“What does it mean to be radically human?”

Naturally, it depends on who you ask…

A college professor might tell us that to be radically human is to be liberally educated across the sciences and the humanities, in history, language, and the classics. We think of someone who’s well-rounded and “knows something about everything and everything about something.”

If we ask athletic coaches, we’ll get a different answer. They might tell us that it’s all about physical vitality, strength, endurance, agility, and mind set. Dancers and musicians would tell us that it means being fully alive, playful and expressive.

Or, if you’re an anarchist like the author Edward Abbey, you might say that a radically human person is undomesticated and free from the constraints of an oppressive civilization. The wild human is given to resistance, rebellion, and revolution against all forms of tyranny.

A psychologist or therapist would tell us that a radically human person is someone who’s transcended her trauma and conditioning and escaped the trap of learned helplessness; someone who’s developed a sense of agency and is able to thrive in the face of stress and ambiguity.

For the activist, to be radically human is to be engaged, to take responsibility for the world as it is. There’s a strong desire for relevance and a sense of purpose, described in the Japanese as ikigai.

For an indigenous person or deep ecologist, to be radically human means to be a participant in the biosphere and the web of life. Radical humanity doesn’t declare supremacy, superiority or exceptionalism, but sees itself with humility, as nothing more or less than any other animal.

For the artist, the defining characteristic of radical humanity is our curiosity and our drive to create, especially in the face of adversity. A sense of play and humor. An artivist.

The spiritual teacher sees radical humanity as a process of seeking wholeness, integration, and a right relationship with reality, including a sense of awe and radical amazement.

As for the Buddhists, they might simply add an “e” to the end and describe the fully-developed human as radically humane. To be radically human is to be compassionate, kind and caring for all life forms on our planet.