It was hard for me to find a definition of "More Human Than Human". If you search the internet you can find:
- The White Zombie song... about some post apocalyptic modern/future human or leader that screws everything (?), Yep, it is hard to get those lyrics.
- The Blade Runner reference to Tyrrel Corporation that created the "replicants" that are artificial humans that can not be distinguish easily from regular humans. The corporation motto is "More Human Than Human".
But what does the expression means? What does it means being "more human than human"?
- "I should have known. No human being is that humane..."
- ―'Ripley 8 to Annalee Call, after discovering her true nature (from Alien Resurrection)
I'm getting close now to get my own definition of "more human than human"
Also in Scifi I can say that "More Human than Human" represents a situation when an Artificial Intelligence does something to protect the humanity that affects their freedom of choice. Here I'm remembering the movie "I, Robot" where the AI got the conclusion that the best way to protect humans was to lock them on their houses with a robot watching them every time.
No SciFi.
How should I define "more human than human" without referring to Scifi? What example do I have today in our society about that? Maybe it is easy to find, we just have to search for several things that turn on wrong, but used to have good intentions.
Checking today's news it seems that people value more the life of a dog instead of a fellow human. People love dogs, the dog does not envy you, does not stole your girlfriend and does not want to get that position and raise that you are fighting for in the office. It is a bigger news on TV when someone is hitting a dog on the street, instead of any of the usual human hit and run, rapes, homicide and domestic violence. Today people care more about dogs than humans, because it is the human way to respect and protect a life being that can not defend by himself on a world dominated by human intelligence. Maybe caring more about a dog than human life is modern example of being "More Human than Human".
The environment it is important. If Nature (capital N) is gone, humanity will die soon after it. It is the human way to respect nature and protect our environment because we are caring about ourselves and the future generations. But what happens when we are trying to protect a forest but at the same time putting in danger the little economy a local indigenous people town? Environmentalist may not care about that people, and the trees may became more important than people. Environmentalist may only reply that the government should provide something without even trying to get a common ground with the issue. Can we call those environmentalist "More Human than Human" caring for a forest and the future of all of us, but not about the present of a little community ?
Possible "More Human than Human" can mean that caring too about doing good for the humanity, we forget about the humans needs and life choices?
