What Makes Us Different Than Animals?

[Guest Dragonblade]

I'm not sure how this came about in my brain, but today I started thinking about the difference(s) in humans and animals. When you come right down to it, all we do is because we've "learned" it. Many animals can also do things if they receive instructions. So is it our ability to "think"? To create art and/or music? To read and write? Mankind seems to think we are superior to every other lifeform on the planet. But are we really? If so, then WHY?

 

And for those who would say "because we have a soul" I'd like to pose a second question...how do we know animals don't have souls too?

[necrosmith]

The biggest difference is this.

 

We see people die. We see graves. We know we are people. We know we will die.

 

Animals can't reason like this.

[Fweethawt]

The biggest difference is this.

 

We see people die.  We see graves.  We know we are people.  We know we will die.

 

Animals can't reason like this.

 

Back when I started hunting deer, on my very first day out, I got one. I killed a young buck right in an open field with my bow and arrow. It fell about twenty yards from where it was standing when my arrow pierced its lungs. After I waited a while, I walked up to it and began to clean it. That is, I removed all of its internal organs right there in the field.

 

While I was doing this, I heard quite a ruckus coming from inside the tree-line. There were other deer within the trees that seemed to be pretty damned upset that I killed that buck. They weren't running away. They were staying right in the trees, snorting, grunting, and stomping in my direction the whole time that I was there.

 

Needless to say, I was quite scared of actually being attacked.

 

I think they knew that their little buddy was dead and that I was the one who killed him.

[Guest Dragonblade]

The biggest difference is this.

 

We see people die.  We see graves.  We know we are people.  We know we will die.

 

Animals can't reason like this.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

What about elephant graveyards? They know when their time is coming and try to make their way to the mass grave.

[♦ ficino ♦]

I've been thinking of late that the best way to talk about humans is as very highly developed animals.

 

Many of our genes map with genes of other primates.

 

The exterior cortex of the human brain is vastly more developed than in even other higher primate brains (or dolphins, etc. as far as we know). There are many functions, esp. of that part of the brain, that humans can carry on which even other highly intelligent animals cannot carry on. Some animals carry on functions of other parts of the brain better than we do: process sensory information, for example, or coordinate movement of hind feet, leaping, and such. Even young children's brains aren't developed enough to carry on certain functions that they'll be able to perform at age 18 or 23. So some things no other ape or dolphin will be able to do unless those species evolve more powerful brains.

 

That doesn't mean that humans will prove to be a highly successful species. In our short existence we may succeed in wrecking the biosphere enough to cause our own extinction, who knows.

 

"soul" for me is a catchword for intellective and emotive brain-neural functions. I do not know of any occult part of the human being that survives the death of the body.

[Ouroboros]

Humans have evolved to a higher sense of understanding and consciousness, but biologically we're not much different from any animal. We can invent new ideas and communicate them to others. We can spread truths and lies, and we can talk about emotions and thoughts. Basically what I'm saying is that the biggest difference is that we have language which has developed over long time and helped us take in information and maintain knowledge. Without this ability our consciousness wouldn't be much either. What would self awareness mean, unless you could tell someone else about it and they understand what you're saying?

[☆ TexasFreethinker ☆]

What Makes Us Different Than Animals?

 

Religion.

[Ouroboros]

"soul" for me is a catchword for intellective and emotive brain-neural functions.  I do not know of any occult part of the human being that survives the death of the body.

Agree. "Soul" is pretty much the result of the software/operating system that runs in the brain. Like we say "Windows" or "Linux", and we refer to the complete system of hardware/software interaction. The operating system doesn't exist without the hardware to store and execute it. The Soul and Awareness is the result of learning, experience, interaction, knowledge etc. It's the outcome of a complex meme library in our brain.

[dogmatically_challenged]

We are WAY,WAY,WAY,WAY MORE responsible for destroying the environment and killing off species than any of the other animals. We are special and superior.

[white_raven23]

The biggest difference is this.

 

We see people die.  We see graves.  We know we are people.  We know we will die.

 

Animals can't reason like this.

 

 

When I was a kid I had 2 hamsters. I had them for almost 2 years.

They slept together inside a ceramic frog (big open mouth originally to hold a dish washing scrubber).

One day I noticed they were sleeping apart.

The one inside the frog just looked like a cute ball of fluff, so I stroked that one first.

Only to get bit really hard.

Shocked, I went to the sink to clean the blood. Something had to be wrong, neither of them had ever bitten me before (nipped sure, but not a skin tearing bite).

I went back over and took a closer look. The one that bit me was still curled up in the frog.

The other, the one I thought was asleep, was actually dead.

I disposed of the body, and gave the aquarium I kept them in a good cleaning.

The surviving hamster stopped eating. Wasn't drinking that I could tell....and a few days later was dead. It didn't leave the frog once after his friend died (both males).

 

And I've remember reading part of a cat guide about how to help your pet deal with grief.

And there are stories of dogs that refused to leave their owners graves until they died too.

 

I say if we have souls, then animals do too.

[Ouroboros]

The other, the one I thought was asleep, was actually dead.

Was the one that died first killed by the other one, or was it just "natural" death?

[white_raven23]

Was the one that died first killed by the other one, or was it just "natural" death?

 

Natural.

 

Wasn't a mark on him.

 

They won't fight each other unless a female is available.

[Ouroboros]

Natural.

 

Wasn't a mark on him.

 

They won't fight each other unless a female is available.

That's a very sad story Raven...

 

Can I tell you a little sad story with a funny twist to it? Well... I do it anyway...

 

We had some goldfish many years ago, when my kids were really small. One day a fish died (as they eventually always will), and my kids were going to take care of it.

 

My oldest said the best was to flush it down the toilet, and my second son wanted to burry it. Eventually they agreed on flushing it down, as long as they could sing something to commemorateit, and of course have some kind of eulogy too.

 

The dropped the fish in the toilet, and they said the Pledge of Allegiance, and then the younger son started to sing "Happy birthday to you...", because they couldn't agree on what to sing.

 

But before he could finish, the older son flushed the toilet, and this cause a big fight for the rest of the evening, just because the younger didn't get the chance to finish the song before the fish was flushed.

[white_raven23]

 

Poor kid. Hope he never has to have therapy over an unfinished fishy flush

[Ouroboros]

   

 

Poor kid. Hope he never has to have therapy over an unfinished fishy flush

Luckily he didn't. (And lucky my wallet too)

[SilentLoner]

And there are stories of dogs that refused to leave their owners graves until they died too.

I say if we have souls, then animals do too.

i agree.

 

and I have this quote I thought might apply:

 

"The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures, the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creatures that cannot."

- Mark Twain

[Amethyst]

Supposedly we are the only species that is self-aware, but there are stories of monkeys and dolphins recognizing themselves in mirrors, IIRC. Just because they can't speak English, doesn't necessarily make them not self-aware.

[Ouroboros]

Supposedly we are the only species that is self-aware, but there are stories of monkeys and dolphins recognizing themselves in mirrors, IIRC.  Just because they can't speak English, doesn't necessarily make them not self-aware.

Darn, I just read something about this a few weeks ago, talking about exactly what you're saying.

 

Another thing that humans have that animals have to a much lesser degree is: imitation.

 

I read about that too recently, that animals can imitate to a small degree, but humans have an extremely developed ability to imitate, or to see someone doing something, and be able to map it out in our own actions. We don't only see another person doing something, we subconsciously can figure out how to do it ourself. Some animals can do it, but humans are much more skilled in it.

 

That's why we can learn speaking, walking, cooking, driving, reading... we imitate. And that's why we usually end up believing the same things as our parents and siblings.

[Mike D]

Supposedly we are the only species that is self-aware

Hmm, I remember having a discussion with a Christian who made this same claim to justify how humans are superior to animals. But I just don't agree with it.

 

What exactly is self-awareness? When something is aware that it is not another thing, is it self aware?

 

I think animals are self aware, for example a cat knows it isn't another cat, or a dog, or a person, because it reacts to those things when it sees them. A cat also knows it has a tail, and paws and fur, because it can see those things too, yet it doesn't attack those things as foreign. Why not? It seems it associates those things with itself, because it cleans itself and protects itself and feels pain when it is injured. Why would a cat scratch an itch behind it's ear if it wasn't self-aware? I don't know, it seems like animals would have to be self aware or they wouldn't be able to survive. Doesn't something need to be aware of itself in order to protect itself against predators? Or at least be aware that predators are not of itself?

[Sokudo Ningyou]

Given the choice, I'd rather be a cat. Humans may have cars and TVs, but cats are pampered, sleep all day, and have no expectations except to be cute. Why should I want an 8 hour job, bills, and solitude over that?

[Amethyst]

What exactly is self-awareness? When something is aware that it is not another thing, is it self aware?

 

From Wikipedia:

 

Self-awareness is the ability to perceive one's own existence, including one's own traits, feelings and behaviours. In an epistemological sense, self-awareness is a personal understanding of the very core of one's own identity. It is the basis for many other human traits, such as accountability and consciousness, and as such is often the subject of debate among philosophers. Self-awareness can be perceived as a trait that people possess to varying degrees beyond the most basic sentience that defines human awareness. This trait is one that is normally taken for granted, resulting in a general ignorance of one's self that manifests as odd contradictory behavior. This ignorance of one's own self is viewed in existentialism and Zen Buddhism as the source of much human suffering, as noted by the famous saying from Zen Buddhism "we are each the source of our own suffering."

[Mike D]

From Wikipedia:

 

Self-awareness is the ability to perceive one's own existence, including one's own traits, feelings and behaviours. In an epistemological sense, self-awareness is a personal understanding of the very core of one's own identity. It is the basis for many other human traits, such as accountability and consciousness, and as such is often the subject of debate among philosophers. Self-awareness can be perceived as a trait that people possess to varying degrees beyond the most basic sentience that defines human awareness. This trait is one that is normally taken for granted, resulting in a general ignorance of one's self that manifests as odd contradictory behavior. This ignorance of one's own self is viewed in existentialism and Zen Buddhism as the source of much human suffering, as noted by the famous saying from Zen Buddhism "we are each the source of our own suffering."

This definition seems specific to humans, vs a conscious being, which an animal is. I think in the most basic sense, some, if not all animals perceive their own existence, making them self-aware. I guess like you said, just because animals don't speak english or may not be able to articulate (or even understand) what they perceive does not mean they don't perceive. I guess using the above definition a human infant or small child may not be self aware, making me wonder if this is suggesting that self-awareness is learned behavior?

[Ouroboros]

I just an article this morning from New Scientist, that they've discovered that it seems like the chimps have a rudimentary language. Different grunts mean different things.

[chefranden]

The biggest difference is this.

 

We see people die.  We see graves.  We know we are people.  We know we will die.

 

Animals can't reason like this.

 

Is that the truth or an assumption?

[Amethyst]

The only thing I can really think of is that animals don't commit premeditated murder, as far as we know.