What do you think separates humans from other animals?

[Frostbyte666]

No offence to any 1 but I see a lot of pretentious people trying to make light of what humans have accomplished and overstate what other animals have. Now don't get me wrong I do believe animals are intelligent, can make use of tools etc etc etc. However they have not used them to truly break free of their environment, they have used tools to help them but not to activly think hey that makes this job easier I wonder what else I can do. People say that animals have displayed the same creativity as humans and the same intelligence, 1 question then, why haven't these animals developed to where we are instead of us after all a lot of the animals have far better natural weaponry and strength, speed etc to beat us in a straight up fight. The answer there was our race didn't accept that and made tools to defend ourselves and from that built more tools to aid us in various tasks to finally come out on top of the food chain.
Also we are the only race that has evolved to our current levels in the entire history of the planet (unless fossil records come up proving different). The dinosaurs were around a hell of a lot longer than us and didn't break away from their place in nature as we did.
Also I'm sorry how this post is starting to ramble so I'll stop there.

 

[Joccaren]

The only thins separating us from them is the fact that animals adopt to the world, and we adopt the world to us, i.e. build roads and cars for faster transportation instead of running on four legs to be faster, or using knives to cut stuff istead of evolving our hand into razor-sharp claws.

There is something you seem to be missing here. Evolution isn't fast. We are still evolving different things. E.G: Longer Fingernails. Wisdom Teeth are slowly disappearing from humans. Cheek bones are becoming thinner. We do evolve these things too, just for the short term we change the world around us more than most.
For example, the beaver will build a dam. It is changing the world around it. Other creatures can change the world around them, but none do to the extent of humans.
Animals also do not evolve that fast that, say we build a fire for the night to keep us warm, they cannot evolve to have fur on them (If they did not already have it) in that night to keep themselves warm. No, it takes millions of years.
Humans, however, also adapt ourselves to the environment, though less now than we previously would have. It is not entirely unusual for people in colder places to grow more facial hair without shaving or having it cut. Why? It helps keep them warm.

In total, a reasonable comparison, but still somewhat flawed. Humans do evolve and change ourselves to match our environment (Hell, it was one of the reasons we became the dominant species. Back in the caveman days we lived in almost every condition on this planet, and we did not have the tools to survive comfortably in all of them. We slowly developed to better suit these environments in our earlier days, though now we do not notice evolution as much as we do when we look back), and some animals do change their environment to better suit them.

PERIOD. EVERYONE WHO DISAGREES IS A RETARD. AND EVERYONE WHO QUOTES THIS & THE PREVIOUS & FOLLOWING SENTENCES & FOLLOWS WITH A RANT/MAKES A SARCASTIC COMMENT IS ALSO A RETARD. BONUS POINTS FOR ONLY QUOTING THE FIRST ALL CAPS SENTENCE AND DISREGARDING THE REST. GET TO WORK INTERNET RETARDS!

I sure as hell hope that was sarcasm.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I say it's vast intelligences and creativity. Yes animals like Dolphin and Chimpazee are intelligent and other annimal can built stuff but it's not like they can communicate us at a sophisticated level nor can they created anything complex like let say a car run on petrol.

 

[Introspector]

Chomsky said that the only thing that seperates human communication from an animnals is recursion, which is where you embedd one sentence within another (like i have done here). Although i think our ability to talk about abstract concepts, times, places etc. and the level of meaning we can derive from anything is quite distinctive.
On a wider note, the human ability to make random leaps;
Religion- o the sky: a big man must have put that there long before everything existed (if i may over simplify),
Science- well, its tiny atoms, made of tinier particles that can be waves (another simplification)
all of our tools- a monkey may jab an ants nest with a stick, but he didnt dig some rock out of the ground, melt it, reshape it and build a furniture set to eat the ants from with it.
the list goes on.

 

[Joccaren]

People say that animals have displayed the same creativity as humans and the same intelligence, 1 question then, why haven't these animals developed to where we are instead of us after all a lot of the animals have far better natural weaponry and strength, speed etc to beat us in a straight up fight.

Simple, they didn't have some of the physical capabilities we have, nor the social ones. Language is a powerful tool that separates us from animals, and would have allowed technological changes to spread far faster.
One of our physical advantages is our opposable thumbs. Say an otter, who uses a rock to smash open nuts to eat them, wants to make and wield a spear like man did. Can it? No. It does not have the opposable thumbs required, nor does it necessarily have the need.

You forget, we have actually been around longer than the dinosaurs in some form or other. We evolved from things too. If the dinosaurs had not been wiped out, whose to say the wouldn't have evolved into a creature with the ability to make tools. In their forms at that time, and in our forms at that time, making and using tools was impractical , except in some small scale cases. We eventually evolved to have things like opposable thumbs, and thus tools became advantageous to us.

Some animals are quite creative and intelligent, however the generally don't have the physical advantage we have to be able to make tools and effectively utilise them. Whilst we are the only species with complex tools, we are also one of the few species who would get an advantage out of using them. (E.G: A dolphin would get no advantage out of almost any of our tools, and would have no way to develop those of our tools that would benefit it).

 

[Jedamethis]

I'm not sure of the right words, but I can't think of another animal that would live in some of the most inhospitable places in the world out of choice.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

We kill each other and other species for fun and giggles. Other species don't.

Yes they do: cats kill mice, play with the body and then leave it to rot. Another example: wolves. Do you know why wolves are hated and feared by sheperds? Wolves, when they hunt sheep, don't just kill one or two (just enough to eat) but as far as 20 or 30. Why? cause there's so many that they can't stop and don't care if one is enough.

Cats actually play with the body first and then kill it.

My point still stands. They kill for fun (or out of boredom) since in the end they don't eat the mouse.

I said fun and giggles. They might do it for fun, but no way are they doing it for giggles. Because they can't giggle. So my point stands as well.

 

[shadowsandwich]

Thumbs its all about the thumbs

 

[Joccaren]

I say it's vast intelligences and creativity. Yes animals like Dolphin and Chimpazee are intelligent and other annimal can built stuff but it's not like they can communicate us at a sophisticated level nor can they created anything complex like let say a car run on petrol.

To be fair, Dolphins can communicate quite well. We can't understand it, and thus we do not know the specifics of how well they can communicate, but it isn't bad. Dolphins, however, have no way to be able to make something as simple as a spear though. Even if we taught them how to construct an oil fuelled car, they would be physically unable to.
Chimpanzees are a special case. They could probably construct a car if we taught them how to, however it is unlikely they could conceive the idea on their own. Human forward thinking power is quite good, and is what lets us make our technological bounds the fastest. Chimpanzees, when taught, however, are able to do some basic pilot work and such. They are intelligent, they just lack the forward thinking capacity to make the leaps and bounds humans have.

 

[Joccaren]

I'm not sure of the right words, but I can't think of another animal that would live in some of the most inhospitable places in the world out of choice.

Penguins live in the Antarctic, Deserts are teeming with life. There are creatures adapted to living in the most hostile of environments, and then there are things like Bacteria that can even survive in space.
Humans are unique in how we originally adapted to live in almost every condition on earth, and then adapted those conditions to better suit ourselves once we gained the ability to do so, yes, but there are some animals that do live in the harshest of environments.

 

[Sarah Frazier]

There are quite a few subtle differences between humans and animals besides walking upright, religion, and technology past the use of sticks and stones.

Animals socialize in their own way as a means of making friends, appeasing a superior, or trying to establish themselves as superior to others. Humans simply have more ways of doing the same and have multiple meanings to the same gestures and use them, in some cases, to fool others to be taken advantage of.

Animals have their own forms of politics, at least with those who live in organized groups. An alpha who fails to lead and protect their group well will be overthrown or find that they have less of a pack following them. Compare that to human politics where money and manipulation can get someone to the top spot instead of actual leading skill.

Animals make war, or at least small scale battles. Even coral, which counts as an animal, can wage war with its own species just because some other colony is different. Humans have managed to perfect large-scale war with the use of science and technology, but the founding reasons remain... They're different, so we don't like them.
Coral reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjHqnYNHSVg

Ignoring or even intentionally going against gut instincts seem to be more of a human thing since wild animals who do it would die to predators, poisons, or some other end that would keep them from passing the trait on to their young. Religion is also a human thing, but who's to say that animals wouldn't come up with something if they were in our place?

 

[Balvale]

A developed cerebrum. That's pretty much accountable for all your higher "human" functions.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

It depends how you define "separate"? We're a sperate SPECIES with diffrent traits which are either less or more developped than traits of other species.
Our big brain, which allows us to comprehend way more than animals can, was already mentioned for example.

But we're still animals. We work the same way, have the same ancestors and we're developped by natural selection like any other animal on this planet too.
So statements like "We achieved stuff, the animal kingdom couldn't in millions of years" is toally bollocks because we're part of the animal kingdom. Currently at the top of it, but nontheless a part.

Also stuff like "animals don't have emotions" and what not are also completly bollocks. You can't generalize a friggin Elphant works diffrent than a worm, which works diffrent than a fish.

Emotions are changes of the neural + chemical state the body is currently in. Everything with a brain has them.
Animals mourn, get angry or can feel fear => emotions.

 

[MaxwellEdison]

My opinion is indoor plumbing and finding nicer ways of crapping. Most animals just go wherever and drop it likes its hot. But humans have seen the need to make a fancy seat, even giving it a nickname of "porcelain throne", and finding methods to quickly remove said waste.

Well, not polluting our living spaces with feces is generally a good way to live longer.

 

[Jedamethis]

I'm not sure of the right words, but I can't think of another animal that would live in some of the most inhospitable places in the world out of choice.

Penguins live in the Antarctic, Deserts are teeming with life. There are creatures adapted to living in the most hostile of environments, and then there are things like Bacteria that can even survive in space.
Humans are unique in how we originally adapted to live in almost every condition on earth, and then adapted those conditions to better suit ourselves once we gained the ability to do so, yes, but there are some animals that do live in the harshest of environments.

But they didn't choose to live there did they? And now they couldn't live anywhere else.

 

[A Satanic Panda]

Snip

As to why gorillas and orangutans aren't building rocket ships, give them a few more million years of evolution and I'm sure they will be (provided we don't wipe them out first).

But those wouldn't not be gorillas and orangutans, but a species with gorilla and orangutan ancestors. If evolution took its course, they would probably looking alot like humans. Like you said, we are still primates after all, but what seperates us from them is our science and culture. (I mean the exsistence of culture it self, none of the Lincoln Park, Jonas Brothers stuff.)

 

[let's rock]

Lawers, also proof that other animals are better than us

 

[Hyper-space]

That we waste our time trying to protect the ones natural selection should have weeded out, The ones that need a warning to tell them coffee is hot or to not drink bleach.

I think what you are referring to is the lady who sued McDonalds after having spilled hot coffee on her. The truth however is, that she suffered horrific burns that you don't normally suffer from having hot-coffee spilled all over you. Shit required medical attention, which in that case you can see why suing McDonalds was the sensible decision.

And secondly, natural selection didn't stop, its just changed. Instead of nature and your environment being the deciding factor it is social mechanisms and preferences. Not only are we much better of now (due to us overcoming this primitive state of natural selection), but we are also much, much more humane.

Think about all the people and inventions that we would have never gotten if it weren't for us saying "fuck you" to natural selection. Things such as the arts and science (95% of all scientists that have ever lived are alive this very moment) could not have come if we were to go back to natural selection. Hell, you couldn't be here, posting on a message-board if we were to revert back to our primitive nature.

Suggesting that we let natural selection choose who gets to live and who gets to die is simply heartless, cruel and sadistic. For we would all be less fortunate.

 

[Azahul]

But those wouldn't not be gorillas and orangutans, but a species with gorilla and orangutan ancestors. If evolution took its course, they would probably looking alot like humans.

And that, there, is a big part of my point. We're no different from animals. The only reason we have all this technology and visible and obvious culture is because we evolved in a particular way. There's nothing innately special about humans that separates us from animals. We just evolved in a slightly different manner to the other species around us. Which isn't anything great in and of itself, if everything evolved the same way there would be only one species, which would be kinda weird.