The tumultuous times in which mankind now lives, has seen nations rise against oppression in the Arab Spring.
It has witnessed the planet unite in aid for the Tsunami and Earthquake devastation which hit Japan, and Haiti.
It has watched strangers carry each other to safety as Hurricane Katrina destroyed their homes.
It has seen brave men run through rubble into the collapsing towers.
It has heard of the soldiers sacrificing their lives daily for the liberty of Iraq and Afghanistan.
It has listened to the echos of miners trapped in Chile, and watched them dance through hunger.
These events have conspired to break the human spirit; to make it yield to the forces of nature.
But what has always separated this species is its resistance to adversity.
When a single individual is in trouble, the race is capable of the most extraordinary acts of kindness. Where before there was an indifference, an apathy to the lives of others, a new quality emerges from within.
The diversity of upbringing buries it deeper inside others. But it is always there. Waiting.
"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." Mahatma Gandhi
The Human Genome Project has now mapped the genetic code of the human species. It has established what makes the race tick. What ails it. Yet the conclusions saw scientists scratching their heads: there was no explanation for why patients can smile through life-threatening illnesses, or why the crippled can rise to their feet. The 25,000 genes are not what make individuals unique, because the evolution of the race did not occur in a laboratory.
This did not stop the project trying to discover irrefutable evidence of what makes you, you. But their findings only concluded what religions have always known:
"There is no gene for the human spirit." Gattaca
The Greatest Speech Ever Made
Perhaps the indefinable quality of the human race came from the stars. Perhaps one day this spirit will be tested against another species from a galactic world. Perhaps the future will see the universe finally reveal the real reason why mankind was given this extraordinary gift. Perhaps.
So never take your humanity for granted, or miss an opportunity to demonstrate it to those in need.
"You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late." Ralph Waldo Emerson
The four letters at the end of mankind are there for a reason.