I hate technology. Anyone who
knows me will not be surprised by
this at all. Cars always seem to find
a way to break, dishwashers often

wash dishes, and phones and com-
puters are always causing unnec-
essary headaches and financial

hemorrhages. The other day, my
computer decided to not respond
to the charging cord and it died.
As this drama began to play out, I
found myself quite aggravated and
after I visited the IT desk and they
could not help, I began to fear that

I would not have a working com-
puter for quite some time. This

is the computer that I use for all
my assignments, to send emails,
and to do other things, such as
reading for fun and listening to
music. I drove over to the Apple
Store, where a representative was
able to help me. After she plugged
my computer into the charger,
it immediately began to work. A
great sense of joy tinged with the
feeling of being an idiot rushed
over me. It was over! The great
computer debacle of 2026 was
finally at the end. Yet, despite this
story, computers and my hatred of
their breed is not my interest here.
My interest is in the unique lives
of humans.
Frankly, this episode is not very

trying, but it could have been.

It pales in comparison to some-
one suffering from a terminal

disease or losing a close relative,
or even someone who starves
on the streets. Yet, all of these
things, no matter how horrible
they are, point to the very beauty
of humanity. As I drove over to
the Apple Store, I began to think
about how wonderful it was to be
in this predicament. Not that the
predicament was good in and of
itself, but because only humans
could be in such a situation. A

lobster could not be in this situa-
tion. Nor could a dog or cat. This

angst and aggravation is a purely

human feeling, and that is some-
thing to be joyful about. Likewise,

the angst someone feels as they
breathe their last or the dread the
criminal feels gazing at the noose
is purely a human feeling. Even
more so, it is only humans who
have a hope in an afterlife. The
breath that that person breathes
or the dread that the criminal feels
is perhaps not just the end of this
life, but the glorious beginning of
the next.
This beauty can be extrapolated
to all other things in daily and

mundane human affairs. The argu-
ment between a parent and child,

the hug between two spouses, the

great joy two friends have in shar-
ing a meal and a laugh all point to

the unique beauty of the human
experience. Animals cannot argue
because they are not rational. They
may bite each other’s heads off, but
they cannot argue. Likewise, two
animals may come together for
the purpose of reproduction, but it
is solely a biological urge. Spouses

may come together for reproduc-
tion, but it is also grounded in

the theological reality of Christ at
the Last Supper, when he told his
apostles “This is my body, which is
given for you.” Two animals may
“play” with each other, but they

cannot express their deepest long-
ings to each other like two friends

can. All of these experiences are
uniquely human and show that

while we are animals, we are polit-
ical (or rational) animals as Aris-
totle remarked.

There are two insidious
thoughts that seem to be creeping
up in modernity that challenge the

traditional conception of humani-
ty’s uniqueness. First, there is the

ever present thought that animals
may be the same as humans. This
has become especially common
when talking about house pets,
such as cats and dogs. On the one
hand, there is a semantic change
that heralds this thought. This is
found in all the bumper stickers
that read “I am a dog mom” or “I

love my grandogs.” The revulsion I
feel at such asinine statements can

be compared to Charles I’s dis-
gust with Cromwell’s advocating

of democracy in the 1970 movie
Cromwell. There is an equation of

dogs with children, which is ludi-
crous to say the least. But, this idea

is not merely semantic. There is
also an idea that animals can think
and act like humans. I have heard
such contentions that dogs can
know things, such as when their
master says the word “treat.” Dogs

only know a word because of rep-
etition, which is perhaps the most

rudimentary form of knowledge.

Dogs cannot contemplate the real-
ity of treatness or Plato’s form of a

treat. They just know that at that
word, they jump up and wag their
tail. I am not impressed. Lastly, I

just want to address the increasing
prevalence of AI. AI cannot feel
human emotions, no matter how

many people believe they can pos-
sess an AI girlfriend. AI does not

“know” things in any more of a
manner than dogs. Perhaps AI has
a wider range of knowledge, but it
does not know things. AI may be

able to tell me how Gustavus Adol-
phus died, but it cannot tell me

how he felt as he died. That is for
the historians, and for us as we live
out our human lives. The beauty of
humanity, in all its greatness and

its weakness alike, cannot be rep-
licated by animals or AI. After all,

it is only humans who have been
created by God in his image and

likeness and who have the oppor-
tunity to one day possess the eter-
nal bliss of Heaven.