what seperates humans from animals

[toasty]

Opposable thumbs and our ability to control fire. Fire is very useful. When we learned that cooking meat made it much tender, it made for less time spent on chewing raw meat. Over time, the jaw muscles/bones shrank giving more room for the brain to grow. Also, eating meat gave our brains the nutrients needed to grow.

[ziplock]

I can see a case for what makes humans different from animals but the only thing that really separates them is arbitrary categorization on the part of the humans.

[espiex]

Originally Posted by Mescalito

I would suggest that drug ingestion has a lot to do with the differences which well lets face it are not easy to group because we don't really know shit about other species.

M

It sounds crazily plausible to me too. Of course our brains were already growing as an evolutionary advantage, but natural psychoactive substances could have had all kinds of interesting effects on brains which were much more animal and 'in the moment'. One way or the other, we developed complex language and abstract thought, and it was all on from there.

[Mescalito]

An extract from wiki...

Perhaps the most famous of Terence McKenna's theories and observations is his explanation for the origin of the human mind and culture. McKenna theorized that as the North African jungles receded toward the end of the most recent ice age, giving way to grasslands, a branch of our tree-dwelling primate ancestors left the branches and took up a life out in the open — following around herds of ungulates, nibbling what they could along the way.

Among the new items in their diet were psilocybin-containing mushrooms growing in the dung of these ungulate herds. McKenna, referencing the research of Roland L. Fisher Ph.D. (College of Optometry and Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University)[14] [15] [16] [17], claimed enhancement of visual acuity as an effect of psilocybin at low doses, and supposed that this would have conferred an adaptive advantage. He also argued that the effects of slightly larger doses, including a physical sexual arousal (again, not reported as a typical effect in scientific studies) — and in still larger doses, ecstatic hallucinations and glossolalia — gave evolutionary advantages to those tribes who partook of it. There were many changes caused by the introduction of this drug to the primate diet. McKenna theorizes, for instance, that synesthesia (the blurring of boundaries between the senses) caused by psilocybin led to the development of spoken language: the ability to form pictures in another person's mind through the use of vocal sounds.

About 12,000 years ago, further climate changes removed the mushroom from the human diet, which McKenna argued to result in a new set of profound changes in our species as we reverted to pre-mushroomed and brutal primate social structures that had been modified and/or repressed by frequent consumption of psilocybin.

McKenna did not attempt to defend his hypotheses through rigorous scientific evidence; he consciously self-identified as a type of shaman, or ethnobotanist. McKenna and his followers view his theories as speculation that is at a minimum scientifically feasible and arguably gifted by special knowledge due to psychedelic plants. His hypothesis that psilocybin induced a phase change in human evolution is necessarily based on a great deal of supposition interpolating between the few fragmentary facts we know about hominid and early human history, but the ability to metabolize any dietary component can, in principle, confer a selective advantage. A live recording of his "Stoned Ape" theory can be found on the CD Conversations on the Edge of Magic (recorded live at the Starwood Festival).

I'm not saying I think this is the sole reason.. just a likely part of. I mean evolution aside.. such chemicals have had great affect on all aspects of what our world is like. Shit.. half of all religious scriptures were probably written after such experiences. Then of course there are dreams. All of these amazing experiences humans probably had must have contributed in some way to the evolution of our species.. and other species no doubt. It would be a little naive to disregard such experiences like many do today. Drug induced or not.. this shit is profound. In the end I don't think the differences between our species and another could be brought down to just one factor.. like everything.. lots of factors are involved which all link together in this wonderfully intricate way that is probably pretty close to impossible to grasp or even contemplate.

M

[The Rev]

What separates humans from animals?

Bestiality laws.



The Rev

[SweetSativa]

why are humans "smarter" than animals. why are humans so ecologically dominant? why can humans "speak" and animals cannot?

Shhhhh... I didn't know animals couldn't speak. Don't tell me

All is connected. Whether or not the human animal is as intelligent as they believe is yet to be seen. I guess it has to do with how fucking long it takes them to kill themselves off (either through ecological stupidity or bloody fucking war). It seems incredible to me that we have the intelligence to create an industrialized society while at the same time, the complete and utter short-sightedness to not know or not care the long-term results of it. MASS PRODUCE... OVER CONSUME.... RAPE THE EARTH.... DENY OUR CONNECTION TO AND PART OF NATURE ... and see where the hell we're left.

[tedkennedy]

Originally Posted by kamikazi89

humans are primates, the differences are just a matter of degree really

but if we are "just primates" why have our populations exploded while the common ape or chimp has not? (reasons i explained)

[Gяiєvєs]

Humans use foresight and coupled with our parasitic nature makes for an anomaly without natural born competition...There are no other species like us because the world would not be able to sustain competition on that level...Our role is undefined but it looks as though it will be self-inflicted destruction on a global scale, if not catastrophic, one based out of poor resource management...

[FineazPR]

...first of all, we actually think about most shit before we do it...(cough, cough!) I mean, most of the time we do. Yah, I have seen guys pull their wankers out to go pee agianst a wall in what I guess must be a desperate moment, and no nearby toilets...but I have yet to see somebody squat and take shit in a public place. But I imagine, I maybe one of the chosen few to have avoided that view for this long...Yay! and I have yet to meet anyone who has eaten their young. At least I dont think I have.

[Parallax]

humans are animals, whether you like it or not, we just happen to be the most dominant on this planet.

[AdmBmb]

Originally Posted by Vik*star*

cuz animals are made to serve me, provide me with tasty meaty food.

As to why they can't speak: thats not really true. Speaking is a way to pass gestures or information across. And animals do chirp and bark and stuff , in their own way they send information across.
IMO, its like saying why Humans can't bark!


As for intelligence: well that one is hard to answer but animals do have the basic intelligency they need to survive eg. honeybees making their shed or birds makes their nest etc... Basically its only because of that extra intelligence that distinguishes humans and animals really.

honeybees are not intelligent at all. that shit is pure instinct, niggas hatch and go do work, son

edit: ROFL! you said honeybees making their "shed", let me bold it

[badgoalie85]

Originally Posted by tedkennedy

every organism in existences SOLE GOAL is to pass on its genetic information.

i've seen you say this before and it makes some sense, but i gotta tell you i disagree with it very strongly. i don't think you can tell any organism, especially a human, what its sole goal is. my sole goal, for instance, is to be happy, and passing on my genetic information could actually interfere with that.

[Porcelain]

We're omnivores and nomads. Much of natural evolution is influenced by climate and vegitation.

[ziplock]

Originally Posted by tedkennedy

every organism in existences SOLE GOAL is to pass on its genetic information.

Ah! This...

I ask, on what basis do you infer such a conclusion? How do you manage to narrow it down to the one and only goal?

[Praise Jah]

Originally Posted by kamikazi89

they haven't mastered quotation marks, and all that "implies"

nice

[Parallax]

Originally Posted by ziplock

Ah! This...

I ask, on what basis do you infer such a conclusion? How do you manage to narrow it down to the one and only goal?

if it wasnt every species' goal to pass on their genes, then there wouldnt be any life at all.

[Praise Jah]

Originally Posted by Parallax

if it wasnt every species' goal to pass on their genes, then there wouldnt be any life at all.

You're foolish to think things couldn't* (maybe *don't) exist any other way.

[tedkennedy]

Originally Posted by ziplock

Ah! This...

I ask, on what basis do you infer such a conclusion? How do you manage to narrow it down to the one and only goal?

it its called "biology".

but please if you care to "infer" something else please do.

Originally Posted by Praise Jah

You're foolish to think things couldn't* (maybe *don't) exist any other way.

please stop talking.

Originally Posted by badgoalie85

i've seen you say this before and it makes some sense, but i gotta tell you i disagree with it very strongly. i don't think you can tell any organism, especially a human, what its sole goal is. my sole goal, for instance, is to be happy, and passing on my genetic information could actually interfere with that.

while i respect your opinion the entire field of biology revolves around the fact that organisms behave very predictably because they are merely vehicles for passing on genetic information. if cells did not replicate we would not exist. evolution would not exist. animal behavior is extremely predicatable because they act soley as vehicles for passing on their genetic information, it is a waste for me to keep arguing to prove my point because this thread is old and i dont want to go back and reread, and whoever doesnt agree is going to keep arguing regardless of how well i prove that i am right. its just a waste of effort.

it is pointless for me to have an educated discourse with people whom dont have any knowledge of biology and dont care to actually listen to someone who does.