What makes us human?
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Religion in the beginning and more recently science. These things are what make humans special. No other animal is crazy enough to invent things like religion and science.
Sapience.
But more so, it's us that define what is human. A human can not exclude himself from that definition.
I believe someone else also said, that a better question would be what other kind of an animal could be considered "human".
But more so, it's us that define what is human. A human can not exclude himself from that definition.
I believe someone else also said, that a better question would be what other kind of an animal could be considered "human".
I don't exactly know what human is unless you compare it to either robots or animals to see the difference.
But Ima say that being human is being able to say that an emotional based reward is more important than a logic based reward directed towards survival. You could say its logical to like emotions because emotions feel good, but its not externally logical, alike to drugs.
Some of emotional rewards are geared up to logic, because evolution, but can frequently be applied incorrectly, to the wrong situations.
But Ima say that being human is being able to say that an emotional based reward is more important than a logic based reward directed towards survival. You could say its logical to like emotions because emotions feel good, but its not externally logical, alike to drugs.
Some of emotional rewards are geared up to logic, because evolution, but can frequently be applied incorrectly, to the wrong situations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_use_by_animalsgamezombieghgh said:
for example monkeys use sticks for stuff. apparently some even sharpen stick into spears.
i wasnt trying to say your answer is bad, i was saying that asking what makes us human in my oppinion isnt as good a question that could be asked. my reply to your answer and my oppinion on the question were meant to be 2 different things. i wasnt trying to be passive aggressive or anything.
i didnt start this thread so im not sure what you mean.
ok so intelligence would determine if an alien race is on the same level as us? how do you measure intelligence? cause alot of animals seem pretty intelligent.
I don't think what makes us human (in the philosophical rather than biological sense) is a binary thing where if you have it you're human and if not you're an animal. Instead, it's a matter of degree. Other creatures use tools, but none as extensively as we do. Other animals can think abstractly, but none to the same degree as we can. Other animals can communicate, but they don't really use language the way we do (probably related to them not thinking abstractly as much as we do, since language is an abstraction).
The problem with this is, we can't really say that this is a result of love and not something else. This is one of the major problems faced by animal research. It is very easy to anthropomorphize them and wind up with results that are entirely false. I'm not saying swans don't feel strong emotions (there's enough evidence of animals feeling emotion that this certainly isn't beyond the realm of possibility), only that an animal appearing to be acting as a result of emotion may not actually be the case, or the emotion may not be what we think it is (how many people think their dog looks 'guilty' when really the dog can just tell by the owner's behavior that the owner is mad, so they are simply being submissive?)rollerfox88 said:
When you have Emotion and learn to Make Love. When you acknowledge that the Television Rules the Nation, that it is a Brainwasher and how Technologic the world has become. But you can still dance to the Robot Rock and be Human After All. When you don't have an On/Off button and live the Prime Time of Your Life.
That's how I see it.
That's how I see it.
a biological relationship that is an indefinite monogomy doesn't equate to love.rollerfox88 said:
animals do not love because they don't think about love.
I don't think love felt as a mechanic makes it pure it makes it hollow.Dread Skavos said:
but then presumeing to know what love is undermines my arguement.
"love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon."
W.B.Yeats.
you see i'm unable to argue my point further for believing love is to complex to do so.
i will say however mamals and birds never felt love like we have. Read Wuthering Heights and my opinion should be clear.
or the Flea, just because its excellent.
EDIT: or perhaps I'm just a hopeless Romantic
Two things that came to mind before reading others say it; emotions and reasoning. But I wouldn't say one single thing makes us human.
Some are saying, "well dogs can do that too." Just because another animal does something doesn't mean that it can't be a quality that makes us human. Dogs can swim. Are they now fish?
We share many qualities with other animals; perhaps it's the uniqueness and complexity of these qualities that make us human.
Some are saying, "well dogs can do that too." Just because another animal does something doesn't mean that it can't be a quality that makes us human. Dogs can swim. Are they now fish?
We share many qualities with other animals; perhaps it's the uniqueness and complexity of these qualities that make us human.
Explain how saying "we have to be careful that we aren't merely anthropomorphizing animals" elevates the human condition beyond scrutiny?rollerfox88 said:
If they are acting differently due to a biochemical reaction then it isn't different. But just because their actions APPEAR to match what humans do as a result of emotion does not necessarily mean the swans are feeling emotion. Again, I'm not saying swans don't have emotions, only that we have to be careful to separate what is actually happening from our own biases.