Are we out of the jungle?

[Bob]

I saw a lady in the store.  It would be impolite to comment on her physical appearance, but she reminded me of a bear.  A moma bear.  I saw she had a little kid with her.  Her cub.  The kid wanders away.  Pretty soon, I hear the kid crying/calling out.  The mother quickly comes over.

I was careful not to get inbetween the too.

This mother and kid seemed soooo much like a mother bear and cub. 


I have wondered this -- Are we really out of the jungle?  Isn't this just a diferent jungle we're in?  Aren't we all still competing and furaging for food and things?

We are humans, but are we really higher than other creatures?  Aren't we just doing the same things basically?  Is there really much significant difference?  We can think.  We can use our hands.  We can build stuff.  We have been communication between ourselves.  But the rest seems basically the same.  Maybe the idea of art is a significant difference though.

Comments?  Agree or disagree?  Other examples?

[randmc]

We are separated from other creatures by two things:
1. The ability to reason
2. The ability to create art

[chopiabin]

Well, aren't your definitions of art and reason limited by the fact that you are human? I mean you actually have no idea if animals create art because your definition of art would necessarily be different from an animal's just because of the fact that you are a man.

Now, I'm not saying that animals DO create art, but I don't think we should rule out the possibility simply because they don't create art as we would define it.

We are all ruled by the same instincts as animals - survival (the modern equivalent of material desires etc.), sexual drives, maternal and paternal instincts - the only difference is the degree to which the creation of society has forced us to compromise with those instincts. The development of "morality" can very easily be described as the ritualization and complication of those compromises as society continues to expand and develop.

[leahcim]

I mean you actually have no idea if animals create art because your definition of art would necessarily be different from an animal's just because of the fact that you are a man.

I think it's much simpler. If we can reason and create art, then animals can and do

There are sufficient differences between  a dog and a cat for most to note them, but we don't separate them, at least not in the same way that I think the comment implied - we still consider dogs and cats to be animals and therefore what they do is something that animals [or creatures] do albeit not necessarily all animals.

Indeed, if dogs or any other creatures are unique in some way saying "dog" seems sufficient for laymen. I don't see much difference with what we do.

OTOH, "higher" might be a fair word to use for our brains - and that seems to be what's behind things like art and reason - but I think it's stretching the point if it's used to set us aside as separate from animals at least in some contexts which I shan't mention, but I predict using my reason that the debate will mention them anon

[allthumbs]

I have wondered this -- Are we really out of the jungle?  Isn't this just a diferent jungle we're in?  Aren't we all still competing and furaging for food and things?

We are humans, but are we really higher than other creatures?  Aren't we just doing the same things basically?  Is there really much significant difference?  We can think.  We can use our hands.  We can build stuff.  We have been communication between ourselves.  But the rest seems basically the same.  Maybe the idea of art is a significant difference though.

Comments?  Agree or disagree?  Other examples?

Actually, I often wondered who the smart species on the planet really are? Is it man, I'm not so sure?

Well, what other creature pollutes the envoiroment to the detriment of its own existance, strips the natural resources to depletion, fights wars to the death over territory, religion, ethnicity, wealth, oil etc., and over-populates its habitat beyond its ability to sustain itself etc.

Oh, there is an organism with many of the above characteristics; it's called a virus (from the movie The Matrix).

I think that man could learn a lot from the animal kingdom. Don't you think?


Cheers

allthumbs



 

[leahcim]

Actually, I often wondered who the smart species on the planet really are? Is it man, I'm not so sure?

But such a list, if it shows intelligence, came from the same thing didn't it?

[stringoverstrung]

We are separated from other creatures by two things:
1. The ability to reason
2. The ability to create art

One of the biggest differences is that we (most of us) have a sense of humor. Probably our selfawareness is also higher.