What seperates humans from other animals?

Question

The answer, i must disagree animals are quite creative and imaginative because if they weren't they wouldn't be able to solve problems like a maze or puzzle

Answer 1

Humans usually have much more reasoning power, and are able to usually go into much greater detail when communicating.

Answer 2

I would have to say our stories...humans communicate on paper and computer, but we have our stories that are historically documented.

Answer 3

Well, the obvoius is that we dont have fur!!  Although I have seen some hairy people before!!!

Answer 4

Most people don't want to admit it, but nothing seperates us from the other animals.  We're one of them.  

So much for deep thinking.

Answer 5

Oddly enough I was thinking about this question yesterday. The only answer that I could come up with is shame. Humans have it, and animals don't. This is the only tangible difference between us and them. Intelligence, knowledge, soul...these are things that we can't prove that animals don't have. But shame - well, it seems obvious to me.

Anyone see what I'm saying?

Guilt and shame are not the same. When I say shame, I refer to animal behaviors such as urinating anywhere in front of anyone, or the simple fact that they have no bodily shame and do not feel the need to wear clothes.

I can feel guilty without being ashamed, how bout you?

Not picking a fight, just think this is an interesting discussion.

I believe your last reply validated my point! The different idea of right and wrong is exactly what I'm talking about. Perhaps the word "shame" is such a broad abstract concept that we're using it in two different contexts.

Touching back on your first response: The guilt you see from an animal is an anthropomorphism. That is it's a human trait being applied to the animal. In reality, the reaction you see when your pet gets scolded is a learned behavior. You have taught the animal that when they did something you didn't like, they got in trouble. Well, they don't want to be in trouble. It has nothing to do with their own concept of right or wrong.

Hmmm....seems to me you weren't looking for an open discussion, you just wanted to see if anyone had the same idea as yourself.

Not only that, but your own answer is a matter of opinion and cannot be proven.

Answer 6

Our creative imagination is the only difference there is no seperation all mammals are socialising beings

Answer 7

Humans have intelligence, freewill and spiritual soul that will never die. Humans are made to the image and likeness of God. Animals are ruled by instincts and they have no soul. They die and that's the end.

Answer 8

thumbs

Answer 9

Humans have feelings like greed, envy, vengeance, and feel like they are invincible and rule the world.

We have so much to learn from animals.

And isn't every living thing created in God's image?

See what I mean? Why do we think we are so superior to everything else? And of course animals have souls! this is screwed up geez

Answer 10

our arrogance, and sense of self importance.

Answer 11

Many things the most important being that we were created in God's image. Animals were not created in God's image. We have opposing thumbs. Animals do not. We reason.Animals don't. Humans will do a lot of hurtfull grotesque and perverted things even when they know it's wrong. Animals won't.

Answer 12

NOTHING! Humans ARE animals! They just evolved differently... and have different abilities based on what best enables them to survive. This may mean we have opposable thumbs or a bigger cerebral cortex, but this doesn't mean we are better, or that much different from other animals. Ultimately all species just want to eat, make babies, and not die.

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EDIT: Actually most animals do have prejudice. Many kinds of animals will exclude and ridicule a certain member of its group if it acts a certain way. And how you know that animals can't hate I reallllly don't understand seeing as how you only have a conscious memory of being human... unless you have schizophrenia.

So basically... you're just plain wrong.

Accusing us of not thinking very deeply because we didn't answer the way you wanted is not very deep yourself...

Answer 13

We have souls, animals do not, even though we would like to think they do.

By the way, human beings are the only creatures that allow their children to come back home!

Point out where the Bible says animals have souls . . . . . .

You are so bent on giving everyone your opinion, closed minded when others state theirs and put others down because those that disagree with you, you seem to view as idiots; amazing how egotistical one can be standing on his own soap box!

Answer 14

our clothes

Answer 15

Walls. But they still don't keep the cockroaches out...

Answer 16

Humans are stuuuppendously dumb, animals get along with their own species and are probably much more happy

Answer 17

Higher brain functions- its a scientific fact

Answer 18

Humans have written language.

Language is a powerful tool. Even chimps taught ASL consider themselves 'human' compared to 'dumb' chimps without language skills.

Also, feral children who were denied language grew up into animals of human form. Of course we can SURVIVE without language, but we would not be human. It is our essence. Even the Bible says that in the beginning was the WORD. It also says that we are made in God's Image, which could be construed to mean that we are what we are because of language.

HATE??? No. I've SEEN animals that hated. And several gorilla mothers have been documented to abuse their babies. If you've done this just to push your own ideas, perhaps you should release your own hate and open your mind.

Answer 19

Rules, regulations, building over and destroying nature, as well as the dumbest most complicated procedures before sexual encounters.

Answer 20

we had the brains to make brains(PCs) to to all the braining for us

Answer 21

Hmmm, what makes Humans unique from the other animals, lets see...

within mammals:

reduced hair size in our folicles... Pigs

tool use... even Otters use tools

upright walking... done frequently by the proboscis monkey

fatty subcutaneous layer... Seals

self recognition... Chimpanzees

use of vocalizations... Vervet monkeys

a brain capable of complex gramatical language... Bonobo

forward shifted female genetalia... Elephants

breath control... Crab Eating Macaques

abstract thought and a understanding of space and time... Bonobo

bisexualism... Japaneese Macaques

eccrine sweat glands... Patas Monkey

large head to body ratio... squirrel monkeys

use of pharmeceticals... Chimpanzees again

Oposable thumb... Orangutan

diving reflex... Dolphin

brachiating arms... Gibbons

tailless... Gorilla

culture... even capuchin groups develop different traditions

understanding death... Bonobos and Chimpanzees

emotions... Bonobos and chimpanzees

PREMEDITATED MURDER... Elephants and Chimpanzees share this dubious characteristic with us.

What is unique to humans:

acne

back problems

hernias

All that is left to be so proud about...

numerous unique osteological features (forwar shifted foramen magnum, pelvic bone, bone morphology of our heals etc)

We still have the largest head to body ratio, sorry squirrel monkeys

The ability to study and understand our own biology

complex vocalizations

elaborate cultures which often war with each other... but even Chimpanzees war with each other so nothing new there.

THE ABILITY TO CAUSE THE EXTINCTION OF THE OTHER MARVELOUS ANIMALS IN OUR WORLD....

We have this unique ability uncontested

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In response to your details, I think I made my case pretty clear:

The ability to not only look but to understand our own biology is a very clear distinction.  A chimpanzee would not know what the function of a heart or a brain as they pulled it out of the red collobus monkey that they were consuming.

The apes do not have the conscious ability to control their flow of breath.  If they did they could be taught to speak with constonant sounds to go with their vowel sounds and could develop a more complex vocalizations, and pass it on through their culture.  Until then we are seperated in our expression of language, although not in being able to think with language.  Bonobos have cleary shown this ability.

You are applying my distinction that humans can cause extinction to other animals incorrectly.  You are showing a very narrow minded viewpoint because the other animals can only cause the extinction of other animals on a local scale, where as humans control this on a GLOBAL scale, BIG seperation there.

As for your "hate" factor, that is simply not true.  Abused elephants have clearly shown that even they have the memory and the ability to hold grudges and hate.  If you had ever talked to a primatologist or have done your own behavioural observations (which I have done and seperates you from I) of any of the great apes you would quickly realize that "hate" is a common feature between some individuals, sometimes their hate is in a moment and will last a couple days, in some cases their hate will last their entire life with constant discrimination and prejudice!

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Just because a dolphin uses echolocation as a sense does not mean that the images that the dolphin interpret from this sense are any more tangible to it then the chimpanzee making sesnse of the organs that it see with its eyes.

In other words I'm refering to interpretation, cognition and understanding, as opposed to just the ability to "sense" be it eyes or echos.

A bonobo can recognize that the enlarging belly of a female is because of pregnancy, I have witnessed this understanding myself.    Next...

Why do you post a question that you think that you know all the answers too anyways?

Answer 22

our arrogance and our mental capacity to believe we are superior.

Answer 23

Animals never ask questions and then debate the answers by using the edit function, never not once.