What Makes Us Human?

[DarkSun]

so now are we talking about how our brain is useless without our hands?

if so then our hands are also useless without our brain. the end.

What does this even mean? :areyoucra

M'kay, sorry, I see what you meant now.

PaintedWolf was saying that our hands and the precision with which we can manipulate our environment give us the ability to use more of our brain's potential. She wasn't saying that our brain is useless without the hands or vice-versa, she was just saying that we only seem to be more intelligent than other animals because of our ability to manipulate the environment and learn.

 

[rojse]

so now are we talking about how our brain is useless without our hands?

if so then our hands are also useless without our brain. the end.

The brain is quite useful without hands, evidenced by the fact that animals such as birds are able to utilise tools with their beaks. However, with the hands, humans are able to far better utilise their brain in the development and deployment of tools.

 

[Rough_ER]

I like to think of this aspect of our evolution as analogous to the development of computer technologies. When our hands are freed by assuming a bipedal posture, we have a hardware development, very much like the production of dual core processors. This allows software developments to take place to utilize the improvements in hardware, such as newer operating systems, or in our case a greater ability to think our way through problems using things we are now able to produce with our hands. It's very much a snowball effect. Of course... it doesn't always produce improvements. You occasionally get Windows Vista!

 

[BucephalusBB]

I like to think of this aspect of our evolution as analogous to the development of computer technologies. When our hands are freed by assuming a bipedal posture, we have a hardware development, very much like the production of dual core processors. This allows software developments to take place to utilize the improvements in hardware, such as newer operating systems, or in our case a greater ability to think our way through problems using things we are now able to produce with our hands. It's very much a snowball effect. Of course... it doesn't always produce improvements. You occasionally get Windows Vista!

Must....say....even....though...Offtopic..
Vista...very....stable....SP1....:beach:

 

[Rough_ER]

Must....say....even....though...Offtopic..
Vista...very....stable....SP1....:beach:

Another lost soul in need of ubuntu...

 

[BucephalusBB]

Another lost soul in need of ubuntu...

Been there, done that..
And suddenly I was incapable of installing my favourite games and using loads of my hardware. But PM or make a new thread, otherwise people will get mad at us :flirt:

 

[rojse]

I don't care about people making Windows jokes. I haven't had problems with the Windows program I run, but I can't say the same for other users.

 

[painted wolf]

scared from our thumbs and gripp ability?

or scared from our brain?

both... one allows us to exploit the other.

who has given them that strength?

Creator gave them the ability to evolve what they need to survive.

so does that make them equal to us?

I see everything as equal to us... that's the First Nations way... The Lakota summed it up best with the phrase/prayer "Mitakuye Oyasin" = "We are all related" or "For all my relations"

aren't neanderthals soposed to be a transitional species, so how could we have existed at the same time as them?

Neanderthals were our cousins or brothers... they evolved before us but survived long enough to live side by side with us in many places. They are not a transitional species per say, because they are not on our direct line of ancestry, instead we share the same 'parent species'. (this is backed up by the fact that we have recovered a good amount of their DNA)
Just like you and your older cousin/brother can live side by side with your parents and grandparents, so too can related species. As long as they don't directly compete with each other.

ta:da.

I'll ignore that as an unintended insult due to lack of understanding.

can i ask why you wright that every time?

Wa:do is as you see in my signature... Cherokee for "thank you"... I use it as a token of respect for those who I chat with here... even though we may disagree I genuinely thank you for taking the time to listen to my words and consider them.
We don't actually know each other and that can lead to disrespect... I try to avoid that as much as possible.

so...

wa:do

 

[Valjean]

I think the salient point is that there are no completely unique human traits. All of our abilities, virtues, vices, emotions, &c, can be found in other animals.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I think the salient point is that there are no completely unique human traits. All of our abilities, virtues, vices, emotions, &c, can be found in other animals.

Except for progressive technology.


And breast implants.

 

[Valjean]

Sorry, I should have clarified. All can be found, in some degree, in other species. We're highly developed in some areas, comparatively deficient in others.

And our breast implants, I must admit, are beyond compare....

 

[painted wolf]

bleck... fake boobies ... :areyoucra

Certainly we have progressed faster than anyone else.... but others have made progress.
Dolphins only recently learned to use tools at all...
It's hard to know how long it's been since chimps first started to hunt with spears...

wa:do

 

[Valjean]

Chimps have much better hand-eye co-ordination than we do, though their fine motor skills leave a lot to be desired.

 

[Azakel]

Popcorn ^_^

Did I get it right?

 

[bobhikes]

What is it about humanity that separates us from all other animal species?

BONUS QUESTION: If your response uses the word soul, spirit, Fnord, or so forth, what are the effects of having this thing, which an individual without this thing would not be able to achieve?

The evolutionary difference between us and the animals is the ability to compare and contrast. Our ability is far greater than the animals. They rely on physical feedback to compare and contrast we have the ability to mentally compare and contrast. Mentally we can imagine something and feedback into our conscience as a new idea animals can not do this.

It developed because emotional controls became problematic. Fear told us to run at times when we needed other solutions. Evolution developed a path so that your thoughts could influence your emotions by feeding back into the emotional center.

So if you think you are happy you will be. If you think you are tired you will be etc.

 

[Quagmire]

"What Makes Us Human?"

Very little.

 

[Rough_ER]

Mentally we can imagine something and feedback into our conscience as a new idea animals can not do this.

Do you have any evidence for this at all?

 

[Sunstone]

For the most part, what makes us human are the same things that make any animal an animal.

 

[Rough_ER]

Technically what makes us human is that we can only reproduce with other humans and generate fertile offspring. What makes a turtle a turtle is that is can only reproduce with other turtles etc. People are so obsessed about presenting this as an "us and them" concept. People fail to realize that if cheetahs were having this conversation, they would be saying "well, no other creature is a fast as us, therefore we are different from all the animals". The habit is to use language which separates us from animals, presumably because some people can't stomach the fact that they are not the evolutionary pinnacle, the final product, the perfected species.

 

[DarkSun]

Technically what makes us human is that we can only reproduce with other humans and generate fertile offspring. What makes a turtle a turtle is that is can only reproduce with other turtles etc. People are so obsessed about presenting this as an "us and them" concept. People fail to realize that if cheetahs were having this conversation, they would be saying "well, no other creature is a fast as us, therefore we are different from all the animals". The habit is to use language which separates us from animals, presumably because some people can't stomach the fact that they are not the evolutionary pinnacle, the final product, the perfected species.

If life is only defined by its ability to reproduce, then this is a very sad world we live in.