Caramel Frappe said:
.. Half of the first page .. people are fighting over the topic, as if no one can ever ask such a question.
.. *sigh* Even if you feel the topic is simple, there is always more to the question then one may think. For example, even if everyone on Earth agrees about humans being animals and it's a fact... it still can be discussed on even deeper levels.
Well...it IS a fact. Not really anything to debate about it. And no, there's not "more to the question".
The question was "Are humans animals?" The answer is an unequivocal "Yes". To debate otherwise, without
completely altering or redefining what a human is, is the equivalent of:
Person 1: Is that a tree?
Person 2: Well, it's a maple tree, so...yeah, it's a tree.
Person 3: Yeah, but is it
really a tree? I mean really, truly a tree? It's not entirely like that other tree over there, so is this maple tree
really a tree?
OT: Interesting topic overall because humans are animals... but aren't the usual animal.
We're not focused on survival like most animals. We do not mate once just to get kids popping out in case we die the next day. We do not even worry about most issues that animals face like being dominated by the alpha male, or that when going to sleep- you're going to die by a sudden assault. Now, certain people in the world do face such fears because of where they live, but in society.... it's very likely that your biggest concern is scoring those A's in school or keeping your job.
All of which boil down to a survival instinct. The parameters have changed but in the end all of that is still methods, motives, and goals for survival.
Scientists have seen the way our brain works. We have emotions that can overpower logic, or to the degree that we are driven by emotion. When we're in love, people stay with that partner most of the time rather then sleeping around just to pop out kids (though, cheating and having multiple wives exist... but I am talking about the norm here.)
There are vast scores of other species that stay with a single mate for their entire lives. This isn't something that's exclusive to humans.
To me, humans are unique because we shouldn't have these luxuries. What made it possible for humans to be the smartest things alive? What made it where we can dominate the world and not worry about other animals becoming like those apes in Planet of the Apes? Sure, no animal can surpass us but have you ever wondered why we... as a species, got fortunate and gained the skills/IQ/ability to be more then just an animal living on primary instinct? It's crazy really... we even have developed technologies that don't have anything to do with survival, but to just entertain ourselves aka TV, video games, movies, reading books, ect. When was the last time you saw an animal reading the classic Dracula book? Humans are just extraordinary that it baffles my mind.
Just because we've invented what we would consider "advanced" technology does not mean we are "more evolved" than the rest of the animal kingdom.
Evolution isn't a ladder, it's a tree. There's no specific direction or intended end goal. It's simply change over time. Change that proves either useful or useless for any given species.
Most other animals don't utilize technology; or specifically tools
(Though a fair few do.); because their species simply didn't need tools to survive. Or rather, physiological changes proved more beneficial.
Tool usage proved beneficial to us, and continues to benefit our survival. There's every possibility that another species could have started using tools in a similar fashion in the past, but that usage proved to be non-beneficial, or even detrimental, to it's survival.
I know what you're thinking, "Natural selection and human genetics are what made humans, human. Duh." But again, why us? Why not any other specie back then or now? Just thinking about it- heck just typing makes me wonder how I was gifted to be human, you know?
Asking "Why us" or thinking your innate abilities were "gifted" is assuming there was some intelligent force behind our advancement. It assumes there was some supernatural "thing" that steered us in a specific direction.
Now, that could make for an interesting topic of discussion, but in this instance it's diverging from the original question.
Then again, animals are kind of like people too. There are elephants who've buried their dead and have placed flowers on the grave... only to chase off anyone who gets to close. Why would an animal care or go out of their way in doing that? Why does a dog stay loyal to their master even to go up against a bear rather then fleeing? Why do dolphins take drugs under the sea and troll people? (true story).
Not sure I buy the burying and flowers story. That sounds a bit farfetched to me.
(Though I'm open to being proven wrong on it, so please point me to the story. It sounds inspiring if true.)
As for the rest, it comes, more often than not, from a natural sense of altruism and self-preservation that exist within social creatures. Caring for and protecting a member of the family unit helps keep the family unit strong; which in turn increases the likelihood of survival for each member of the unit.
Animals seem to be much smarter then the credit we give them... it's just, we cannot understand them and therefore, classify them as lesser creatures. I remember back then, before I was born... people who were handicapped, homosexual, or even by their race were considered less then because of minor differences. It's wrong of all things, but it happened in history. So why does the animal get the same treatment? No, I am not saying save them and let all the cows go before being killed- but what I mean is, why do we see animals less then us? Man's best friend is given the title to dogs for a certain reason. Horses are extremely devoted to people even when we use them to ride around the country... yet, they're treated as less.
I agree with most of this. Many creatures are far more intelligent than most humans give them credit for. And, most humans are far
less intelligent, rational, and "advanced" than we think we are.
But as for why most humans consider themselves better than all other animals, well...it could be for any number of reasons.
Personally, I think it stems from a desire for power. Thinking of ourselves as better than everything else gives us a sense of superiority. It creates a sense of safety and control. All of which, as before, stem from a need for self-preservation.
Because why fear what you can control?
... See now I got myself thinking WAY deeper then I possibly thought I would XD.
Overall, living things are all unique in their own right. Humans may be superior, but we cannot see in the dark like bats do. We cannot smell even close to the levels that dogs can. We do not bear the strength of a bull nor have the lungs that whales do. We lack features that makes other animals stand out, but in power along with intelligence... we stand on top and it gives us the biggest edge. This topic may of been simple, but I got really into it. You can do that to any topic if you put your mind to it.
We stand on top only in the presence of our own environments; and even then we don't always have control nor the advantage. Outside our "home-turf", we're often very low on the "power ladder".
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Now, that all said, I agree that there is much to discuss about the nature of humanity. Where do we really stand in terms of "the big picture"? How far have we
really come from our cave-dwelling ancestors? How much control do we honestly have over our environment and how much of it is a delusion? Is there the possibility of breaking with natural directives and controlling our own evolution?
Many things to discuss. Whether humans are animals isn't one of them.
