Animals and Humans
July 18, 2009 at 12:16 pm
(This post was last modified: July 18, 2009 at 12:17 pm by Tabby.)
*My understanding on evolution is a bit uninformed, ergo possibly flawed, and if you notice anything wrong with it, *please* feel free to correct my mistake.*
I realize that humans are animals, too, but we have this uncanny defining characteristic, that extreamly complex biomachanical device between our ears, our brain. (When I say "animals", I mean the ones NOT in the category as "homo sapiens", okay?) We can speak many different languages (are there any other animal species that can do this? Dolphins, perhaps?), we use our sense of reason to build and use tools, calculate when that tiger across the river might get tired and strike at the right moment, etc...
Anyways, what I wanted to say, was that maybe our ancient ancestors--ancient, ancient, ANCIENT ones (i.e., the ones that came out of the sea to being amphibians on land,)--had relied on their basic intincts, and didn't have the capacity to use logic or reasoning, and just didn't stand there and contemplate, "Where did those sparkling things in the sky at night come from?" but just LIVED, and did what was necessary. Isn't it interesting, to say the least, that animals--then and today--rely on their base instincts and seem to live more than we do? Or do they not have the capacity to emotionally enjoy things that a homo sapiens would, such as sex, eating, and the like?
So, to sum it all up, here are my questions:
Do non-human animals have the emotional capacity to REALLY enjoy sex and food?
Do you think that by humans' ability to think, to reason, we have taken away from what it is like to actually live a little? (example: with our ability to think SO HARD we just sit around all day, rather than actually going out and LIVING.)
Do some animals use their brains like we do, but maybe in a less complex way?
Oh yeah--I heard some creationist say, "atheists are racist because they say that white people are "more evolved" than black people!" o_o by more evolved, do you mean more complex? Is complexity equal to better? and how are they more complex anyways? And who the hell ever said that white people are "more evolved" than black people? We're still human, right? We're still apart of the same species, so I don't see much of a differnece, other than the color of our skin, hair, and eyes.
I realize that humans are animals, too, but we have this uncanny defining characteristic, that extreamly complex biomachanical device between our ears, our brain. (When I say "animals", I mean the ones NOT in the category as "homo sapiens", okay?) We can speak many different languages (are there any other animal species that can do this? Dolphins, perhaps?), we use our sense of reason to build and use tools, calculate when that tiger across the river might get tired and strike at the right moment, etc...
Anyways, what I wanted to say, was that maybe our ancient ancestors--ancient, ancient, ANCIENT ones (i.e., the ones that came out of the sea to being amphibians on land,)--had relied on their basic intincts, and didn't have the capacity to use logic or reasoning, and just didn't stand there and contemplate, "Where did those sparkling things in the sky at night come from?" but just LIVED, and did what was necessary. Isn't it interesting, to say the least, that animals--then and today--rely on their base instincts and seem to live more than we do? Or do they not have the capacity to emotionally enjoy things that a homo sapiens would, such as sex, eating, and the like?
So, to sum it all up, here are my questions:
Do non-human animals have the emotional capacity to REALLY enjoy sex and food?
Do you think that by humans' ability to think, to reason, we have taken away from what it is like to actually live a little? (example: with our ability to think SO HARD we just sit around all day, rather than actually going out and LIVING.)
Do some animals use their brains like we do, but maybe in a less complex way?
Oh yeah--I heard some creationist say, "atheists are racist because they say that white people are "more evolved" than black people!" o_o by more evolved, do you mean more complex? Is complexity equal to better? and how are they more complex anyways? And who the hell ever said that white people are "more evolved" than black people? We're still human, right? We're still apart of the same species, so I don't see much of a differnece, other than the color of our skin, hair, and eyes.
