Are we a human being or just a human doing?

We’re human beings, aren’t we?

As humans, our worth should be intrinsic. Yet, society often dehumanizes those who don’t meet certain performance standards, labeling them as ‘losers’ or ‘failures.’ Today, being human isn’t enough; we must achieve, conform, and display ourselves doing so.

We’ve shifted from seeing each other as ‘human beings’ to ‘human doings,’ where worth is based on achievements. A human doing has little inherent worth and derives its identity from conforming to what its surroundings deem worthy. The question “So, what do you do?” highlights this, focusing on our jobs, not our social lives, spiritual development, or how we treat others. Interestingly, Many people have rehearsed elevator pitches, like they’re repeating their own product summaries.

When self-worth depends on achievements, we feel worthy only when we succeed and unworthy when we don’t. We love ourselves based on performance because the world does. Maintaining self-worth requires constant striving for success. But the “positivity” of constant success and achievement is only one side of life. Life also consists of failure, achieving nothing, and basically anything else that doesn’t entail success and accomplishment. Achievement isn’t a bad thing in itself. Humanity enjoys many of its past achievements today, but relying on it for self-worth is precarious.

But what’s ‘worth’ anyway? Isn’t value subjective? We consider something valuable because we deem it so. It’s challenging to resist societal demands and even harder to deal with the consequences. However, won’t generating self-worth from something more stable and attainable make it healthier and more robust ?

What about an inherent sense of value based on the fact we’re human beings, not just ‘human doings’? What about self-worth based on pursuing what we, not others, deem important in life? Fulfillment can come from other sources, but this requires the strength and courage to deviate from world’s opinion. And for most of us, that’s easier said than done.

This article is based on a thought-provoking video from the Einzelgänger YouTube channel and insights from the book “The Burnout Society” by Byung-Chul Han.