Are humans really just animals?

[9-10ths_Penguin]

There's also the question whether we really are "just" (as in "solely") animals or whether there's something substantially different about being human.

No animal is "just" an animal. All animals are substantially different from all others.

 

[ButTheCatCameBack]

No animal is "just" an animal. All animals are substantially different from all others.

This.^^

Humans being animals takes away no capabilities from humanity any more than a tiger being an animal takes away its claws,etc.

 

[dust1n]

Are humans really just animals?

If so, animals evolve into the smartest, fastest, self sufficient breed they can be. If evolution allows them to become better by the use of survival of the fittest, is mankind becoming better or worse by circumventing this basic principle, (survival of the fittest).

In short, is mankind getting better or just surviving by allowing us to only be as good as the least common denominator?

Will other animals close the gap between them and humans if humans do not evolve as quickly?

They aren't just animals, they are as follow!

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Subfamily: Homininae
Tribe: Hominini
Genus: Homo
Species: H. sapiens
Human - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Dunemeister]

No animal is "just" an animal. All animals are substantially different from all others.

There's different and then there's different.

 

[Panda]

Why, of course. I fully expect other animals to reach and surpass us eventually.

I disagree, I don't think we would let any other animal try and rival us. I mean we don't even seem to like when other people do that. Only way I see it happening is if something destroys us, which is entirely possible.

 

[Reverend Rick]

I disagree, I don't think we would let any other animal try and rival us. I mean we don't even seem to like when other people do that. Only way I see it happening is if something destroys us, which is entirely possible.

Insects are totally capable of destroying us.

 

[Midnight Pete]

How could an animal develop the theory of relativity or paint the Sistine Chapel? Write a play? Split the atom?

Why is it that only human beings wear clothing? Or attend religious services?

ANSWERS PLEASE!

 

[Politesse]

How could an animal develop the theory of relativity or paint the Sistine Chapel? Write a play? Split the atom?

Why is it that only human beings wear clothing? Or attend religious services?

ANSWERS PLEASE!

Well, we did, so obviously it is possible.

 

[Midnight Pete]

Well, we did, so obviously it is possible.

To refer to a person as an animal is to strip him of his dignity.

 

[Noaidi]

To refer to a person as an animal is to strip him of his dignity.

A strong statement there, Midnight Pete. If you think we are not animals, how do you personally biologically categorise humans in Nature (with supporting evidence, if you have it)?

 

[LuisDantas]

To refer to a person as an animal is to strip him of his dignity.

No, it isn't. You are entirely entitled to say that humans are not only animals, although that is really a subjective call.

But except in certain contexts, saying that people are animals is a simple statement of fact. Much like saying that they have material bodies or that they consume natural resources - it may be made into an offense, but it is not in itself disrespectful at all.

 

[McBell]

There's also the question whether we really are "just" (as in "solely") animals or whether there's something substantially different about being human. What makes us different may not be something biological. Hence we could be animals but in some essential respect(s) not like all the others.

There is something substantially different about humans.
They have by far the largest egos of all the animals.

 

[McBell]

How could an animal develop the theory of relativity or paint the Sistine Chapel? Write a play? Split the atom?

animals have.
They are called Homo Sapiens.

Why is it that only human beings wear clothing?

Because other animals are not ashamed of their bodies.

Or attend religious services?

Other animals have not found the need to create imaginary friends in order to help them cope with everyday life.

 

[McBell]

To refer to a person as an animal is to strip him of his dignity.

Then he had not much dignity to begin with.

 

[Sunstone]

Humans are just as much subject to evolution as other animals. It's a myth we've escaped from it.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

There's different and then there's different.

Sure. There's "different" in ways that matter to us, and "different" in ways that don't. Does it surprise you at all that we consider "different" in ways that matter to us to be more important?

http://xkcd.com/638/

 

[Sunstone]

To refer to a person as an animal is to strip him of his dignity.

For that to be true, human dignity would need to be based on a falsehood -- i.e. the falsehood that we are not animals.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

To refer to a person as an animal is to strip him of his dignity.

How about referring to him as a "pot"?

 

[Midnight Pete]

No, it isn't. You are entirely entitled to say that humans are not only animals, although that is really a subjective call.

But except in certain contexts, saying that people are animals is a simple statement of fact. Much like saying that they have material bodies or that they consume natural resources - it may be made into an offense, but it is not in itself disrespectful at all.

Yes, humans have physical bodies that exhibit all the characteristics of life: Evolution, growth and development, metabolism, and reproduction. But I don't think you can have a Definition of Man that only looks at the physical.

What makes a man a man?
What is the essence of a human being?

Some say we have bodies, others say we are bodies.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

What makes a man a man?

"Man is a featherless biped with broad, flat nails." - Plato