With all of the horrific news going around lately, it feels like the end is near. Whether it's the end of the world, a civilized nation, everyone's sanity, or just your patience, the media's omnipresence combined with the devastation constantly flooding their stories has made it hard to get through a day without questioning your faith in humanity.
So to keep things light, here's a few reasons to still be proud of being a human here on Earth:
1. About $353.38 billion was the estimated amount given to charity donations by Americans in 2014 (givingusa.org).
For being such a spoiled country, we still give a lot of money overall. It may not be a ton if you factor how much money the most rich people here are worth combined, but it sometimes feels like people are too selfish to spare a dime. At least we know there’s still billions going to the service of others.
2. Humans have an amazing sense of touch; if our fingertips were the size of Earth, we could tell the difference between a house and a car (sciencedaily.com).
If our touch wasn’t so sensitive, I wonder how it would impact our interactions with others and with life. We learn so much through touch - what’s safe and what’s not, how people feel about us, if we are wet or dry. We take for granted how reliant we are on our ability to feel so strongly what surrounds us.
3. People who do not interact with others enough are twice as likely to die prematurely (slate.com).
As much as humans may be destructive to one another, if you were never around anyone you couldn’t survive. We may have a lot to learn, but we can only do that if we are willing to put up with others.
4. Over 1.5 million nonprofit organizations are registered in the U.S. (NCCS).
Not only are people still giving money, but they are building careers to help others. Big-money-making corporations have become a pretty convenient scapegoat lately, and as a result make our country look full of greed. But not everyone is doing it for the ridiculous cash.
5. Americans plant at least 1.6 billion trees a year (bugwood.org).
It may not be reversing the damage we constantly do to our amazing Earth, but it's something.
6. There are 86 billion neurons in the human brain (bebrainfit.com).
For how complex the human brain is, is it really that much of a surprise it can become so messed up? Not to belittle mental illness, but the fact that we are capable of advancing so quickly in so many ways, and are not all completely crazy seems kind of amazing. Considering how many things have to work just right every second to even allow a thought to pass, I’m pretty impressed I can even make a sentence without a system overload.
7. Skin is made up of about 1.6 trillion skin cells, yet replaces itself completely every 27 days (WebMD).
Not only is it amazing how much goes into a single thought formulating, but just to have a layer between inside-you and outside-you, there is an incredible amount of cells that must be constantly rebuilt. For all the damage done to humans physically every day, there is still an unbelievable amount of recovery taking place without even our knowledge, every single moment.
