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Is it ok to refer to the human kind or the human being with "it"? Ex. The human being is responsible of its destiny or should it be their destiny?

Eri.ka
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    Possible duplicate of Can I use "it" to refer to a person? – The Doc Sep 01 '16 at 18:46
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    Depends on if you want to sound like a creepy anti-human scientist type that says the vastness of the universe makes human beings irrelevant, or not. – developerwjk Sep 01 '16 at 20:38
  • @TheDoc The linked question is similar, but not exactly the same. I've referenced it in my answer below. – BradC Sep 01 '16 at 21:13

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Generally speaking, no, you don't use it to refer to human beings, only to refer to objects (with a couple of rare exceptions mentioned in this similar post).

The human being is responsible of its destiny or should it be their destiny?

First of all, I'd recommend for not of.

Secondly, are you talking about all of humanity ("Humanity is responsible..."), or are you talking about a single individual human ("Each human being is responsible...")? The meaning is quite different.

Regarding the pronoun, English has no gender-neutral singular pronoun (other than it, which we've already excluded), so you have a few options, none of them perfect:

  1. Pick a gender for your pronouns and hope that people understand you mean to include everyone, regardless of gender. Each human being is responsible for his own destiny. Historically, this was very common (especially using the masculine), but this has fallen out of style, and is viewed by some as sexist.

  2. Use both pronouns (his or her), or a compound form (his/her, s/he). Each human being is responsible for his or her own destiny. In my opinion, this is the preferred option.

  3. Use the plural in place of a singular. Each human being is responsible for their own destiny. This is common, but frowned upon by many.

  4. Use of a non-traditional pronoun like 'ze' or 'hir'. You see this especially within the LGBTQ community, and is usually self-referencing by those who identify outside the gender binary. No single set of alternate pronouns has caught on, though, and none are likely to be widely understood.

There are other options, like using "one" in place of the pronoun, but that doesn't really work in your sentence.

In your case I would recommend

Each human being is responsible for his or her own destiny.

Some references:

Community
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BradC
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  • You said "one" wouldn't work. What about "Each human being is responsible for one's destiny." Would this be wrong? – Moritz Jan 15 '22 at 20:04
  • @Moritz Hmm, still doesn't sound quite right to my ears, you more often hear it with "one" in both parts of the sentence, like "One must be responsible for one's own destiny". – BradC Jan 18 '22 at 14:46