In "his" image? Without human society, how human are human children?

Question

Although feral children are extremely rare, documented cases prove that these individuals tend to *adopt animal characteristics, *hate being with humans, *eat raw meat, *are incapable of learning how to communicate (or *speak at all) and *cannot be "civilized". ... So without a society to indoctrinate them into "humanity", how "human" (divinely or otherwise) are humans?

See a few examples:
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=dihungi
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=turkey
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=traian
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=ramu
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=sahara
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=assicia
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=bello
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=casamance
http://www.feralchildren.com/en/showchild.php?ch=saturday

Answer 1

Last time I checked, human children were 100% human.

But perhaps we will evolve into something else.

Answer 2

If you leave someone alone long enough they tend to go a bit mad. Many hermits are not quite same. Come to of it many Saints were hermits...

Anyway I think a feral child is essentially sane but out of touch with human reality, i.e. the reality of things like the work-money system and basic social concepts.

Answer 3

Good point. They are sponges soaking up what they are exposed to as babies. Human children require so much attention it’s hard to believe one would survive unless it was fairly well developed. These accounts are an eye-opener as to whether or not they are "human". Children also don’t seem to come with prejudices either, and have to learn them as well.

Answer 4

What makes one human? a soul. These children have souls. They have been hurt badly and found a way to survive so to speak. By the way, "believing" is not lip service. Have a nice day.

Answer 5

These are generally examples of how humans are unable to adequately raise themselves. Language is one of our greatest assets, but because its development occurs at specific stages of growth, if a child is left unattended during that phase of childhood, he/she either cannot or has an exceedingly difficult time gaining that communication skills. You refer to it as indoctrination, which in some ways it is, but it could just as easily be called parenting or education.

It seems that we are social creatures, and in order to be human we need a community.

Answer 6

I often think kids are better humans than grown ups....so many grown ups somehow act like animals even when they're raised in society.

Answer 7

Humanity is not defined by a behavior or lack of behavior. But your links do emphasize how important our collective beliefs and activities are to each other in terms of passing down our culture and civilization in general.

Hoping the best for you...