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Human Origins Exhibit Entrance

What Does It Mean To Be Human?

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Being human means being a member of the dominant species on planet earth--- and all the awesome responsibilities that go along with that!

- Bob, Cincinnati, OH

To be human means to have a brain and the ability to think, opposable thumbs, to be bipedal, to be able to talk to communicate

- Erin, South Africa

Being human has only one goal that is to worship Allah

- Taqwa, Malaysia

To be human means to feel emotion to certain events in life. To be able to feel grief and sadness about a traumatic and sad time in the individual's life, or to feel joy and happiness when something good happens.

- Charlotte, NSW Australia

The combination of metacognition and the ability to experience, and in some cases control our emotions; then add the ability to make conscious choices… choosing good over evil is the epitome of what it means to be human.

- Billy, North Carolina, USA

Being human means to carry the image of God allowing us to differentiate between moral right and wrong and have a capacity to love one another.

- Matt, Florida

Being the product of millions of years of biological and social evolution. Being human means being the most versatile species on Earth.

- Andrea Gyori, Romania

To be human is to be constantly learning, and to strive to utilize the gift of intellect for the betterment of society.

- Evan, Jersey City, NJ

To decide if you will be one who makes life better for yourself or for others, and then discovering what everyone looks for in death.

- Jarrod, Age 15, Seattle, WA, USA

To be human is to ask, "What does it mean to be human?"

- Tom, Memphis, TN

Knowing, understanding and often changing the world. We know how to adapt and know why we are adapting or in some cases adapting our environment to suit ourselves. We have a good grasp of how the Universe started, how we evolved and the Universe’s future.

- Jerry, Sydney, Australia

To be a true Human means, you are the filter through which the universe watches itself.

- Eishan, Earth

Featured Research

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image of Homo floresiensis; LB1, skeleton

'Hobbits' on Flores, Indonesia

New digs and geological dating in Liang Bua Cave, Indonesia, show that Homo floresiensis, nicknamed the “hobbit” for its small size, became extinct around 50,000 years ago – tens of thousands of years earlier than originally thought.

For Teachers

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AP Biology Curriculum Materials

Are you an AP Biology teacher? Click here for freely downloadable curriculum materials aligned to the AP learning objectives that use human case studies to teach core evolutionary principles and a resource to help teachers create a comfortable and supportive classroom environment for teaching evolution.

Lesson Plans

Comparison of Human and Chimp Chromosomes (Grades 9-12)

Investigating Common Descent: Formulating Explanations and Models (Grades 9-12)

Human Evolution: Religious Perspectives

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The Hall of Human Origins offers a welcoming place to explore one of the most exciting areas of science, the study of human evolution. Despite strong public interest in the science, however, many people find this topic troubling when viewed from a religious perspective. Representatives of diverse religious communities encourage a larger, more respectful understanding of both the scientific evidence and religious belief.

Featured Media

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Rock or stone tool

How To Tell a Rock from a Stone Tool

How can you tell if a rock is actually an early stone tool? Watch this video to find out.

Video Thumbnail of Rick Potts from "Designing the Exhibition"

Designing the Exhibition

This video takes you behind-the-scenes into the process of designing and building the Smithsonian's Hall of Human Origins.

Fun Facts

The “Nutcracker”

In 1959, paleoanthropologist Dr. Mary Leakey discovered a skull of Paranthropus boisei, our close evolutionary cousin who survived for about 1.5 million years. Her husband, Louis Leakey, aptly nicknamed this early human fossil “Nutcracker Man” because of its large teeth and robust jaw. Yet study of wear caused by food on teeth shows that Paranthropus didn’t usually crack hard foods, but more likely relied on tough foods, such as tubers and roots, to survive. This would require powerful chewing and grinding, and big teeth!