What Does It Mean To Be Human

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Since the emergence of life on Earth, all of life has been connected on a microscopic and macroscopic scale. There is just no basis for denying that all living things are connected on a variety of levels. Human beings are especially connected, considering their very prevalent social nature. By taking a closer examination of this, it is possible to identify that two of the most globally uniting and connecting aspects are human nature and mass media, in its various forms. The result of millions of years of random mutation has produced what makes up human society today. Over these millions of years, human beings have only existed for roughly 200,000 years. Yet, no matter how “diverse” these evolutionary differences may make humans appear, people are still bound by the urges and desires to socialize, the very essence of what it means to be human. “Unlike other living species, whose behavior is mostly or entirely set be biology, humans need social …show more content…
Marwan Kraidy of the University of Pennsylvania writes in a paper, “…the popularity of Big Macs, Baywatch, and MTV are touted as unmistakable signs of the fulfillment of Marshall McLuhan's prophecy of the Global Village.” (Kraidy 3) He points out that the economic strength of America has allowed it to dominate mass media markets around the world. Subsequently, this has caused, in recent years, concerns about America’s cultural imperialism. It has created fears are that this domination of media will erode the uniqueness of cultures throughout the globe. Many experts see this as an effort by rich, industrialized Western nations to “…export their cultural products and impose their sociocultural values on poorer and weaker nations in the developing world.” (Kraidy 3) If this is the cost of a global connection, is it truly