Is Human a kind of animal?

[Viker]

Well, my username says I am.

I'm Groot!


(Translation: I ain't no ent. I'm Groot!)

 

[Secret Chief]

Then why, if someone calls someone else "Animal", they get offended?

Words. Convention. Such as the phrase "I wouldn't do that to a dog" which obviously implies it can be ok to treat non-humans badly as they are inferior.

 

[Whateverist]

Are you laughing?

Yucks .. I’ve had a few
But then again too few to mention.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

@InvestigateTruth - Why are we capitalizing "animal" in this thread? I've never seen it used as a proper noun, and both time you've used it, it did not begin a sentence.

Animal is a Muppet drummer lol.

 

[Trailblazer]

I think humans are a social animal, and we apparently evolved to learn that cooperative effort yields better results, which led to the social contract and the art of politics which we all know and love so much.

There are other animals that are social. I have a bunch of raccoons on my deck right now who are sleeping together.
They don't always get along, sometimes the ones from differnt families fight, but humans also fight even when they are from the same family

 

[Trailblazer]

Much like my third wife. At least the last part.

One husband was enough for me.

 

[Trailblazer]

I don't think humans are animals, all though some seem to act like they are. And I think the main difference is, animal actions seems to be based on instincts, humans can act by reason.

Humans can act by reason, but some animals can also reason at a certain level.

But the important point is that even though humans can act by reason, many humans act on their instincts, not their reason.
I believe that is the case because humans have an animal nature and a spiritual nature, and many humans choose to act on their animal nature.

 

[Trailblazer]

Do you think of yourself and other people as a sort of Animal, or you consider yourself superior to animals?
Please explain your thoughts.

I believe that humans are animals who have a rational soul. I believe that other animals have a spirit. I believe that both continue to exist after death.
I do not consider myself superior to other animals, only different.

The idea that humans are superior to other animals comes from scriptures that say thet humans were created in the image of God, so allegedly we have the potential to reflect the attributes of God, whereas other animals do not have that potential. That scripture is problematic for me as it is just a way of man exalting himself over other animals.

 

[sun rise]

I believe that is the case because humans have an animal nature and a spiritual nature, and many humans choose to act on their animal nature.

Some animals exhibit a partial spiritual nature. Meher Baba indicated "The only difference between man and animal is that man has the potential to realize his divinity."

 

[The Hammer]

Do you think of yourself and other people as a sort of Animal, or you consider yourself superior to animals?
Please explain your thoughts.

What else would we be but animal? Some of us are parasites, but for the most part animal.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Do you think of yourself and other people as a sort of Animal, or you consider yourself superior to animals?
Please explain your thoughts.

We have bones, muscles, brains, hearts.... We eat, sleep, poop, have sex. These are all animal things. Of course we are animals. Our family is hominid, within the order primate, within the class mammal, within the phylum chordate, within the kingdom animalia, within the domain Eukarya.

However, there are things about us that set us apart from other animals. Best talk I ever heard on this is by Dr Robert Sopalsky, "Are Humans Just Another Primate?"

Best scene -- party animals dancing the conga.

​

 

[SalixIncendium]

One husband was enough for me.

I said the same about wives after my first marriage ended.

 

[Yazata]

Then why, if someone calls someone else "Animal", they get offended?

Humans are biological animals. But the only kind of animals that we can interact with in human ways is other humans like ourselves. We can't get into intellectual conversations with earthworms. We don't expect humane behavior from parasitoid wasps.

So when somebody says that somebody else is an 'animal' or behaves like an animal, they are saying that the person in question doesn't interact properly with others and hence is unfit for human society.

 

[We Never Know]

Do you think of yourself and other people as a sort of Animal, or you consider yourself superior to animals?
Please explain your thoughts.

Yep. Mammals

Spoiler: XXXX

 

[Trailblazer]

I said the same about wives after my first marriage ended.

When my husband of 37 years passed on last year I immediately thought I needed to find another husband as soon as possible. It was almost a state of panic. Now I look back on that and realize what was going on in my mind. I thought I needed to get married since married life was the only way of life I knew for most of my adulthood. However, I was not consciously aware of that at the time.

I have done a 180. I have no interest in getting married again. I have no interest in being romantic with a man and I have no interest in sex. Even if those were not the expectations, I doubt I would ever want to have anyone living with me again. I do not even want a roommate. I do not feel a need for company and I am never lonely.

 

[Secret Chief]

When my husband of 37 years passed on last year I immediately thought I needed to find another husband as soon as possible. It was almost a state of panic. Now I look back on that and realize what was going on in my mind. I thought I needed to get married since married life was the only way of life I knew for most of my adulthood. However, I was not consciously aware of that at the time.

I have done a 180. I have no interest in getting married again. I have no interest in being romantic with a man and I have no interest in sex. Even if those were not the expectations, I doubt I would ever want to have anyone living with me again. I do not even want a roommate. I do not feel a need for company and I am never lonely.

Glad to hear you've worked through that and come out the other side. If you have cats you don't have time to be lonely!

 

[Trailblazer]

Glad to hear you've worked through that and come out the other side. If you have cats you don't have time to be lonely!

I have time to be lonely when they are sleeping during the day, but I am never lonely because I know they are here and I could wake one of them up if I wanted to.

If I feel lonely I can always go out shopping or watch TV or post to people here. Marriage is a high price to pay for feeling lonely.

My mother was widowed at age 52 and she never remarried. She lived alone till age 93 when she died.

 

[Secret Chief]

I have time to be lonely when they are sleeping during the day, but I am never lonely because I know they are here and I could wake one of them up if I wanted to.

If I feel lonely I can always go out shopping or watch TV or post to people here. Marriage is a high price to pay for feeling lonely.

My mother was widowed at age 52 and she never remarried. She lived alone till age 93 when she died.

If I was single again I'd remain single too.

 

[Trailblazer]

If I was single again I'd remain single too.

My counselor, who is about 3 years younger than me and has been married for about as long as I was, told me the same thing about herself.
She only has one cat but she said she will be content to live alone with her cat after her husband dies. She almost sounded like she was looking forward to it.

But some people just have to be married or in a romantic relationship. It is almost that they have no identity as a single person.

 

[Secret Chief]

My counselor, who is about 3 years younger than me and has been married for about as long as I was, told me the same thing about herself.
She only has one cat but she said she will be content to live alone with her cat after her husband dies. She almost sounded like she was looking forward to it.

But some people just have to be married or in a romantic relationship. It is almost that they have no identity as a single person.

Well, I'm speaking as someone who has been in a relationship for more than 30 years, but I've never felt I need another person for my own validation.