what seperates humans and animals?

Loki130

Loki130

I remember when...
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Alright, I've been thinking about this: what exactly is it that makes human behavior so different from animals? (or at least other mammals) It seems to me that we opperate under the same basic instincts. But we do have our complex civilization, so what is it about our brain and thought processes that allows that?
so:
-What seperates human and animal behavior?
-What causes this distinction?
 
Divine purpose.
 
“The only activities I could think of that had no animal equivalent were: smoking, bodybuilding and writing. And that’s not much considering how special we seem to think we are.” - Douglas Coupland
 
Mise said:
We're smarter than they are.
Click to expand...

some dolphins are just as smart as people, and our old competetors, neanderthals, had a larger brain capacity. and animals have a varying levels of intelligence, but still run on similar patterns of instincts, so why do we think we can break free of them?
 
Loki130 said:
some dolphins are just as smart as people, and our old competetors, neanderthals, had a larger brain capacity. and animals have a varying levels of intelligence, but still run on similar patterns of instincts, so why do we think we can break free of them?
Click to expand...
The very smartest dolphins might approach the mental ability of a ******** toddler (say, to rearrange coloured blocks in some particular fashion). But humans are smarter than animals.

It's like asking what separates me from an olympic 100m sprinter -- the sprinter's faster. I don't see what the issue is here?
 
Mise said:
The very smartest dolphins might approach the mental ability of a ******** toddler (say, to rearrange coloured blocks in some particular fashion). But humans are smarter than animals.

It's like asking what separates me from an olympic 100m sprinter -- the sprinter's faster. I don't see what the issue is here?
Click to expand...

Not quite, Dolphins are on par with a non ******** 4 year old in most areas.

They are still not as smart as Bonobos or Chimps though.
 
higher level of intelligence... thats it really

oh and opposable thumbs are what separates us from dolphins
 
Elta said:
Not quite, Dolphins are on par with a non ******** 4 year old in most areas.

They are still not as smart as Bonobos or Chimps though.
Click to expand...
Ahh, I stand corrected. I saw a TED talk on bonobos and yeah, those lil guys really are quite astounding!

JEELEN said:
Reviewing the answers so far - and considering human history - I'd say: arrogance.
Click to expand...
Is that your humble judgement?
 
Elta said:
Not quite, Dolphins are on par with a non ******** 4 year old in most areas.

They are still not as smart as Bonobos or Chimps though.
Click to expand...

And they are not as smart as Birds and they are not as as smart as Children, since they can predict where other children will put toys. The test is called the Sally Anne Test, to see if Sally knows where Anne will put a toy, after each child has gotten to know each other.

The thing that separates us from Animals is that we are made in the Image of God and they are not, making us so much more important.
 
Principal advantage of humans - speech, it allowed to transfer experience between specimen and thus, accumulating it. Without speech humans were just another smart monkeys.
Development of modern civilization started with invention of writing.
 
Most things that separate us from other animals is the frequency we use certain mental tasks. For example, the ability to plan ahead. Humans do that all the time, but it's only been observed once in animals, and that's in a chimpanzee or bonobo in a zoo.

Humans appreciate beauty frequently, whereas animals are observed to do it much less often.

Humans create art for the pleasure of creating.

Humans make and use tools much more frequently than animals.

Humans create music.

Humans have far more complicated language than animals.

So, it's not so much uniqueness that separates humans from animals, but just the frequency of donig certain things.
 
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