This is not just a contest, I prefer to think of it as way to incentivize people to express their hopes for humanity. In my life I've heard and read many times expressions like "I'm proud of being American/Italian/Russian/whatever" and those always made me turn up my nose: whatever made your country a proud one wasn't accomplished by you, and other countries have their reasons to be proud of. I don't feel Italian more than I feel American/Russian/French/whatever, and for the same reason I've never enjoyed cheering sports. There's no contest among countries around which one is better: almost any country has reasons to be proud of and ashamed of. But we're all part of a single planet, we're all part of a single species who rose above its humble animal origin and started to accomplish its tremendously huge potential. Yes, there's still horrible things about ourselves (say one: racism) that we're still struggling against, but we are working together to overcome them. And there's horrible things about life who do not directly depend on us (say one: disease), but we're working against those as well. And I, as a human being, feel proud of much of what we have done, what we are doing and what we will (hopefully) do in the future. Regardless of the fact that I didn't accomplish any of that myself: because all the good that was accomplished by humankind wasn't accomplished against another country, but was accomplished in favor of all humankind, including me, and against the bad things of life. So, after this very long prologue, I'm gonna ask you: what makes you proud of being human? The writer of the most inspiring essay will get 100k! Rules: say an accomplishment of humankind in less than 10-20 words; please keep it specific: don't just say "medicine", but rather something like "the discovery of vaccines"; add a few lines about why that makes you feel proud of it; don't say an accomplishment that was already said by someone else, unless you have one or more truly different reasons for why that makes you feel proud (and, in that case, clearly state your different reasons, of course); you can make more than one post, but: they have to be significantly different from one another; you can't post them one after another: there must be at least a couple posts from different people between your posts; content will be most relevant but style will have some importance too, including grammar, punctuation, etc; despite posting more than one essay is allowed, I prefer quality over quantity: posting 10 poorly written essays will get you far less chance to win than 1 single good written one; this contest doesn't have a definite end: I will chose a winner when a sufficient number of people will have posted their piece and/or an astoundingly inspirational one will have been submitted. Let the contest begin! This contest is sponsored with station8's station46's retail revenues: buy your groceries at /warp station8 /warp station46 for a reasonable prize! You will contribute to the pride of humanity (yes, advertizing is a wicked business... is this colorful enough btw?)
Here is an example of essay I would have written for this contest: I'm proud of being human because of the Apollo 11 mission. Despite the fact that it was partly forced by the Cold War "Space Race", I still consider it an human accomplishment, and here's why. I'm proud of it because it was the first manned mission to reach a heavenly body and land on it. I'm proud of it because it proves that we can potentially reach any heavenly body, including other planets in our Solar System and even other star systems very far away, if we just apply ourselves. I'm proud of it because all experimental astronomical findings sadly show that life in the Universe is extremely rare, and it would be a pity if the sporadic manifestations of it (such as our own) didn't spread around: the successfulness of the Apollo 11 mission proves that we have the potential to actually spread carbon-based life, at least around a small fraction of our galaxy. I'm proud of it because it gives us the responsibility toward all the lesser life forms on our planet to spread their species as well as ours. I'm proud of it because it shows that we do matter, somehow, in the grand scheme of things in this random, merciless place called Universe. p.s: if you liked it, you may find interesting this (old) post on my blog: https://expipiplusone.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/to-be-fully-human/
Seeing that people don't have a huge incentive to participate, I decided to turn this into a contest (and I added a silly reference to my spawnshop in order to recover at least part of the prize). Could a mod please move this to [Competitions] and change the title to "100k GIVEAWAY: what makes you proud of being human?"? Thank you
What makes me proud of being human is how surgeons are able to do their work. Think of surgery; all the small veins, strong bones that surgeons have the ability to move around and replace in the body. How many lives they save, sometimes I just feel astonished when I think about it. My uncle had surgery where they moved around arteries from his leg or something and replaced arteries that had gone bad. Just think about it, little pipes the size of a straw holding our blood and how they can move them around and replace them anywhere they are needed and how it can completely heal a human being. It's truly amazing.
Uhm, http://www.wordreference.com/definition/sergeant http://www.wordreference.com/definition/surgeon But you're definitely allowed to modify your post
An accomplishment that a human has made, that is super easy and really hard at the same time! Think of all the things people have done. Humans have made plenty of amazing theories, triumphs, and changes. One most recently the Cleveland Cavaliers coming back in the NBA finals against the Warriors after losing by a huge amount in the first two games. That may seem like nothing compared to things like a medical vaccine for Small Pox but if you think about it it is hard to do with the weight of a whole state and even more on their shoulders. In short I am proud to be human because of the great things we can accomplish. We humans make plenty of mistakes some examples are what we are doing to the environment. Deforestation, pollution, and overpopulation, but there are lots of good people who can help make a change. People from every country agree that we need to save our planet that we are destroying, and I believe we can do it. We have done some amazing things before and we can do it again. Humans can do hard and amazing things. Thanks for doing this giveaway and good luck to everyone entering
I am proud to be a human because it means I can make mistakes and not be expected to be perfect, I have my flaws and so does every other human being. I am proud to be a human because it also means I'm no lizard humanoid or something...
I'm proud to be a human because through all the pain that life throws our way, we can always get through it. Hope and passion burns in our hearts and guides us everyday. I'm proud of not just one thing that was huge in some peoples eyes. I'm proud that there are organizations like the red cross trying to make this world a better place. I'm proud that even when all hope seems lost. There is always someone who stands in the face of destruction and disease and says "you won't win this time" That is why I am proud to be part of mankind.
I am not proud to be a human being because it is not an accomplishment. In order to be proud of something, it must be something that you worked for in order to achieve, thus giving you pride in accomplishing it. Since I did nothing and happened to be the creation of my parents, I am not proud to be human. However, I am happy that I am a human. The most notable of these is civilization. The fact that we have gone from caves to skyscrapers is incredible, and that is what amazes me most, innovation.
I am proud to be human because our race continues to develop and evolve - becoming more creative and innovative. The fact that we managed to develop technology massively within a decade is astonishing. (Otherwise we wouldn't be on this forum rn)
I am proud to be human because of all the accomplishments we have made both together and individually, and the many more challenges that await each and every one of us. It is the desire to conquer the unconquered that keeps us alive every day, the will to accomplish the unaccomplished. What makes us wake up every morning? To make our dreams come true, and to complete our goals both for ourselves and for others. This is why I am proud to be human.
I am proud of being a human because we have gone from scavengers to creators of technology. In our beggining our entire day would be devoted to getting the necessities for living, but because people have had hopes, ideas, and dreams we have managed to be more. It is amazing that I have time for the luxury of writing this piece, and though you many not agree, be able to go to school. In out day we find it hard to imagine life without an electronic device. Now we spend our days typing away and playing Minecraft. The fact that we are doing these things is not what makes me proud to be a human, but the fact that with the short time we have been on Earth we have managed to accomplish so much. Early humans could never imagine living to be even thirty, or having time to rest. Little by little people who hoped to be better came up with ideas, accomplished them, and brought us to where we are today. Overall, I am proud to be a human because of our progress in every aspect of our life.
I am proud that humans are innately kind and compassionate, and that most people tend to help others. Horrible, horrible things happen every day, all over the world. Most of them are senseless acts of violence, and hundreds of hearts are broken or stopped. I don't know how many of you have heard about it, but recently in Orlando, Florida, a man (I will not name him because he does not deserve to be recognized) shot and killed 49 people and injured at least 53 more. Can you imagine how many hearts were broken, how many lives devastated? But obviously, this isn't what makes me proud. What makes me proud is the outpouring of support to the victims and their loved ones. In my school all the way up in New England, students took it upon themselves to decorate our sidewalks with messages of support and love to everyone in Orlando that was affected. The students in my school have never met the people who were injured or their families, but they still felt compelled to help and show support in any way possible. When the law was passed here in the U.S. that legalized gay marriage in every state, most of the country rejoiced, though most people are not part of the LGBTQ+ community. They were so happy that a community that has been ridiculed and attacked for years and years was finally given a chance to show themselves publicly, and receive the same rights as everyone else. Even though the majority of people are not affected by horrible acts of violence (at least, not where I live), people everywhere, who have no relation to anyone in the event, still stand up in protest when one occurs. They are innately sympathetic and compassionate, and this is what makes me proud to a member of the human race.
I am proud to be human because we have made it further than any other animal. As we first came into the world, we didn't know how to talk or do pretty much anything. Soon we evolved to the creation of fire and we could cook our food. Soon after spears and weapons came. We had colonies which soon turned into cities. We have had gold rushes and the industrial revolution. We made flying machines and boats that could sail the sea to find other countries. We created medicine that has saved us from the plague, small pox, and other terrible diseases and if we didn't make the medicine, humanity could have been wiped out. Then came technology a massive change in the world. TVs, laptops, computers you name them were all made by humans. After the internet was made, connecting people around the world like we are at ECC. Now language. language is an amazing accomplishment us as humans have made. We have many different languages to show that humans brains think alike. Lastly, scientists have made crazy inventions to make us do things that early humans would never dream of... Rocket ships, electricity, and renewable energy are some of the things that no early human thought of. Think about it... We have made it so much further than any other animal. We have all these things to prove that.
Very well, I leave the forum for half a day and, and what have we got? There's at least a couple very good candidates! I guess I could select a winner right now, but... nah let's give the opportunity to some more people to take part in this contest Meanwhile, all of you: take advantage of this time to check your spelling, grammar, punctuation... you know, that kind of stuff that grammar nazis care so much of
