the Gryphon - Issue 4

t h e
G R Y P H O N
Issue N o 04
What makes
us human?

“What a piece of work is a man!
How noble in reason!
How infinite in faculty!
In form and moving
how express and admirable!
In action how like an angel!
In apprehension how like a god!”
HAMLET (2.2.295-302)
12

Welcome
Issue N o 04
2022/23
Welcome to the latest edition
of our chapbook, the Gryphon,
in which our pupils, past and
present, and staff consider the
essence of human existence.
2
COMEDY. COURAGE. COMPASSION.
Our ability to make people smile, realise
opportunities and our potential and the power
to care and forgive.
4
PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS
Our Sixth Form students share their ideas about
what the essence of humanity means to them.
At Embley every child is unique
and deserves the recognition
of that as they grow. We help
them achieve their ambitions,
encourage belief in oneself while
being mindful that the greatest
happiness is achieved by being
compassionate to others.
Embley Park, Romsey,
Hampshire SO51 6ZE
Main switchboard:
+44 (0) 1794 512206
Email: info@embley.org.uk
www.embley.org.uk
6
JOURNEY OF LIFE
Our life is a journey of highs and lows, successes
and failures which define us as individuals.
8
THINKING BIG
A former Embley Head Girl describes how school
has shaped her into the person she is today.
10
OUR ABILITY TO MAKE CHOICES
Humans are the only beings capable of
changing the world to be a better place for all,
writes one student.
12
Carbon balanced print is produced by a carbon
balanced printer on carbon balanced paper.
This edition of the Gryphon:
73kg of carbon balanced & 51m 2 of land protected.
NO MAN IS AN ISLAND
Connection is central to our survival,
our sense of well-being, our sense of self.
1

Comedy.
Courage.
Compassion.
The question we pose in this issue of the Gryphon
is ground well-trodden, writes Headmaster, Cliff
Canning. It invites us to consider what is unique to a
species that shares large portions of DNA with other
sentient life and other carbon-based compounds.
2

t h e
G R Y P H O N
will begin by looking at the question
I from the point of view of understanding
our capacities. What makes us human is
our capacity for humour, something the
ancients understood very well. Aristotle
wrote one book of Poetics on tragedy and
the dramatic arts but two on Comedy, both
sadly lost. Umberto Eco’s The Name of the
Rose describes an imaginative, if disturbing,
search for an attempt to hide this work.
Comedy fascinates me; there is an essential
conviviality with comedy. The ability to
sing and perform touches audiences, but
the ability to make diverse people laugh
and the infectious nature of laughter
brings people together. Humans are social
creatures, and the glue that binds this is
laughter. It is unlikely that folk will gather
for an evening to have a good cry, but much
more likely they do so to entertain and be
entertained, to laugh together.
If the capacity for comedy makes us human
and in so doing brings us together, there is a
capacity that makes us human which stands
us apart. The capacity for courage. Life has
recently thrown a number of difficulties
our way, but that is what life does. I am
concerned very often at what I see as the
over amplification of anxiety free living.
Why? Because it doesn’t exist. Anxiety and
worry are part of our experience, to avoid
them is to intoxicate ourselves with a
rejection of what is essential to humanity.
Instead, the courage ‘to be’ makes us
human. It is Hamlet’s cry from the heart, in
taking up arms against a sea of troubles, we
end them. Not necessarily because they are
imagined; nor that we resolve them; but that
in embracing them we engage ourselves in
the process of becoming, of realising our
potential. There are no problems, just
opportunities for solutions.
Too glib? Certainly. And trite, but not
necessarily untrue. There are many
moments where I stand back in bewildered
awe at children who talk with me and
authentically face their fears, who open up
about what is going on and resolve to do
something about it, who carry on sailing
through their school day while frantically
working to keep the ship afloat; it is a mark
of their individuality, their ‘becoming’ -
their humanity. The courage to say no, I’m
not doing that, or yes, it was me. Apologising
and taking the consequence without excuse
or evasion; that courage stands us apart as
individuals and makes us human.
Of course, the corollary of stepping up and
having the courage to take responsibility
without hiding behind others calls for
the last of my three capacities making
us human: compassion. The capacity we
have and have seen to forgive those who
wrong us may be the most profound of the
capacities that make us human. We have
seen an outpouring of compassion realised
in tangible form as we rallied round
international need. This was immediate
and overwhelming, quite literally so as we
were inundated with clothing and supplies
for refugees. But it is the quieter and more
personal opportunity for compassion
that most reveals our nature. There are
daily instances of compassion across the
Prep playground and the playing fields of
the Senior School. Moments of heartfelt
compassion expressed in Wordsworthian
little nameless acts of kindness and of love.
Doubtless this Gryphon will provoke your
own thoughts and reflections, but whether
it is comedy, courage or compassion…
what a piece of work is humanity.
E: headmaster@embley.org.uk
3

Penny for your
thoughts
“The essence of being human is that one does
not seek perfection,” said the novelist and
journalist George Orwell.
4

t h e
G R Y P H O N
But is that all that makes us human? What
about Science, religion or feelings? Can
we narrow down the essence of humanity
at all, or is being human merely an idea? We
asked some of our Sixth Form students their
thoughts on the topic.
Liza: What makes us human is the things we
feel: pain, disappointment, happiness, love.
You can’t think through it with logic, but
we feel it. For example, an animal can feel,
but their emotions are based on instinct.
They may kill because they want food or
feel threatened; their emotional range and
reasoning is far less broad than that of a
human. They love you because you are nice to
them – but only a human can love not because
of something, but against it.
Phoebe: Sometimes people approach things
too scientifically and think what we are made
of biologically is the sum of our parts. I don’t
think it’s as simple as saying ‘we are humans’.
It’s a social construct. People think that
because we are human it gives us superiority.
Tom: What makes us human is how we act.
We all behave differently, and we are unique.
Each person is raised in a family that moulds
them into who they are, no two people are the
same.
Nathan: I think bad emotions make us
human, like greed. We’ve all made bad
decisions. For example, I’m not aware of any
animal that takes their own life because
they’ve done something bad. Humans have
the capacity for evil, and the capacity to know
that what they are doing is evil.
Faith: I’m going to go down a religious route
which I know some people don’t agree with. In
Noah’s Ark, God sent the floods to restart the
world, because humanity had reached a low
point giving in to greed and sin and the world
had become total chaos. He decided to start
over and take the good man and his family
and the innocent animals. All the bad things
are what God is saying humans shouldn’t be.
Nathan: But in the Bible it says ‘God created
humans but gave them free will.’ He let Adam
eat the apple along with Eve, so with them
being greedy it makes them human. And
when God saw Adam and Eve naked, they felt
embarrassed - those are human emotions. So
free will and the mistakes that come along
with it - our imperfections - make us human.
Phoebe: I think it is difficult, as humans, to
describe what humanity really means. We
don’t have access to any other opinions apart
from humans because we can’t ask animals
what they think of us. As humans we are
driven by external situations - humanity is
an experience.
Liza: Humans are the only creature that
can lie. We only see the side of people that
they show us - we’re unique because we can
control ourselves and make choices, and we
can listen to our hearts.
Faith: We have the cognitive ability to
question why we are here. We all have a
belief - for me it is God, for others it may be
Science - but our beliefs make us human.
Animals don’t question their existence, they
just exist.
Phoebe: I find it interesting that when
people make a mistake they say ‘But I’m
only human’ which implies that we are
weak. Maybe imperfection is what makes us
human, having the capacity to be evil - even
if you are not - differentiates us as humans.
The conversation ended in agreement that
humans are neutral but have capacity to
decide to do extreme good or extreme bad,
unlike their animal counterparts. As for
the question ‘What makes us human?’ the
conversation never reached a conclusion,
so perhaps it is uncertainty, free-will and
the ability to ask questions that makes us
human after all.
E:????????????????????
5

Journey
of life
6

t h e
G R Y P H O N
What makes us human?
It’s a question that has been asked by all cultures
for millennia, and an enormously complex one
that is in many ways almost impossible to answer,
writes Prep teacher Mike Gibb.
Psychology would argue what makes us
human is our individuality. We are all
shaped by our experiences and influenced
by our surroundings, with each circumstance
creating a new perceptive. Biology would
suggest it is the unique features of the human
body which mark us apart from other living
beings. The larynx, shoulders, our hands
with opposable thumbs, naked, hairless skin,
standing upright and bipedalism, our blushing
response and, most significantly, the human
brain and our minds with their imagination,
creativity and forethought. Sociologists see
our social interactions and ability to develop
civilisations as something distinctly human.
The knowledge of our own mortality has also
spurred humans on to great achievements, to
making the most out of the lives they have. We
are unique amongst animals in understanding
our lifecycle and ultimate mortality. Some
social psychologists maintain that without the
knowledge of death, the birth of civilisation
and the accomplishments it has spawned might
never have occurred.
I believe that it is living our daily lives that
makes us human. Being able to process our
experiences, learning constantly and developing
our personalities and future behaviours. The
privilege of working in a school is getting to see
young lives grow and develop as well as having
the opportunity to shape the experiences that
will have a profound effect on their lives. Embley
offers a hugely diverse range of activities, each
of which has the prospect of having a profound
effect on young people. It is taking these
opportunities and absorbing these experiences
which makes us human. Animals can learn from
their experiences, but only humans can take
those encounters and use them to develop their
intelligence, character and personality. Our
humanity is defined by these experiences.
As complex, interesting, ingenious, curious,
compassionate, creative and, at times,
baffling human beings are, there is a beautiful
simplicity to our lives. We are all on a journey
which will have highs and lows, successes and
failures, but ultimately it is that journey which
defines us as individuals, as human beings.
What makes us human? It is living a life rich
with experiences, emotions, hopes and dreams.
To feel fully human, we must make the most
of all life has to offer. It is apt to finish with an
often-quoted truism which is a good guide for
us all: carpe diem – seize the day!
E: mike.gibb@embley.org.uk
7

Thinking
BIG
I left Embley Sixth Form two years ago after
five years at the school, writes former Head Girl
Megan, and while I think it is a cliché to
say that the school shaped me as a person,
I will tell you what I am up to now.
8

t h e
G R Y P H O N
am currently studying History & Politics
I at the University of Southampton.
Although I did not study Politics at
Embley, I was fortunate enough to host an
afternoon with Caroline Nokes, Minister for
Immigration at the time and MP for Romsey
and Southampton North. Hearing her speak
about the challenges of being a female MP,
but also of the incredible work she was doing
and how she was able to shape lives, sparked
my interest in Politics and
resulted in me studying it at
degree level.
Shortly after leaving school,
I started volunteering with
Portsmouth City Council,
working one-to-one with
young people in the foster
system. I have mentored
a 13-year-old boy and
currently a 10-year-old girl.
Volunteering has led to
me to start a new job that I
am very passionate about.
I am a support worker in
residential homes for people
in care. I work with young
people aged four to 25 as
well as families who need
extra support in residential
settings, making a difference by teaching
them life skills and helping them make the
next steps into life after care.
If you were to ask me five years ago what I
wanted to do, I doubt I would have said this,
but my school taught me how valuable it is
to have someone in your corner. I may not
have been the easiest student, a perfectionist
with no confidence, but the staff were always
I may not have been
the easiest student,
a perfectionist with
no confidence, but
the staff were always
there knowing when
to support and when
to push me, and now
I get to do the same
for some of the most
vulnerable young
people.
there knowing when to support and when to
push me, and now I get to do the same for
some of the most vulnerable young people.
My school gave me confidence in myself
and my abilities. In January of Year 12, I
petitioned the Headmaster that I wanted
to start a feminist club. By the October, I
was hosting a Diversity & Inclusion Student
Conference with seven speakers, including
a representative from UN Women and
a double amputee veteran
from Making Generation R.
Students attended workshops
on disability, race, religion,
the refugee crisis and gender
equality and they played
games in wheelchairs to
discover how difficult it is
to do things they take for
granted. Now while I may
have bitten off more than I
could chew, it did teach me
that I am capable of far more
than I can imagine.
I was lucky enough (if you
could say that) to spend a lot
of time with my Headmaster
in my role as Head Girl,
and despite me calling him
silly for his huge, arguably
unrealistic visions, I have followed in
his footsteps of thinking big. During
the pandemic I travelled to Costa Rica to
volunteer with marine conservation, and
this Summer I will be going to Central
America for two months to volunteer and
travel solo.
This is how Embley shaped me, how did
school shape you?
9

OUR
ABILITY
TO MAKE
CHOICES
Considering the achievements of mankind
from the beginning of time, I cannot help
thinking that the answer to the question
‘What makes us human?’ still eludes us,
writes Senior School student Suvariya.
There is no simple answer to what makes
us the people we are today, without
raising more questions. Is it our culture? Our
environment? Our motivations? Our very
nature?
As a species, we are continually exploring the
complexities of our own neurology and the
mechanics of our human bodies. We learn
more every day about the amazing ways in
which we exist, under both favourable and
adverse conditions. Human life, both as a
biological and a social phenomenon, is a
tricky subject, as our individuality is one of
the biggest parts of who we are.
Perhaps we should first define human nature.
The obvious starting point is to look at our
ancestry; where did we come from? What is
the evolutionary theory of humankind?
Evolutionary biology and scientific evidence
tells us that humans evolved from ape-like
ancestors, called hominids, more than six
million years ago in Africa. What separates
us from animals, though, is the size of
our brains. Our minds allow us to weigh
decisions and potential outcomes against
each other and decide for ourselves the most
desirable option.
Thomas Suddendorf, Professor of Psychology
at the University of Queensland, suggests
that our ability to foresee potential outcomes
is key: ‘one of the key characteristics that
makes us human appears to be that we can
think about alternative futures and make
deliberate choices accordingly.’ As humans,
we have been making decisions since the
beginning; perhaps this is what separates us
from other creatures in the world.
10

t h e
G R Y P H O N
Although this is true, we are not simply
rational calculating machines, we are so
much more. We are at the top of the food
chain: intelligent, capable of speech, creative
thought and complex communication.
Perhaps there are a number of things which
make us human.
Facing the possibility of challenge within
our lifetime, we may speculate about what
might be our next evolutionary step. Some
people say that Artificial Intelligence is
going to change the world more quickly
than we realise; others suggest that we will
integrate digital technology into ourselves,
rather than holding it in our hands.
At a time when supercomputers like IBM’s
Watson are being developed and we risk
robots taking over our jobs, it might be
relevant to define what makes us human
now more than ever, before we become
subsumed into the digital world.
It is perhaps time to look again at how we
have evolved. My initial reference to ape-like
creatures, suggests how far we have come,
to become thinkers, capable of abstract
reasoning. This ability to apply logical
principles is probably the most important
thing which distinguishes us from animals,
whose acts are based solely on instincts and
impulses.
For me, being human means that I have a
choice, about what I want to do, how I want
to live and the many things that I will need
to do in order to survive and thrive. The
characteristics that make humans different
from every other living thing on Earth, is our
strong will to live, choose and continuously
adapt, change, hope and love. In short,
humans are the only beings capable of
changing the world to be a better and more
positive place for all.
11

NO MAN IS
AN ISLAND
“No man is an island entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main… any man’s death
diminishes me, because I am involved in
mankind. And therefore never send to know
for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
JOHN DONNE 1624
12

t h e
G R Y P H O N
As a therapist, writes Kate Rodgers,
Embley’s school counsellor, the
importance of connection with the ‘other’,
the quality and depth of our therapeutic
relationship, is fundamental. Positive
connections with others mean that we feel
seen, understood, and valued. We matter, we
belong, we exist.
Connection to others is crucial. Infants
flourish under our attention - they look
for eye contact, smiles, holding, and talking
from us, and they respond accordingly.
Ancient people didn’t survive as lone beings
and there is recent evidence of intimate
interactions between human subspecies
scientists never thought possible.*
Paradoxically, we recently endured
extraordinary disconnection from loved
ones, friends and school to ensure survival.
The pandemic has resulted in increasing
rates of anxiety, eating disorders, body
dysmorphia, and loneliness - especially
within young people across the country.
How much of this could be a response to
prolonged, profound disconnection on
several different levels?
Alongside the pandemic, there appears to be
a growing sense of disconnection in several
areas:
Mind and body - With the rise in
dissatisfaction with body image, we view our
physical body as a separate entity - an object
that needs altering to fit ‘social norms’.
To nature - There is such disconnection that
we are destroying our planet. Psychologists
use the term ‘nature deficit disorder’ to
explain challenging behaviours in young
people living in inner cities.
Electronics - We see people being ‘together’
but connected to screens, not physically with
each other. How does this affect our sense of
connection or disconnection to others, the
world, ourselves, our bodies?
During the pandemic we adapted, virtual
connection was vital. I continued to support
the children online but our discussions
often lacked the deep sense of connection
and inimitable experience of physically
being present with another human being.
However, we’ve been reminded of other
connections. All humanity was attacked by
an uncontrollable virus. Connected through
our vulnerability and mortality, it was, and
is, a globally traumatic event. It doesn’t
matter who, or where you are - this will have
touched your life – and we can all empathise.
All humans experience emotion. Our
experiences are unique, but there remains
agreement of ‘base’ emotions: fear, love, joy,
anger, disgust. When we recognise them in
others we deeply connect through empathy,
understanding and kindness. These very
human experiences unite us. Knowing we
are not alone is reassuring. Humans rally
together when things get challenging. We
are reminded of the value connection brings.
We adapted, and now have an opportunity
to re-evaluate and form more meaningful
connections. Connection is central to our
survival, our sense of well-being, our sense
of self. Make time to re-connect to yourself,
your body, loved ones, community, the earth
- you will feel the benefits. No man is an
island.
*For more on this, I can highly recommend
reading The World Before Us by Tom Higham.
E:kate.rodgers@embley.org.uk
13

Embley Park, Romsey, Hampshire SO51 6ZE
Main switchboard: +44 (0) 1794 512206
Email: info@embley.org.uk
www.embley.org.uk