What defines a human? What makes us different from the other animals?

Question

What defines a human? What makes us different from the other animals?

Answer 1

Well that is easy it will be that we are conscious and the animals don't know they are conscious they just do what is they nature we think, we build, we express feelings.

Answer 2

Perhaps to understand that we are the only species upon this planet, that is destroying this planet so that a very small number of fantastically large bank balances can be left, in a few bank books, when all life on our 'rock' has gone.  Just look, we are turning everything into money; we are also destroying everything while we're doing it.  To answer your question: what defines a dog, what defines a fish or what defines a cloud.  Human is just the name given to this biological machine in which we live.

Answer 3

Opposable thumbs, abstract thought (we think that ability is exclusively ours but are unable to check this with a gorilla!) and the ability to seek vengence.  For starters.

Answer 4

The Brain

Answer 5

The power to reason!

Answer 6

It can't be the powers of reason. Many animals have shown to possess just such faculties.

It can't be the urge to build. Bees, ants and various other creatures do the same.

It can't be the use of tools. Animals do the same thing: Chimps, ants, etc.

It can't be culture/society. Other animals have such constructs as well (division of labor).

Is it language? No, there are other forms of language then our forms of speech.

It is my point of view that man is the only animal that feels the need to express his beliefs to others and to discover some purpose in life. Something beyond instinct. Thats what I think anyway.

Answer 7

only humans associate s*x with love, and love with s*x.

Answer 8

look around. we are the only species that are creative to build ourselves anything. man had no wings so he built himself a pair so we have planes.

Answer 9

The lowered hyoid bone that made the development of complex speech possible. The rest just followed as an adaptive advantage.

Answer 10

Many things, but probably more than anything else it's language. Some animals have rudimentary reasoning powers, and some even use tools, but none uses language in a creative and abstract way that human beings do. And language has distanced mankind from its animal ancestors and made civilization possible.

Answer 11

A lot. I'll name a few.  1) Language and Thought

        2) Awareness of the difference between right and wrong

        3) Freedom to make choices,