So who says you have to be from the surface world to be considered human?Gweisman 09:18, May 7, 2012 (UTC)
Hm, maybe we can rewrite it from a more scientific view (Humans are members of the homo sapiens species, and are the dominant species on Earth.) I just wonder whether this definition would exclude Atlanteans, who are presumably an offshoot of humanity and therefore another species. Zergrinch 09:37, May 7, 2012 (UTC)
Good question. Actually, species is sort of a problem for us. "Should we assume someone to be a human because he/she looks like one, or should we identified them so only when they are referred to as such?". This leads to problems like using T.O. Morrow as an example of a human in the early stage of that page... Though it's kinda funny. ― Thailog 09:44, May 7, 2012 (UTC)
- With the caveat that the show is not beholden to comics continuity, the source material does provide a little clarification. While our wiki considers Vandal Savage as "human", he's actually not homo sapiens sapiens per se, but Cro-Magnon (early modern human). Similarly, Aquaman is considered Atlantean/Human, while Zatanna and Zatara belong to an offshoot called homo magi, though they are genetically identical to humans. Lori Lemaris is considered Tritonian/Human as well. Klarion is an interesting case -- being an extra-dimensional being in the comics and a Lord of Chaos in this continuity, calling him a human might be stretching the meaning of the term.
- Anyway, the point of my ramble is, why don't we adopt an "or" system, where we can say Human/Atlantean, Human/Cro-Magnon, and so on, similar to what we already have for Superboy? Zergrinch 22:49, May 7, 2012 (UTC)
I think Lagoon Boy is human. Human has to be wide enough to include the various species of Atlanteans and, for example, the Amazons, etc. I mean, I could definitely see G. Gordon claiming that Lagoon Boy and even Aqualad aren't truly human. But I don't think we want to be following G.Gordon's example. Gweisman 20:04, May 7, 2012 (UTC)
- So, would you call "Amazons" a sub-species or something else? We may need to reconsider the "species" field on the character infoboxes, because we're listing "Atlanteans" and "Amazon" where apparently it should be "Human". Hmm. ― Thailog 20:19, May 7, 2012 (UTC)
- I haven't given it that much thought. Gweisman 20:27, May 7, 2012 (UTC)
- This discussion reminds me of The Dark Side of the Sun, a sci-fi book in which the word human has taken on a legal meaning and now encompases not just Earth-humans but a number of sentient alien races, sufficiently advanced robots, and one bank.
- On this wiki, we've been using the word human to classify non-alien, non-animal, non-Atlantean, non-Amazonian individuals (although we've also included metahumans like Icicle Jr and Clayface).
- Basically, it's a matter of semantics. Is human another word for Earthling? Should it be? If so, does Earthling refer to anybody born on Earth? To any member of a species native to Earth? Why was Conner so adamant that he wasn't an Earthling when he's lived on Earth his whole life?
- Or is human the name of a species? Is that species distinct from Atlanteans/Amazons/whatever? Considering humans and Atlanteans are apparently capable of inter-breeding, this would suggest that they are the same species. Then again, Martians are shapeshifters on a cellular level, and are presumably capable of breeding with any other species... are they human too? Are all Atlanteans the same species (i.e. all the same species as human)? Is Atlantean merely a term for someone from Atlantis?
- Is it worth having a catch-all term for non-alien, non-animal, non-Atlantean, non-Amazonian individuals? Most importantly, if we don't use human for this catch-all term, what word do we use? -- Supermorff (talk) 19:07, May 8, 2012 (UTC)
- This is tough. I personally just thought that a "human" was just a normal person, like you'd see everyday, excluding Atlanteans, Amazons, and others from this category. But it does make sense that Atlanteans and Amazons are humans. I believe in the comic history, which I assume to be the same on Earth-16, that the Amazons were humans living in Ancient Greece (?) and after Hercules attacked and destroyed their homes, the gods gave them a new one, in the form of Themyscira. So really, they are human, just altered a little.
- As an encompassing word, would something like Earthlings work? Rassilon of Old (Wall - Contribs) 20:27, May 8, 2012 (UTC)
- I think it's encompassing (and not necessarily too confusing, because the article would be singular and there's only one category), but that's not the problem. The problem isn't the encompassing word, it's the word for Earthlings that are not Atlanteans/Amazons/etc. Maybe we don't even need a word for that. If not, fine, and we might as well use human but change all Atlanteans and Amazons to human. If we do... -- Supermorff (talk) 20:33, May 8, 2012 (UTC)
- Didn't "Earthlings" establish that Superboy and Miss Martian are Earthlings, despite protests? I assumed it referred to anyone coming from Earth, and that had adopted it as their home planet. If we go down the road of taking up encompassing terms, then we'll basically end up with two "species": humans/earthlings and aliens. How about we scratch it off and change it to "nationality". That way it doesn't preclude "Atlanteans" or "Amazons" as humans. ― Thailog 23:32, May 8, 2012 (UTC)