Atheism: The Great Nothing!

[DeitySlayer]

In my view, it is seriously challanged to accept that humans are even continious with the idiot hierarchies of speechless apes, animals cannot talk nor have language, the chasm between humans and animals is awesome.

Yet we have those who would blend these vast differences together, which I think is worse than religion. What religion has done to the world, this belief that humans are animals has done worse.

Peace.

You completely ignored my point. Mentally retarded people cannot do any of the things you stated above, yet you consider them human. Ergo, the definition of human does not contain the criteria you have outlined. Thus far you are continuing with your annoying habit of unfounded, unbsustantiated, and bald assertations.

 

[PolyHedral]

No matter what spaced out reason you have in your mind, animals do not speak with verbal language as humans have. No verbs or nouns, no spoken communication that all could understand.

No matter what spaced out reason you have in your mind, humans do not speak with verbal language as wolves have. No verbs or nouns, no spoken communication that all could understand.

OF COURSE THEY HAVEN'T SPOKEN VERBALLY WITH US! They don't have human vocal chords! Your argument could equally well be made by a peacock arguing that humans are not intelligent because they can't dance. Humans are not the only animals that can communicate to one another, but expecting anything else to be able to communicate with us in our language is silly.

 

[Willamena]

There is only one type of human, yet many types of animals, that within itself is defened difference.

You must admit to this.

Peace.

There are two types of people: those who place people into types, and those who don't.

 

[yourhopeboundheart]

the human experience is subjective to a host of things not assoicated with animals; hopes, fears, knowledge, thrills, tickles, pleasures, distresses, desires, creations, none of which can be experienced by animals.

oh no, for once mickiel is wrong about something. rats are so ticklish!
[youtube]j-admRGFVNM[/youtube]
YouTube - Rats Laugh When You Tickle Them

and so are gorillas!
[youtube]Gglm7adEKPw[/youtube]
YouTube - Tickling a Gorilla

i'm just so astonished that mickiel is wrong, this is a completely new experience for me.

 

[mickiel]

The belief that humans are animals is paramount to any religious belief, and has done equal damage to the human physce. To believe we are animals is mental congestion, trapping as many people as religion does. Its the same mentality.

We are lost, and in need of direction.

Peace.

 

[PolyHedral]

You've not demonstrated why humans aren't animals. (And the distinction is a new "entity", so burden of proof applies to you.)

 

[HonestJoe]

mickiel,

You are talking complete rubbish! The term animal is clearly defined and that definition includes human beings. You can't change that just because you personally dislike the idea of being associated with "stupid" animals.

What you could say is that humans are a special and unique kind of animal with a whole range of traits and abilities which no other animal has. It carries exactly the same principal as what you're saying without making you sound like a stubborn fool.

 

[mickiel]

The world of understanding has gone insane, an animal is a living being characterized by having sensation and voluntary motion: an inferior or irrational being, in total contridiction to man.

It was prophetsized in scripture that a time would come that people would loose reason and grab hold to lies.

That time is here.

Peace.

 

[Meow Mix]

The world of understanding has gone insane, an animal is a living being characterized by having sensation and voluntary motion: an inferior or irrational being, in total contridiction to man.

It was prophetsized in scripture that a time would come that people would loose reason and grab hold to lies.

That time is here.

Peace.

For claiming to be superior to those "irrational" animals, I haven't seen much rational support for your arguments. Care to justify your claims as people have been asking, or is your evidence just "LOL look at them they're dumb and we're not?"

After all, humans are indeed classified in kingdom Animalia.

The problem here is I think you're operating on a definition of animals that goes something like this: "Animals are all living non-plant, non-human things." If you're definitionally removing humans from the category from the start, that could be your problem. I'm not sure if that IS what you're doing, just saying it looks that way. Well, if you're going to do that (i.e., if that IS the case), what's your reasoning behind it?

You mentioned tickling and feeling emotions and the capacity to abstract. There are other animals that experience all those things, including communication. Some non-human primates even have ethical codes such as "don't steal" and punishment for violators; some apes have been known to paint real-life objects like trees (proving their capacity for abstraction). Some apes and birds have also learned sign language (for the apes, also some monkeys) and mimicked speech with the birds -- but it's demonstrated that they understand the language and even created their own words for new objects they'd never seen before such as a chimpanzee creating the word "drinkfruit" for a watermelon, proving his abstract ability to combine two concepts (that it is a fruit, and that it has a lot of waterin it) to make a new word.

There was an African Gray parrot who invented the word "banerry" if I remember correctly, also an example of impromptu word creation to describe something new. In fact I remember what it was now: it was an apple. The parrot combined the words for "banana" and "berry" because the inside of the apple had the same color/texture as a banana while the outside was red like a berry, so the parrot called it a "banerry." If the capacity to not only speak language but understand it and create new words isn't proof that there's more going on in animal minds than some people believe then I simply don't know what would convince them.

So, the evidence is that there isn't a qualitative difference between humans and other animals in terms of our mental and emotional capacities: it's not a difference of kind, it's a difference of amount.

-----
Edit: There are also other animals that have self-awareness. Apes that can speak sign language will refer to themselves on occasion. Dolphins, parrots, apes, and monkeys can utilize a mirror to find a mark placed on an inaccessible place on their body, proving that they understand that's not "another" animal in the mirror but rather themselves -- which demonstrates clearly that they are aware of themselves.

 

[HonestJoe]

The world of understanding has gone insane, an animal is a living being characterized by having sensation and voluntary motion: an inferior or irrational being, in total contridiction to man.

So you're saying that you don't have sensation or vountary motion? Doesn't that make it difficult to type?

Why are you unwilling to consider the possibility that humans are superior animals rather than superior to animals?

 

[mickiel]

For claiming to be superior to those "irrational" animals, I haven't seen much rational support for your arguments. Care to justify your claims as people have been asking, or is your evidence just "LOL look at them they're dumb and we're not?"
.

I hold no intrest in what the blind ask to see, they are blind, I am no miracle worker, and don't try to be. Humans are vastly superior in learning skills , in Consciousness, in copy of experience, in thinking, in reason, in language, in science , in mathmatics, in pathology, in physcology, in transportation, in agriculture, in construction. No animal could do what we have done. Its insane to suggest otherwise.

But insanity has sweeped into humanity in many areas, and thats why we reap the whirlwind.,

Peace.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

I hold no intrest in what the blind ask to see, they are blind, I am no miracle worker, and don't try to be. Humans are vastly superior in learning skills , in Consciousness, in copy of experience, in thinking, in reason, in language, in science , in mathmatics, in pathology, in physcology, in transportation, in agriculture, in construction. No animal could do what we have done. Its insane to suggest otherwise.

But insanity has sweeped into humanity in many areas, and thats why we reap the whirlwind.,

Peace.

That's a very concise way of saying nothing at all whatsoever.

 

[Meow Mix]

I hold no intrest in what the blind ask to see, they are blind, I am no miracle worker, and don't try to be. Humans are vastly superior in learning skills , in Consciousness, in copy of experience, in thinking, in reason, in language, in science , in mathmatics, in pathology, in physcology, in transportation, in agriculture, in construction. No animal could do what we have done. Its insane to suggest otherwise.

But insanity has sweeped into humanity in many areas, and thats why we reap the whirlwind.,

Peace.

You conveniently ignored all the evidence I gave in my last post.

Nobody is saying that other animals are going to start doing the same things that we do; the point is that there isn't a difference in KIND between us, just a difference in amount. We are better at thinking, they are better at doing other things -- we are thinking animals; cats are nimble animals; birds are flying animals.

Many animals can indeed think -- not to the extent that we can, but they are self-aware and should be treated as sentient beings; not as dust beneath our feet.

So where do you draw the line between animal and human? Is it being able to do calculus? That might work, but you can't say that animals aren't self-aware (well, for some of them anyway) and you can't say that animals don't have language, and you can't say that animals can't think abstractly, and you can't say that animals don't have ethics or cultures.

Chimpanzees are well-documented as having culture: for instance termite-fishing is a cultural aspect of some chimpanzees; it's a learned behavior (not an inherent one) and even in the same area with several groups of chimps only those that teach their young to do it will end up doing it. That's the definition of "culture." As I've mentioned chimps also have ethical codes: even the alpha male will refrain from stealing anything kept near other chimps' bodies (they will be chastised, even ostracised if they do) and if a chimp finds food and doesn't share it they will also be punished (whereas if they do share the food, the other chimps don't take it all -- implying that the punishment is for "not sharing food," not that they're just beating on the chimp to take his food). And so on. There are literally volumes of studies on chimp behavior and culture.

Edit: Another important one to probably mention is that chimps that can speak sign language will indeed teach their offspring to speak sign language; making it another cultural element.

 

[LuisDantas]

The world of understanding has gone insane, an animal is a living being characterized by having sensation and voluntary motion: an inferior or irrational being, in total contridiction to man.

What do you mean by "total contradiction"? You have the right to value the differences between humans and other animals, but really, animals we are still. We certainly do not "contradict" our own human nature, although a good argument can be made that we transcend it in some respects.

It was prophetsized in scripture that a time would come that people would loose reason and grab hold to lies.

Such as that lie that humans are not animals, perhaps?

 

[mickiel]

No animal is a scholar, no animal is an intellectual; they hold no reason whatsoever, they are not like us. To claim humans are animals is pontifical generality that is enthroned in traditional deception. There is no reasoning or logic in animals, merely designed instinct. But evolutionist are not concerned with objective truth, only those things which exclude God at its base. They would rather give human existence to the liniage of animals, than to creation.

Just think; they would make us continous with chimps, with tadpoles, with an imaginary explosion in space from nothing, -- anything other than a God.

Thats why this claim of humans as animals. Its a non issue with me.

Peace.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

No animal is a scholar, no animal is an intellectual; they hold no reason whatsoever, they are not like us. To claim humans are animals is pontifical generality that is enthroned in traditional deception. There is no reasoning or logic in animals, merely designed instinct.

So? Most animals possess senses and abilities that are far beyond human capabilities. How does our one distinguishing trait as animals separate us from them anymore than, say, a dolphin's ability to communicate through sonar separates them from the rest of the animal kingdom?

But evolutionist are not concerned with objective truth, only those things which exclude God at its base. They would rather give human existence to the liniage of animals, than to creation.

Strawman. There are many people who accept evolution and are theists - including many scientists. This is a pathetic argument that has been dealt with thousands of times. Why are you being so credulous?

Just think; they would make us continous with chimps, with tadpoles, with an imaginary explosion in space from nothing, -- anything other than a God.

What's wrong with that? The whole process is far more beautiful, elegant and makes a lot more sense than everything being pinged into existence by an intangible superbeing. Not that your conflation between atheism and evolution makes any sense.

Thats why this claim of humans as animals. Its a non issue with me.

Because, in reality, it is you who does not care about the truth. Only the preservation of your ill-founded, baseless and selfish beliefs that allow you to feel intellectually superior to everyone else.

Sorry, but you're not.

 

[LuisDantas]

No animal is a scholar, no animal is an intellectual;

And only a small percentage of humans are.

they hold no reason whatsoever, they are not like us.

Sorry, that is simply not true.

To claim humans are animals is pontifical generality that is enthroned in traditional deception.

Which deception?

There is no reasoning or logic in animals, merely designed instinct.

Several animals do indeed have demonstrable rational capability.

But evolutionist are not concerned with objective truth, only those things which exclude God at its base.

Please don't resort to libel.

They would rather give human existence to the liniage of animals, than to creation.

If facts indicated so (which they do), sure.

Just think; they would make us continous with chimps, with tadpoles, with an imaginary explosion in space from nothing, -- anything other than a God.

We call them as we see them.

Thats why this claim of humans as animals. Its a non issue with me.

Peace.

It is obviously quite the issue for you, unfortunately.

 

[mickiel]

Animals worship no God, believe in no God, thats why Atheist would have us be animals.

Its the center of carnality through and through.

Peace.

 

[Revoltingest]

Animals worship no God, believe in no God, thats why Atheist would have us be animals.

Its the center of carnality through and through.

Naw, we don't care what other animals think. We're animals just cuz that's who we are....descended from apes or ape-like
critters....lots'o animal behavior along the way & still to this day....much shared DNA. Absolutely nuthin to do with gods.

 

[Eliot Wild]

Naw, we don't care what other animals think. We're animals just cuz that's who we are....descended from apes or ape-like
critters....lots'o animal behavior along the way & still to this day....much shared DNA. Absolutely nuthin to do with gods.

Come on now, you know I aways tip my hat
to sharp challenges of arguments falling flat,
But do we have to gang up on Mickiel,
chasing him like Melville's suffering whale,
and, uhhhh, I want to go into that.