Humanity

There has been a lot of discussion about what makes us human, and at what point we cease to be so. I struggle most with the theory that we can become "something else"; that if we replace enough of the characteristics that make us human, with traits of another being, we become that. As humans, we are innately capable of perceiving, with some efficiency, what is and is not human. We identify physical attributes and movement with humanity, also communication. But there are subtleties to our perceptions, human indicators that we cannot easily define, such as a person's gaze, when one gets the "feeling" that they are trustworthy, honest, or understanding. Human creations such as robots are replications of life — they can be statistically accurate, and can learn to respond to situations in varying ways without prompting. But they are computing and acting on information that live beings have given them. As far as humans who obtain particular implants and the like, they are human until they cease to live. Regardless of the number of mechanical arms, horse cells and pig's feet one has, until they biologically "die", they are human. If you pronounce something dead, it can become anything. If another being takes residence in that body, it does not retain any of the life from the previous being, it simply gives life to the body it has obtained. If I do not die, I cannot become a new species. I can acquire traits that begin the process of evolution, but only if they are natural. It is simply not possible for a human with unnatural (in a strict biological sense) adaptations, such as mechanical implants, to give birth to a human with the same advancements. Cellular advancements, on the other hand, can be transferred genetically, but this does not affect the humanity of the next generation. If X cannot livingly become Y, then it cannot give birth to Y.