Human: adjective

I was watching Shrek 2 the other day. The story unfolds after Shrek and Fiona get married and are invited by Fiona’s parents to the kingdom of “Far Far Away”. It is revealed that Fiona’s father, the king, made a deal with the fairy Godmother to get Fiona and Prince Charming(the Godmother’s son) married. But by the time the prince goes to the castle to save Fiona, she is already on her honeymoon with Shrek.

Shrek is unsure about meeting his in-laws because, well, they are now ogres and their kind is not welcomed in human society. His fears weren’t unrealistic either because when they arrive at the castle, their welcome parade stands aloof when they see the princess and her husband’s latest avatars.

The dinner goes no better either. The king, due to his unmet promise to the fairy godmother and a general distaste of Ogres, starts criticising Shrek. A fight ensues and everyone retreats to their chambers. Fiona and Shrek have an argument during which, to her own dismay, she says, ‘Stop behaving like an Ogre’.

At that moment, I paused the movie to register the thought, “the word Ogre, a noun meaning ‘a man-eating giant’ from folklore, is being used an adjective” in this context. And the next thought was how would I describe ‘human’ as an adjective.

The dictionary definition of ‘human’ as an adjective is ‘a person relating to or characteristics of humankind’.

Now, I am sure when this definition was coined, humankind was associated with values which were about being kind and caring for one another. Being truthful and honest. Please fill in the blanks with your interpretations. Does it stand true today?

I looked up ‘Geopolitics today’ and these were my results,

• Russia-NATO tensions
• Cyberattacks
• US China strategic competitions
• Climate risk
• Energy security

We have evolved into a species whose highest motivating factor is winning the rat race ensued by capitalism. Our bedtimes had stories of people helping each other, looking after one another. We were taught to be kind and compassionate, to value human connections, help the ones in need.

And now, the world and big corporations thrive on abusive work atmosphere. Stressful news is hidden because it might hurt someone’s reputation, or it gets blown out of proportion to create a divide based on religion or class. Living a peaceful and sustainable life is no longer a priority, but to be better than everyone by any and all means.

It is tough to hang on to your morals when the society that encompasses you is built on destroying them. It gets especially tough when everyone around you is ‘progressing’ from capitalistic standards and criticising or belittling those who’d rather take an ethical route, a road less travelled.

Are we really human if we abandon our values? How will we be any different from any AI counterpart we might have in the future? They would be acting based on how they were created. And if a deviation is detected, we would likely be using the fail-safe mechanism to turn it off. But what about humans? What about how far we have strayed off from the path of humanity? We need a hard-reset too.

I’d urge you all to be mindful of your actions, surroundings and intentions. To understand how overpowered we are with materialistic goals and have in the process forgotten to check up on whether we even need it? Are the needs only arising because someone else has it, and not following means missing out.

Hysteria in capitalism is a rebellion of the subject against being reduced to usefulness.

Meaning, people experience a kind of anxiety or frustration because they feel their value is solely based on their economic contribution. They might rebel against this by exhibiting exaggerated behaviours or emotional responses, a "hysteria," as a way to express their dissatisfaction with being reduced to just their "usefulness."

I hope you to choose your own autonomy over what society dictates:)