The classic conception of human nature is captured in the name we gave ourselves as a species, Homo sapiens. Our distant ancestors included Homo erectus, or “upright man,” because the species could walk upright, and Homo habilis, the “handyman,” so named because the species was at one time thought to be the earliest humans to have made and used stone tools. We call ourselves “knowing man” because we see ourselves as distinguished from our ancestors by our vast amount of knowledge. But perhaps a better way to see ourselves would be as Homo exercens, or “practicing man,” the species that takes control of its life through practice and makes of itself what it will.
We humans are most human when we’re improving ourselves. We, unlike any other animal, can consciously change ourselves, to improve ourselves in ways we choose. This distinguishes us from every other species alive today and, as far as we know, from every other species that has ever lived.
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