What is the main factor that separates humans from all other species? Is it our superior intelligence? Our wider array of emotions? Our ability of abstract thought? I would argue that the answer can be boiled down to our asking for reason. Virtually all other animals work purely off of instinct, but not us. No, humans are uniquely prone to questioning our own instincts. If we were to act purely off of our first instinct then we would never have evolved from apes. We would simply go around trying to fuck as many people as we could without concern for much else. Now, that isn't to say that a large portion of what drives people, even today, isn't rooted in our desire to reproduce, but rather that it isn't the ONLY things that governs our actions. And that is an important distinction. Instead of pinpointing the alpha of the clan and going to beat the shit out of them to attain power, we wonder what the repercussions might be. ANd those repercussions only exist in the first place because we collectively decided to stop and ask whether or not that should be allowed. The point that I am trying to make is that asking why is, in my opinion, the fundamental characteristic of what makes us human.

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Asking why isn't something that needs to be taught to us either. We begin to start asking questions around the age of 2-3. How many times have you asked a toddler or preadolescent to do something and had them do it without first questioning why? We simply refuse to act unless we know the reason behind why we are doing it. Think about how many times today have you acted with zero reason behind doing it. Sure, we still have many instincts which we cannot help but act on. But those actions are a small proportion of how we govern our daily lives. For example, when we get hungry why do we not simply grab the nearest food and eat it immediately? Why do we take the time to prepare and cook a nice meal instead of just devouring anything in sight? Because we know that after adequate preparation it will taste much better. And if you argue that we are still only acting based on our sense of taste rather than reason, try and tell a dog to wait to eat their meal so you can make it taste better.

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What I am talking about is delayed gratification (a concept which is very quickly losing its stake in our existence). We are willing to forgo our instincts if we know that it will benefit us in the future to a greater extent. It is why we get up and go to work. It is why we exercise and why we eat healthy. All of this is rooted in our ability to ask why. It is the backbone of every major accomplishment in human history. Our lives our based on asking why. Asking why is what makes us human. Based on that, asking why more frequently might make us more human. SO here is my attempt at becoming more human. Welcome to AskWhy.