On Humanity

This is going to be the start of what will hopefully become a series, On ___. In this series, I will write essays on my views of weighty/abstract topics, though I do hope to avoid political discourse (it just isn’t fun). This is an attempt to write about topics that are more mature than the ones I typically address. Not that I don’t love fandom and stuff, but I want to cultivate my views on things that are not “high school topics”.
I am going to start this series with On Humanity, a topic I have been exploring in my creative writings for years. What is humanity? Where does it come from? What does it mean? Why is it so important?
Humanity derives from the Latin word humanitas, meaning literally ‘culture’. Humanitas was a way to distinguish Romans from barbarians, a way to make non-Romans less than human. Rome had culture, sophistication, nuance, society, humanity, in a way that the other peoples at the time did not. Or so the Romans thought.
So, from the beginnings of the word, having humanity naturally meant that there was another group who did not have it. The very existence of a name for this quality implies that there is a group of people without it. Humanity can only be recognized by an adjoining absence. The word humanity does not mean the presence of humanness, but rather that somewhere in the world there is an absence, and it is not here.
It is not here. It is never here. You might notice that the groups of people that invoke humanity the most are the ones who believe they have it. The people that ask you to use your humanity, to consider your humanity, to consider their humanity, these people often disregard humanity themselves. Humanity is the word they use as armor to protect themselves. They use an abstract quality as a protection from prosecution and fear when they often most need fear and prosecution.
Those who are seen as without humanity are often the abstract ‘other’ that people always invoke as an enemy. The ‘other’, the Romans’ barbarians, the Catholics’ Protestants, the Europeans’ Africans, the Pilgrims’ Native Americans, the WWII Americans’ Japanese, modern society’s Muslims. These people are not whole representations of people or races, but abstractions of incorrect ideas. The use of humanity as a device to shut out the ‘other’ is deeply flawed, not only in ideals but in practice.
The separation of peoples from each other prevents the kind of cross-communication that makes scientific conferences so valuable: the kind of communication that spreads ideas across borders, races, languages, and worldviews. There is a need, especially in today’s world to communicate effectively, and one of the first steps to this kind of communication is to do away with the concept of humanity. If its presence implies an absence, maybe we should stop acknowledging the presence at all, if only in order to stop acknowledging the perceived absence. The word humanity doesn’t mean anything now, just like humanitas did not mean anything to the Romans. It is just a way of making the ‘other’ into the ‘less-than’. And we don’t need that.
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Chorus of the Day!

You're the judge, Oh no

Set me free

You're the judge, Oh no

Set me free

I know my soul's freezing

Hell's hot for good reason

So please

I don't know if this song

Is a surrender or a revel

I don't know if this one

Is about me or the devil

Last Chorus of the Day:
Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) by My Chemical Romance

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La! ~SCP

What I'm... No. 12

The first post of 2017, and I'm just going to nerd out about things that I've loved so far this year. Nothing has changed. Sorry it has take so long, by the way, but Blogger keeps purging my progress.

Reading:

Books:

Collected Poems 1974-2004 by Rita Dove

The poems in this book are amazing and paint a perfect picture of what it means to be a black woman in modern America, something I am not.

The Interstellar Age by Jim Bell

This is a book full of space facts. What is not to love?!

Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I love this book. It is an exploration of human nature in twenty-first-century suburbia.

Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

This is very much like Encyclopedia but in a completely different format. AKR presents information in a context I had never thought of.

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

This was a fabulous book about how a group of women changed a federal organization and an industry. What really saddened me about this book was I had never heard the story before.

George Lucas: A Life by Brian Jay Jones

This was a great book, very well written with great detail. Lucas was such an interesting person, and he did much more than Star Wars.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I have read this book many times, and I still love it. While I don't like Rochester, I love Jane very much. She is one of my all-time favorite literary characters. I love the book, even though the romance is creepy.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

This book is proper creepy. Also, terrifying and so so sad. I can't say I liked any of the characters, but the story was amazing.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

This was a great book. It encompasses the experience of black women in 1920s-40s and taught me a lot about how people are seen, and how they can choose not to let others' perceptions define them.

milk and honey by Rupi Kaur

This is a great book of poetry that explains the way that Indian culture treats women, and how Rupi was treated. It is a powerful book about culture and the ways it affects the lives of those within it.

The Glass Universe by Dava Sobel

I absolutely loved this book. It tells the story of human computers working at the Harvard Observatory at the turn of the nineteenth century. These women made thousands of astronomical discoveries, and are not given the credit they deserve today.

Star Wars: Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel by James Luceno

This was a great book. First off, this is the first time the scientific community of the Star Wars universe has ever been explored. Yay academia! Also, family life under the Empire is very interesting. Plus, the Ersos were on a battlefield the moment the Clone Wars ended. Learning about how this war affected normal people is very interesting.

Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto by Lesley Hazleton

This book was excellent. I am an agnostic, and very interested in the philosophy of religion. This book takes a new stance on religon, embracing the I-don't-knows of the world. I highly recommend it.

The Princess Diarist

This was a great book, especially considering how timely it is in my life, and the world.

The Rise of Athens by Anthony Everitt

This was a fascinating book. Athens's existence covers a huge period of history that is usually glossed over, and it was interesting to learn about. Plus, some of those people were nuts!

Welcome to the Universe by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott

I really liked this book. It deals with complex scientific concepts in a new and interesting ways, and is very accessible to the layperson.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by Alexander Freed

This book was phenomenal. I think it was my favorite book adaptation of a Star Wars movie. If everything that these characters thought and felt was in the movie, it would probably be my favorite movie of all time.

You're Never Weird on the Internet (almost) by Felicia Day

This was an amazingly funny book, and it made me love Felicia Day even more. I just wish it were longer!

Libertarians on the Prarie by Christine Woodside

This was a very interesting book. It focussed a lot on Rose, which gave it a unique prespective, but was not the best book about Laura I've ever read.

Listening:

Music:

Green Day

I have loved Green Day for many years, and Revolution Radio contains some of my favorite work of theirs.

Paramore

My sister recently introduced me to Paramore, and I really like them.

PVRIS

I'll admit, at first I did not like PVRIS. Their music seemed too loud, and more about screaming than emotions, but it isn't. There is lots of raw emotion in the lyrics, and once I learned to appreciate that, I fell in love.

My Chemical Romance

Danger Days is till my favorite album, and I like their general aestetic at that time a lot.

Of Monsters and Men

I love Of Monsters and Men. Their sound is authentic and calming, with just enough bite.

Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran is releasing a new album in March, and I am so excited. The tracks he released are great, and I have high hopes for the rest of the album.

Hamilton: An American Musical

I listened to this for real for the first time recently, and I was so overcome by emotion that I cried.

Watching:

Movies:

Finding Dory

I loved this movie. It was very funny and super awesome. I loved Finding Nemo, and Finding Dory reexamined many of the same themes. I did cry a lot.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

You might not have guessed this, but I LOVED THIS MOVIE!  Blog post in more detail.

Star Trek: Beyond

I quite like this movie, especially the way it attempted to go beyond the typical Star Trek themes and focus on more of the secondary characters, like Sulu and Scotty, rather than just Kirk and Spock. I didn't love it, however. Overall, it lacked a bit of depth, especially compared to Rogue One.

Hidden Figures

This was a great movie. It hit a perfect balance between civil rights issues, science, and the stories of the women themselves.

Interstellar

I absolutely love this movie. I had seen it before, but watching it again just showed me how much I truly love it.

Star Trek

This was a great movie. I had seen it before, but I watched it again with my sister. I like it, but I feel it lacks depth, like Beyond. There may be too many storylines in this one, and some feel contrived.

TV:

The Flash

The Flash is back! And man, it is great. I love everything new so far.

Supernatural

I have been watching this show off and on, and I can wholeheartedly say that I love it. Charlie, played by Felicia Day, is my favorite, but I love them all really. Except for Dean sometimes.

Arrow

I like Arrow, but it is never going to be my favorite show. Right now, Ray Palmer is being a bit annoying.

Sherlock

I really liked the most recent season. Then again, I have a softer spot for complicated plots than most.

YouTube:

Geek & Sundry

I love Geek & Sundry, particularly The Guild, Critical Role, Tabletop, Titansgrave, The Flog, and the new series Escape Room. I am on the episode of Critical Role with Felicia Day, so I am very excited!

danisnotonfire

Dan's videos have been very good thus far in 2017, and I am looking forward to a great year.

AmazingPhil

Phil has been really funny so far this year, and I am excited for him as well.

That's everything for now, but I'll be back soon with something new.
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Chorus of the Day!

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
(From mall security)
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
(To every enemy)
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
(We're on your property)
Standing in V formation

Last Chorus of the Day:
21 Guns by Green Day

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