This is an article written long ago... I am presenting it as a series since the original is too long for a single post.
"I am superior, sir, in many ways. But I would gladly give it up, to be human."-- Data in ST:TNG "Encounter At Farpoint"
Demystifying the title
The title of this paper requires some explanation. Who is Data? Why is he on this quest? And why are we talking about human-ness? Is learning about ‘human-ness’ even in the ambit of the objectives of this course? By Human-ness, we mean the best intrinsic qualities which make humans human - a sense of duty, the spirit of exploring, the soul of a poet, the heart of a warrior, the loyalty of a Cassio, the ideals of a Mahatma, the sense of wonder of a Don Quixote, the idealism of a Mandela
‘Meaning’ is definitely in the scope of the course content, as the title suggests. One may then, therefore, take the liberty of assuming that the ‘Meaning’ referred to is ‘Meaning of Life’, and be further expanded/narrowed down(?) to refer to ‘Meaning of Human Life’. Why this narrowing down? Simply put, the answer to this question is that one might as well begin with understanding our own species before venturing out into analyzing the ‘Meaning of Life’ for other species.
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