Why are humans so different from any other species?

What made humans evolve to be so powerful? We have no natural predators, we rule the world, and have virtually no competition in the animal kingdom. I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I was wondering if anyone had any theories. Sometimes it almost seems like human's destiny as a species is to destroy the earth and all other animals. How and why would evolution create a species that was destined to destroy the system on which all life thrives? It seems pretty counterproductive.

Matthew 6:26 ~ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Originally posted by theubermensch
Matthew 6:26 ~ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Thanks, but I'm not religious. I'm hoping for a scientific answer. Also just to clarify: when I say "purpose" I mean evolutionary purpose.

we learnt to talk - and share ideas - In respect of the former post - no religion. An entities ability to communicate and articulate concepts and ideas differentiated it from its competition IMHO

we have a fused chromosome, that's one difference as no other species can make that claim, for no amount of time in evolution will cause this, it was done to you not by chance

We are much more adaptable then majority of creatures. Maybe roaches beat us in that - but then ,there are much more roaches then people. But then ,there are so much more bacteria guys and viruses,do not let me start....
In short:
It is all about adaptability. And there is a bonus - we can change the environment to adapt to us due to that thing above the shoulders. It is my deep believe that that thing is going to get us all replaced by cyborgs with much better thing somewhere inside their bodies always connected in some cloud-like mind , but i am enjoying the ride so far.

because a gorilla really doesnt have a use for a shotgun but as Hollywood showed us even the lowliest hobo does. Had to put a little humor but honestly people will give you alot of different answers i think its because we can be violent without cause honestly what other animal other than humans would kill another of there species for the fun of it or try to kill a bigger more powerful animal for no other reason than a trophy were on the top because were the meanest imo. If you think about it if a monkey or gorrila can figure out to use tools and they can kill a grown man with there bare hands would they do it for a scalp trophy.

Originally posted by theubermensch
Matthew 6:26 ~ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

*SIGH* Cant we keep that mythical book of fairy-tale nonsense out of non-fictional threads?

A book written by man, edited by man, inspired by man, and OF COURSE, peddled by man. And believed by FOOLISH men who dont research its validity and origins...

Originally posted by targeting
We have no natural predators, we rule the world, and have virtually no competition in the animal kingdom.

Honestly, there are many beasts in the wild that man could not win against without a weapon such as a firearm. So while humans have the most advanced brains (er, most people), we would lose against many wild creatures in a fair fight.

So we are not really "king" of the wild without doing some "cheating".

First of all, we are animals we should not separate ourselves from them we are all the same.

Second 1v1 most "animals" are better than any human just for the reason that they are able to co-exist with their environment unlike us. Second 1v1 we cant really compete with many animals, Apes are Far stronger than us, quadrupeds are far faster than us, birds can fly.

The only thing we have going for us is brain capacity and only because we are smart enough to teach our young, because if you place a child to be raised by caveman he will be a caveman with no more knowledge than an ape.

In my opinion we are doing it wrong, animals have it a lot better than we do.
But Cesar animals live a very short time human can live up to 80,"and more than 60% of those years are working which i don't consider living"
But Cesar animals in the wild are in danger of predators "An animal might be killed by its predator, same as we could be killed by a car, plane, train, person"
Animals have no real worry other than staying alive and food though big worries not as humans who get get so stressed out by so many things that they make themselves sick.

We are a danger to the environment, at the rate we are going it wont be long before we run all animals extinct and destroy our habitat. We should try and learn a bit from the animal kingdom and do a better job at coexisting with earth.

Reminds me of this video. www.youtube.com...

reply to post by HangTheTraitors

Text Originally posted by theubermensch Matthew 6:26 ~ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? *SIGH* Cant we keep that mythical book of fairy-tale nonsense out of non-fictional threads?

Sigh indeed. Is Salinger ok? I know this quote from the novela Franny and Zooey. The quote helped Franny alot. I thought it related well to the thread.

Whether you believe in the bible or not(I dont) there is nothing clever about making obvious and tired criticism. Are you a Dawkins fan? That guy is an obnoxious jackass.

Just because something comes from the bible doesnt mean it is nonsense.

Evolution is about survival of the fittest I feel. There are plants for instance that once growing can quickly overwhelm everything else. We as humans are the same, we have taken a large portion of the world and the only way mother nature can take control is to erase us, unless we start being responsible and cooperate. It is all about balance and we are slowly pushing the scales to once side, not a good idea.

I'd say t's because of our brains. We have parts of the brain that deal with lots of things, like communication, critical thinking, and stuff like that.

Plus we work together instead of alone. One human tens of thousands of years ago might have been killed when he fought a mammoth or some other potential meal with a spear, but 10 or 15 humans working together can do some damage.

we were born to create
destruction comes from poor creation skills .....

reply to post by ZeroUnlmtd


Nah dude, lots of species of both plants and animals actually have the system where DNA from both parents mixes.

nature has its safeguards it will give us the ole heave ho and carry on if we dont watch our step
I believe that much it just doesnt very often operate in the time scale humans pay attention to

This thing called writing. It lets us retain information in a way as a species that no other animal can. Thus information can be spread and successive generations can build upon that information in a way that no other animal could. We created for ourselves a collective knowledge. Writing means you don't start over from scratch with every generation or two in regards to all knowledge learnt. If you can read about things, nobody has to show it to you directly. Nor do you need somebody (with a possibly faulty memory and a limited lifespan) to pass that information down verbally.

I'd go as far to say that other animals have some intelligence and even vocal communication that could be called a rudimentary language, but those traits are still not at the level which we have. It wasn't that long ago in the big scheme that early humans were living in caves or out in the woods too.

We took things from animals that we didn't have in order to survive better in the cold and such, but it still wasn't that great a leap. (Humans were originally restricted to mostly tropical environments at the start, which is why we don't have that much hair. And later on we just didn't need it - simply wear a pelt or make a fire.) Some other animals have basic tool usage too. Our weakness as humans is probably what lead to our greatest strength. We seriously upped the tool usage aspect to leverage ourselves above the other animals. Keeping track of everything to outwit that which we're weaker than is likely what made us that much smarter in the long run too.

Still the big leap didn't happen until writing. You weren't going to get much past living in caves, sod and stone dwellings, or grass huts without it.

Once we got writing figured out, thats when you could have larger societies than 100 or so individuals function sucessfully, and then that whole agriculture and advanced tool use and chemistry and metal working and... Much more free time for figuring out more things... Well, we're here with all this stuff now. I'm sure you get the idea.

reply to post by pauljs75


yes thats all true but the question was not what things did we learn to become so powerful. It was what made humans evolve to be so powerful. Homeo sapien was alot more intelligent then Neanderthal even though they were bigger and stronger we made better tools and because of the fact we are so vicious as a species Neanderthal disappeared tools and weapons only go so far as i said if you put a weapon in the hands of an ape and taught it how to use it what use would it have for it. Rob other apes? No obviously not you dont find dead apes with there skulls crushed in because another ape wanted there all there stuff. Well maybe every once in a while but most of the time animals have a pecking order that they wont cross. Humans unfortunately do not put a gun in a mans hand and if he doesnt have something and thinks he can get away with violence no matter how much he says hed never do it most of the time hes lying to you and himself. Its nature were nothing special and our narcissistic behavior is what makes us so dangerous

my thought on this manner;

most animals are quite passive in their nature... in the sense that they dont desire to change or understand themselves or their surroundings.... they simply live their existence as if they have no choice but to observe this nature and world they were given, placed in......

humans intelligence is many times greater then an animal.... in that over the millennia we kept hardware copies of our knowledge and information, piggybacking ideas and innovation on top of each other, exponentially getting better at creating, and learning more... we have the potential to harness the forces of the universe, the forces of creation,, we can use the ideas and concepts that surround us, that create us,,, to create technologies and tools for our betterment and satisfaction... it is this drive to take part in the creating process the universe performs that heightens the human into a realm of its own on earth... it is striving towards the infinite... the realm of the unknown with hope all may be known..

when i say human intelligence is greater then an animal... think about the conscious entity... the awareness behind your eyes,,, if you were born in the wilderness with no contact to civilization, you would be a semi heightened animal being.... but because you have access to the information, tools, knowledge, and technology of this civilization, because you can learn and create, create original ideas,, music, structures, inventions... you are closer in relationship to a masterful divine being,, then an ant.....

Human's have written language and memory

They can record events - thoughts - philosophies - - - and evolve.

Humanity has only been around 100,000 years or so, and for 70% of that time, we were running around naked, scratching our butts and throwing our feces at each other. We have only been the dominant species for the last 10,000 years or so. Before that, we shared the planet with a few other sentient primates. Neanderthals, mainly, but there were a couple others. We might be big # right now, if you look at it from our human POV, but in the grand scheme of the universe, we are really next to nothing.