingsong wrote:
I think this list has some merit if we are only talking about experiences here.

But then we can also add some more things like: have succeeded at something, and have failed at something, something to be proud of, something to be grateful for etc etc..

Yeah I really like this. I missed those things along with "has a hobby or interest in something."

AnachronisticAnarchy

United States2957 Posts

April 11 2013 21:34 GMT

#15

Weirdos are more often than not not "half-people". They're people who are fundamentally different from normal people in some ways, whether it be finding flowers disgusting or having a train of thought that just doesn't follow a normal path.

Nikoras

United States115 Posts

April 11 2013 21:48 GMT

#16

On April 12 2013 06:34 AnachronisticAnarchy wrote:
Weirdos are more often than not not "half-people". They're people who are fundamentally different from normal people in some ways, whether it be finding flowers disgusting or having a train of thought that just doesn't follow a normal path.

I agree, and I really regret my wording there. It just feels to me like someone missing something from that list is missing a piece of themselves to me. I'm very aware that I'm a white male living in a first world country. I am very privileged (although I didn't hit the complete genetic lottery but I won't get into that here). I am also aware that this list is entirely relative from my own perspective, and someone from subsaharan Africa would probably come up with a very different list.

Carbonyl

United States334 Posts

April 11 2013 22:00 GMT

#17

On April 12 2013 05:49 Tommie wrote:
The goal is to decompose. That is where it all leads to.

Isn't the goal to not decompose for as long as possible?