what seperates humans from animals

[tedkennedy]

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

[kamikazi89]

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

[highanddry]

Frontal Lobe... and something about a cortex. Evolution, we came out on top.

[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.

[SmokeSomeDoja]

dolphins communicate with each other (and other species) and they recognize individualism as well.

[tedkennedy]

Ok i read some interesting ideas but i will TELL you why we are different, keep in mind im not making this up, im telling you pretty well proven evolutionary biology theory:

about two million years ago around ancestor homo habilis evolved the ability to throw. several muscles and bones that coincide with the muscles emerged that show that he is an elite thrower. no other animal possesses our elite throwing ability, our closest relatives the chimp can not physically throw a ball at the high velocity a human does due to several muscles devoted to creating torque while throwing, and the way our hand is formed for gripping

what is the implications of the ability to throw? much greater than you may first believe. when you have the ability to kill at a distance you force other members of your species to co-operate with the group as a whole. in the animal world, non-kin of the same species DO NOT WORK TOGETHER. they are in competition for resources and mates and under no circumstances will non-kin of an animal species co-operate or exchange information.

so two million years ago, elite throwing evolved, quickly after brain expansion "exploded" into the fossil record. what facilitated this brain expansion? the fact that elite throwing solved the non-kin conflict of interest caused the formation of the "human village". humans working together for a common goal. This allowed mothers to ween their babies longer, and allowed babies a long period of time while their brain was still growing. you will see in the animal world that once babies are born they have to be able to defend themselves immediatly, and thus their brains stop growing shortly after they are born, and they have to be born with all of their survival skills ingrained in their brain. the human village set up a support net of safety for the mother to give birth to a baby with an extremely large brain and provides resources and safety while that baby is raised.

many animals have vocal chords that are just as advanced if not more so than humans. why dont they exchange information via language? it is because the conflict of interest i mentioned above. about two million years ago we see the displacement of the hyoid bone in the homo throat region, indicating an increased use of the vocal chords, indicating language was a huge part of society.

the fact that animals can be taught many human behaviors but dont exhibit them on their own is only more proof that the only limiting factor is their conflict of interest between non-kin. in other cases, whalesong and birdsong is not for the exchange of information but rather simply a sexually selected mating call, ie the nicer your song the better your chances of reproduced.

[verklingen]

yeah cooperation has driven evolution from the get-go, all the way back to the beginnings of multi-cellular lifeforms. two formerly competing cells had to figure out it was better for them to work together, and they stuck with it successfully. even now our cells are powered by alien mitochondria which have their own unique genetics separate from our own.

that's cool ted, aside from the whalesong piece. science is only now beginning to unravel the complexity of cetacean vocalization. . . a complexity which far outweighs the calls of birds.

[Paranoid Android]

Animals are connected to nature though.

Which is a huge gift.

Just like the Tsunami in Thailand, most of the animals ran to safety far before the tidal wave even came. They totally have "earthly senses."

[Canuck Wisdom]

Well to this I will add, its important to remember that due to our different brains (which may or may not have emerged for various evolutionary reasonings) we can think in the abstract. This means we can look further into the future and the past by using these abstract thoughts to represent and symbolize events, feelings, logic etc.

Ted, PM 4 u.

[Parallax]

humans are really smart/crafty animals, but animals nonetheless.

[tedkennedy]

Originally Posted by verklingen

yeah cooperation has driven evolution from the get-go, all the way back to the beginnings of multi-cellular lifeforms. two formerly competing cells had to figure out it was better for them to work together, and they stuck with it successfully. even now our cells are powered by alien mitochondria which have their own unique genetics separate from our own.

that's cool ted, aside from the whalesong piece. science is only now beginning to unravel the complexity of cetacean vocalization. . . a complexity which far outweighs the calls of birds.

whalesong is passed down genetically from male to male. im telling you that while it is complex and beautiful and I respect the whales, it is not language. scientists have studied whale calls to death and have found its basically just a mating call.

i could go back in my lecture notes and give you more accurate information about whale calls but i am too lazy.

oh yea and regarding co-operation: i think the important distinction you have to understand is that animals are just vehicles for passing on genetic information. every organism in existences SOLE GOAL is to pass on its genetic information. that is why animals do not co-operate with non-kin its because they are not genetically related. whereas a brother father sister mother (kin) are related. you will see in species of birds for example when one birds children die, it decides to help its close kin before its far related kin, because of the genetic related-ness, their is a chance that those have some of the same genetic information and therefore they are worth helping. likewise, with non-kin you will find in MANY MANY MANY animals infanticide, for example male lions will go around killing the babies of females whom children arent there own. killling the babies drives the female into ovulation and allows her to mate again.

regarding human sexuality and paternity, you will find that human females have hidden ovulation. unlike most animals, you cant tell if a human female is "in heat". this serves the purpose to obscure paternity, obscure paternity is a large leap in evolution because a male cannot be 100 percent sure which is his offspring. the human females goal is to mate with the best "stud" around, but she would want to form a monogomous relationship with whomever has the most resources. SO, by having hidden ovulation she can pair bond with a wealthy individual and go sneak off and mate with whomever she is "attracted" to (attraction is most likely genetically programed, ie you are attracted to good looking individuals because they are "good DNA"). likewise males have a few biologicaly predictable traits. for example the male penis is shaped like a squegee to retract any sperm that may be in the female vagina. also, a male can mate repeatedly within 2-4 minutes if presented with new females, or if a female mates with another male inbetween. a male CANNOT repeatedly mate with the same female multiple times over the course of 10 minutes. this is an evolutionary feature that is intended to increase teh chances the male gets to pass on his seed.

so anyway.. /end rant.

biology of human behavior is interesting shit :P

[Canuck Wisdom]

Apparently elephants do something like that too. Low rumbles that are for mating purposes. I wonder if there is an evolutionary connect between the two groups?

[verklingen]

hmm well to be honest most if not all the research i've heard about dealt with dolphins. they use a wide array of "vocabulary" to interact with each other socially.

[tedkennedy]

Originally Posted by Canuck Wisdom

Apparently elephants do something like that too. Low rumbles that are for mating purposes. I wonder if there is an evolutionary connect between the two groups?

everything on this planet has a common ancestor at some point, the only alternative theory would be that "god" one day just made us exist... if you identify how elephants live, you will find some human-like structure to their social system. i dont really know anything about elephants but i know they are pack animals and take time to raise their young and stay in groups, so it is expected they would have some Human-like qualities. they dont have any natural predators so they have a chance for brain expansion after birth, however, this has changed drastically since humans are intent on wiping out most other ecologically dominant competitors.

[Center]

Because humans are the physical representation of universal energy. By our energy bringing this reality into existence, we developed these bodies to inhabit. Other lifeforms are simply biproducts of our energy being here. All in my opinion of course. No evidence that I can currently produce in a scientific way.

Or we just rock that fuckin hard. Figgadealme?

[Canuck Wisdom]

I agree in a sense with your sentiment, but I also feel that all 'living' things, including the higher and lesser creatures, from humans to bacteria, all play a role in the creation, manifestation and continued maintenance of reality in the physical, or sexual world, as opposed to our home in the spiritual realm.

[kamikazi89]

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

Originally Posted by tedkennedy

whalesong is passed down genetically from male to male. im telling you that while it is complex and beautiful and I respect the whales, it is not language. scientists have studied whale calls to death and have found its basically just a mating call.

i could go back in my lecture notes and give you more accurate information about whale calls but i am too lazy.

oh yea and regarding co-operation: i think the important distinction you have to understand is that animals are just vehicles for passing on genetic information. every organism in existences SOLE GOAL is to pass on its genetic information. that is why animals do not co-operate with non-kin its because they are not genetically related. whereas a brother father sister mother (kin) are related. you will see in species of birds for example when one birds children die, it decides to help its close kin before its far related kin, because of the genetic related-ness, their is a chance that those have some of the same genetic information and therefore they are worth helping. likewise, with non-kin you will find in MANY MANY MANY animals infanticide, for example male lions will go around killing the babies of females whom children arent there own. killling the babies drives the female into ovulation and allows her to mate again.

regarding human sexuality and paternity, you will find that human females have hidden ovulation. unlike most animals, you cant tell if a human female is "in heat". this serves the purpose to obscure paternity, obscure paternity is a large leap in evolution because a male cannot be 100 percent sure which is his offspring. the human females goal is to mate with the best "stud" around, but she would want to form a monogomous relationship with whomever has the most resources. SO, by having hidden ovulation she can pair bond with a wealthy individual and go sneak off and mate with whomever she is "attracted" to (attraction is most likely genetically programed, ie you are attracted to good looking individuals because they are "good DNA"). likewise males have a few biologicaly predictable traits. for example the male penis is shaped like a squegee to retract any sperm that may be in the female vagina. also, a male can mate repeatedly within 2-4 minutes if presented with new females, or if a female mates with another male inbetween. a male CANNOT repeatedly mate with the same female multiple times over the course of 10 minutes. this is an evolutionary feature that is intended to increase teh chances the male gets to pass on his seed.

so anyway.. /end rant.

biology of human behavior is interesting shit :P

i thought this was interesting via wikipedia
Animal language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Language of Prairie Dogs Includes Words for Humans | LiveScience

[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