Poll: Do you believe humans are apes?

[The Austin]

I have several points for debate:

1.) This was not about the popularity of atheism, this was about this guy not being a jackass.

2.) 5 years isn't going to shift the chart, you know that, I know that, and everyone with half a brain knows that.

3.) Don't you dare spread that "saw the truth" bullshit to me. I'm allowed to believe what I want, and you are too, but when you start to claim that your way is better than mine, I get pissed.

About 2, yes it will, and about 3, too bad. If I'm allowed to believe what I want and I believe that you're wrong and should be told it, getting mad makes you a hypocrite. Are you a hypocrite?

That's bull shit!
Yes, you are allowed to believe what you want, but you don't get to go around blatantly telling people that their wrong!

And yes, it makes me very mad that you just "assume" that your beliefs are more valid than mine, and if you really do believe that I should be told that I'm wrong and your right, than your no better than the Westborough Baptist church.
So yes, I'm very fucking mad, I'm very fucking mad that you think that I should be told that I'm wrong.
You managed to turn a post about not being a dick into something about how religion is a lie, and then you go and say that I'm a hypocrite!
How am I a hypocrite, huh? Go on, give me one reason. One fucking reason. Because I'm pissed that you assume that I'm wrong?

You know, I know atheists who say that they hate religion because people are always trying to force it down their throat, but what they don't realize is that they are just as guilty as the religious zealots! They claim anyone who believes in a god is an ignorant fool, and they are the ones who give atheism a bad name.

And as for the chart, you and I both know that 5 years isn't going to make a difference.

You know what, you have succeed in really upsetting me. If that was your intent, congratulations.

 

[InnerRebellion]

Do I agree with evolution? Yes. I also think religious people who say I'm batshit insane for it (a specific duo of Jehovah's Witnesses in my school, so I am NOT being harsh to them all), are the ones who are really batshit insane.

 

[Dfskelleton]

I am Catholic, and I think that God created animals, mainly to test which one would be most effective as the prime race of earth. Prototypes, if you will. I think he liked the apes and created various other species, Chimpanzees, Monkeys, Orangutans, all of the primates, and finally he created 2 Humans. Adam and Eve. You know the rest.

 

[SweetWarmIce]

We aren't apes or evolved from apes; we shared common ancestors. Humans and apes are basically two separate evolutionary paths.

 

[chaos order]

I have several points for debate:

1.) This was not about the popularity of atheism, this was about this guy not being a jackass.

2.) 5 years isn't going to shift the chart, you know that, I know that, and everyone with half a brain knows that.

3.) Don't you dare spread that "saw the truth" bullshit to me. I'm allowed to believe what I want, and you are too, but when you start to claim that your way is better than mine, I get pissed.

About 2, yes it will, and about 3, too bad. If I'm allowed to believe what I want and I believe that you're wrong and should be told it, getting mad makes you a hypocrite. Are you a hypocrite?

That's bull shit!
Yes, you are allowed to believe what you want, but you don't get to go around blatantly telling people that their wrong!

And yes, it makes me very mad that you just "assume" that your beliefs are more valid than mine, and if you really do believe that I should be told that I'm wrong and your right, than your no better than the Westborough Baptist church.
So yes, I'm very fucking mad, I'm very fucking mad that you think that I should be told that I'm wrong.
You managed to turn a post about not being a dick into something about how religion is a lie, and then you go and say that I'm a hypocrite!
How am I a hypocrite, huh? Go on, give me one reason. One fucking reason. Because I'm pissed that you assume that I'm wrong?

You know, I know atheists who say that they hate religion because people are always trying to force it down their throat, but what they don't realize is that they are just as guilty as the religious zealots! They claim anyone who believes in a god is an ignorant fool, and they are the ones who give atheism a bad name.

And as for the chart, you and I both know that 5 years isn't going to make a difference.

You know what, you have succeed in really upsetting me. If that was your intent, congratulations.

hey austin i like you u expressed the irony of athiesm i see as well(although i dont wanna put every atheist in the same bucket, i know there are alot of you who arent so arrogant)

anyway back on topic, yes i do believe that people have come from apes and that we ARE "VERY closley related to them. how close idk. i dont see how saying we are simliaia
r or relate to apes therefore makes god NOT exist (im not pushin religion on to you just wonderin...)

 

[The Austin]

I have several points for debate:

1.) This was not about the popularity of atheism, this was about this guy not being a jackass.

2.) 5 years isn't going to shift the chart, you know that, I know that, and everyone with half a brain knows that.

3.) Don't you dare spread that "saw the truth" bullshit to me. I'm allowed to believe what I want, and you are too, but when you start to claim that your way is better than mine, I get pissed.

About 2, yes it will, and about 3, too bad. If I'm allowed to believe what I want and I believe that you're wrong and should be told it, getting mad makes you a hypocrite. Are you a hypocrite?

That's bull shit!
Yes, you are allowed to believe what you want, but you don't get to go around blatantly telling people that their wrong!

And yes, it makes me very mad that you just "assume" that your beliefs are more valid than mine, and if you really do believe that I should be told that I'm wrong and your right, than your no better than the Westborough Baptist church.
So yes, I'm very fucking mad, I'm very fucking mad that you think that I should be told that I'm wrong.
You managed to turn a post about not being a dick into something about how religion is a lie, and then you go and say that I'm a hypocrite!
How am I a hypocrite, huh? Go on, give me one reason. One fucking reason. Because I'm pissed that you assume that I'm wrong?

You know, I know atheists who say that they hate religion because people are always trying to force it down their throat, but what they don't realize is that they are just as guilty as the religious zealots! They claim anyone who believes in a god is an ignorant fool, and they are the ones who give atheism a bad name.

And as for the chart, you and I both know that 5 years isn't going to make a difference.

You know what, you have succeed in really upsetting me. If that was your intent, congratulations.

You say that people should be allowed to believe what they want. I believe that you're wrong, and should be told it. You're telling me that's wrong to believe and that I shouldn't believe that. You are saying people should be allowed to believe what they want and are not letting me believe what I want. Therefor, you are a hypocrite.

Yes, you should believe what you want, but telling someone else that they are wrong isn't a belief, it's an act. It's a rude, spiteful, and hateful act. Your logic is flawed, and you know it, or at least you should, considering you think yourself smart enough to command others.

Frankly, this entire thread has become quite ironic to me. I've been arguing with a ton of people who believe in evolution, all of which are telling me that I'm wrong. The irony being, that I BELIEVE in evolution. But I also believe in acceptance. Something that most people on this thread clearly don't believe in.

It's funny really. If someone were to come onto this site and say that they're a homosexual, you would be greeted with open arms by the community. If anyone were to say that homosexuals are an abomination, the banhammer would come crashing down onto them. But if someone were to come and say they're are a Christian, they would be greeted by people like you. And there would be no banhammer.
Sad really.

I believe in a thing I call "Escapism Seniority."
It's a system where I try to respect all of my fellow Escapists who hold seniority over me.
I've seen you on the forums before, and I respected you. But today, you have lost my respect.

I know you don't care. I just thought I should tell you.

 

[Knight Templar]

I object to the word "Believe" in the poll. Science is not a matter of belief at all.

Oddly, it is. When you get right down to the basics of it, science is the belief that in a given set of circumstances, you will see a specific result -- every time. If you do not see that result, then there's something different in the circumstances.

It really has no more objective validity than the Flying Spaghetti Monster made it happen.

What it *does* have, however, is a far stronger predictive capability.. which is why we tend to believe it.. because it's been working so far.

I think his objection was more the connotation of the word.

 

[Sougo]

Yes ... I also believe some of us haven't evolved completely yet.

GET OFF THAT TABLE YOU DAMN MONKEY!
Sorry, just my cousin...

 

[The Austin]

I have several points for debate:

1.) This was not about the popularity of atheism, this was about this guy not being a jackass.

2.) 5 years isn't going to shift the chart, you know that, I know that, and everyone with half a brain knows that.

3.) Don't you dare spread that "saw the truth" bullshit to me. I'm allowed to believe what I want, and you are too, but when you start to claim that your way is better than mine, I get pissed.

About 2, yes it will, and about 3, too bad. If I'm allowed to believe what I want and I believe that you're wrong and should be told it, getting mad makes you a hypocrite. Are you a hypocrite?

That's bull shit!
Yes, you are allowed to believe what you want, but you don't get to go around blatantly telling people that their wrong!

And yes, it makes me very mad that you just "assume" that your beliefs are more valid than mine, and if you really do believe that I should be told that I'm wrong and your right, than your no better than the Westborough Baptist church.
So yes, I'm very fucking mad, I'm very fucking mad that you think that I should be told that I'm wrong.
You managed to turn a post about not being a dick into something about how religion is a lie, and then you go and say that I'm a hypocrite!
How am I a hypocrite, huh? Go on, give me one reason. One fucking reason. Because I'm pissed that you assume that I'm wrong?

You know, I know atheists who say that they hate religion because people are always trying to force it down their throat, but what they don't realize is that they are just as guilty as the religious zealots! They claim anyone who believes in a god is an ignorant fool, and they are the ones who give atheism a bad name.

And as for the chart, you and I both know that 5 years isn't going to make a difference.

You know what, you have succeed in really upsetting me. If that was your intent, congratulations.

You say that people should be allowed to believe what they want. I believe that you're wrong, and should be told it. You're telling me that's wrong to believe and that I shouldn't believe that. You are saying people should be allowed to believe what they want and are not letting me believe what I want. Therefor, you are a hypocrite.

Yes, you should believe what you want, but telling someone else that they are wrong isn't a belief, it's an act. It's a rude, spiteful, and hateful act. Your logic is flawed, and you know it, or at least you should, considering you think yourself smart enough to command others.

Frankly, this entire thread has become quite ironic to me. I've been arguing with a ton of people who believe in evolution, all of which are telling me that I'm wrong. The irony being, that I BELIEVE in evolution. But I also believe in acceptance. Something that most people on this thread clearly don't believe in.

It's funny really. If someone were to come onto this site and say that they're a homosexual, you would be greeted with open arms by the community. If anyone were to say that homosexuals are an abomination, the banhammer would come crashing down onto them. But if someone were to come and say they're are a Christian, they would be greeted by people like you. And there would be no banhammer.
Sad really.

I believe in a thing I call "Escapism Seniority."
It's a system where I try to respect all of my fellow Escapists who hold seniority over me.
I've seen you on the forums before, and I respected you. But today, you have lost my respect.

I know you don't care. I just thought I should tell you.

There would be no open greeting from me for a christian. Grudgingly putting up with them? Sure. Accepting? No.

Grudgingly. Why? Because they share different ideologies? Absolutely. Because you don't like them as a person? Apparently. Because they are a bad person? Maybe. But here's the thing, you didn't even get to know them.

But when it comes down to it, you hate them for one thing and one thing only, and that makes you no different that a racist or a homophobic.
In reality, you hate them for no real reason at all. And in my view, that's just stupid.

This isn't even a conversation about the validity of religion, it's a conversation about not being a dick, which is what I suppose brought me to this thread in the first place.

 

[zehydra]

The only notion of superiority I'm talking about is our intelligence level, which is what enables us to survive. I would consider this difference in intelligence to be large enough to distinguish us from apes. (Apart from this, it also seems that there is a much greater variety in appearance between humans than there is in individual ape species)

Being a human, you're more trained to notice differences between humans than you are of differences between other apes. The idea that differing appearances is unique to the human species among apes is a human-centric perspective. Unless you're referring to skin color, which is so different because of our geographic range and sun exposure.

Many other apes are quite intelligent relative to other animals, and without a doubt their cleverness helps them to survive. This intelligence is a group characteristic of all the great apes. Just because one species has a feature which is more pronounced than the other species it shares an close ancestor with does not mean it gets to leave the taxonomic family. Keep in mind that 50,000 years ago we had nowhere near the same degree of knowledge, development, and civilization we have today, yet we are that same species. In evolutionary terms, 50,000 years is a drop in the bucket.

I recommend you watch this TED video. Essentially it proposes that the advancements of the human race are not due so much to biology as our culture.

We know that many of our great ape brethren are capable of learning human culture, vocabulary (and the underlying understanding of it), and have reasoning and thinking skills which can be compared to kindergarten level for humans. We don't know how long it would take them to reach the same level of intelligence that we currently have, but I don't think some of their intelligences are that far behind. If humans died out (as they almost did) perhaps another species of ape would have had the technological renaissance we experienced.

You should note, that 50,000 years later, apes are still the same. I knew the second I posted that that you would bring up the argument that humans are trained to determine differences in humans better, and that's a totally valid argument and it makes perfect sense. The one major variety that I was thinking of was that humans have a wide variety of hair colors (usually, one species of ape has only one)

 

[Nautical Honors Society]

We aren't apes or evolved from apes; we shared common ancestors. Humans and apes are basically two separate evolutionary paths.

Then what would we be classified as?

Do we have our own unique special classification?

Are we animals at all?

 

[SweetWarmIce]

We aren't apes or evolved from apes; we shared common ancestors. Humans and apes are basically two separate evolutionary paths.

Then what would we be classified as?

Do we have our own unique special classification?

Are we animals at all?[/]

Animals.

Modern Man - Homo Sapien, Hominidae, Primate, Mammalia, Chordata, Animalia

Yes we are, we have complex specialized cells, we don't photosynthesize and we don't reproduce via spores.

 

[Shoqiyqa]

It does not say it anywhere in the Bible that if you pray for someone it will heal them, we pray to give hope to the people that are sick to let them know that God is watching him or her so if they do die they could go to Heaven. I do not know where you have heard that story from.

Are you insane James 5:15, where the Bible says:

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.

Interestingly ambiguous quote, that. Raise him up from his sickbed to be well again or raise him up to heaven?

Anyway ...

Prayer Doesn't Help Patient Recovery [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5313042]

Score one for godless science. In the largest study of its kind, Harvard researchers tested whether prayer would affect the recovery time of patients getting heart bypass surgery. They had three Christian groups pray for "a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery" for specific patients. Then they waited 30 days.

Prayer, they determined, had no effect on healing [http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/03/30/prayer.study.ap/index.html]. Even worse, those who were told that they were being prayed for had a slightly higher rate of complications.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

Do I believe humans are apes? No.
Do I believe humans evolved from apes? Yes. (Although I'm pretty sure we didn't evolve from them so much as had a common anscester.)

YAY! Someone actually sees past the misconception at we evolved from todays monkeys. We did not. Many pro evolution people think this also, its staggering. We shared a common ape like ancestor. The apes of today are more similar to it than we are but they are most certainly NOT the same animal.

"if we evolved from monkeys why are there monkeys today"
Staggering face palm.

Yes, i know evolution is correct.

 

[JRShield]

Here's about how I see it (simplified)

 

[Ranorak]

Human: Family: Hominidae
The Hominidae (anglicized hominids, also known as great apes) form a taxonomic family, including four extant genera: chimpanzees, gorillas, humans, and orangutans

Really, there is no point in debate.
Officially we are in the same family as the other great apes.
Ergo, we are apes.

Whether or not you agree with this, or don't believe in how it came to be is irrelevant.
We are classed that way, and unless you're a well studied professor at biological Taxonomy, You just have to listen to the facts.

 

[Rainforce]

Yes, humans are apes. Enough people already posted evidence en masse.
I think this entire thread is only about
"Is your ego big enough to believe that you are really not just one among many?".

I'm not sure apes would want to be associated with humans. We are like some annoying cousin that you would never invite to family dinners.

and, of course, this.
EDIT:

I believe that Christ walked the Earth, died for our sins, and was ressurected three days later, that he was the son of God, etc. Nowhere in our creed does it say we have to take the Bible literally, especially since it was created by man and, ergo, imperfect.

Thats the best religious perspective I ever heard of, no joke.

Do bears sh*t in the woods?
Sorry, that was off-topic. But seriously, do they?

Don't be an idiot, they use the toilet like everyone else.