"We aren't, we just like to think we are." I keep hearing this a lot. "Human arrogance!" I keep hearing the cry come forth.
I reply: Yeah? So?
Arrogance is a display of superiority or self-importance. And I'd say that, yes, we ARE displaying superiority and self-importance. There aren't a grand many human beings who would take a bullet in place of an animal, even their pet, even some of the most radical members of PETA wouldn't do that shit. I haven't seen any animals lately erecting giant superstructures, constructing supercomputers, or supercolliders. I haven't ever seen any animals build even a farm, either. I've seen beavers build dams at least:
![[Image: beaver_dam_2.jpg]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=www.ridacritter.com%2FImages%2Fgallery%2Fbeavers%2Fbeaver_dam_2.jpg)
But then I've also seen what a human-built dam looks like...
![[Image: hoover-dam-directions.jpg]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=www.visitingdc.com%2Fimages%2Fhoover-dam-directions.jpg)
CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE HERE. It's almost like humans are entirely indistinct from other animals.
I call bullshit and intellectual dishonesty among those arguing that humans are indistinct from other animals. We're VERY distinct, and we are VERY powerful. We are as a result of social structuring and communication the apex predator of this world. To quote Jacob Bronowski:
Genetically, we are VERY similar, yes. But that's to be expected in an intertwined ecosystem [as opposed to a not-intertwined ecosystem? I dunno, it just sounds cooler to add that in]; genetic similarities. But the twig on the branch of the limb of the tree of life that grew into us went a very specific route of development. There weren't many of us, and we weren't entirely strong or fast [though we are rather durable in the long run], so in order to survive we had to work with something else, and our particular species worked with it the best. Other primates had some success but ours had greater success and as such continued to survive and spread and genetically diversify, which bit by bit leads to complexity. We evolved in a very unique environment under very unique circumstances. Survival demanded the development of communication and interaction, and thus after millenia, if not longer, we began to pick up on bits and pieces of the world around us, studied them, and used the environment to our advantages. Our enhanced awareness to each other resulted in our enhanced awareness to our environment, and that is what sets us apart; awareness.
People also like to say, I noticed, that the human brain is very similar to animal brains. Yes, it is, 85% similar in fact to a dog's.
And then we look at Albert Einstein's brain. It was 99.9% similar to all the rest of us yet I get the funny feeling there aren't too many people here that are of a caliber of intellect necessary to do anything he was capable of doing.
Minute differences result in wild differences in the relationship between genetics and the world. We ARE animals; and we are the most advanced, unified, yet divided of them all, too.
Don't be so casual in your dismissal of the human species; that goes for everyone. There's a difference between humility, and scorning the achievements of others.
I reply: Yeah? So?
Arrogance is a display of superiority or self-importance. And I'd say that, yes, we ARE displaying superiority and self-importance. There aren't a grand many human beings who would take a bullet in place of an animal, even their pet, even some of the most radical members of PETA wouldn't do that shit. I haven't seen any animals lately erecting giant superstructures, constructing supercomputers, or supercolliders. I haven't ever seen any animals build even a farm, either. I've seen beavers build dams at least:
But then I've also seen what a human-built dam looks like...
CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE HERE. It's almost like humans are entirely indistinct from other animals.
I call bullshit and intellectual dishonesty among those arguing that humans are indistinct from other animals. We're VERY distinct, and we are VERY powerful. We are as a result of social structuring and communication the apex predator of this world. To quote Jacob Bronowski:
Quote:“Man is a singular creature. He has a set of gifts which make him unique among the animals, so that unlike them, he is not a figure in the landscape, he is the shaper of the landscape.”
Genetically, we are VERY similar, yes. But that's to be expected in an intertwined ecosystem [as opposed to a not-intertwined ecosystem? I dunno, it just sounds cooler to add that in]; genetic similarities. But the twig on the branch of the limb of the tree of life that grew into us went a very specific route of development. There weren't many of us, and we weren't entirely strong or fast [though we are rather durable in the long run], so in order to survive we had to work with something else, and our particular species worked with it the best. Other primates had some success but ours had greater success and as such continued to survive and spread and genetically diversify, which bit by bit leads to complexity. We evolved in a very unique environment under very unique circumstances. Survival demanded the development of communication and interaction, and thus after millenia, if not longer, we began to pick up on bits and pieces of the world around us, studied them, and used the environment to our advantages. Our enhanced awareness to each other resulted in our enhanced awareness to our environment, and that is what sets us apart; awareness.
People also like to say, I noticed, that the human brain is very similar to animal brains. Yes, it is, 85% similar in fact to a dog's.
And then we look at Albert Einstein's brain. It was 99.9% similar to all the rest of us yet I get the funny feeling there aren't too many people here that are of a caliber of intellect necessary to do anything he was capable of doing.
Minute differences result in wild differences in the relationship between genetics and the world. We ARE animals; and we are the most advanced, unified, yet divided of them all, too.
Don't be so casual in your dismissal of the human species; that goes for everyone. There's a difference between humility, and scorning the achievements of others.
