Why are humans so different from any other species?

Originally posted by targeting
What made humans evolve to be so powerful? We have no natural predators

You don't believe that, do you?

Early Humans Were Prey, Not Predators, Experts Say

Fuentes and other researchers believe that early humans were a prey species hunted by bear-size hyenas, saber-toothed cats, and many other large carnivores.

Early humans survived while other primate species died out because our ancestors cooperated to alter their surroundings, the researchers say.

Humans are still eaten today by lions, though not very often. Warning, graphic video:
Wild Lions Eat Man Alive
You don't think that man is prey to those natural predators? Really?.... Really?

As the above article suggests, cooperation may be one advantage, but what really set humans apart in one word:

technology.

They did a. Thing about that on that show ancient aliens how we didn't evolve from monkeys and whatnot...

reply to post by rodredux


in the grand scheme of things we are a unique original creation of the universe, you can look at yourself as nothing... you can look around and see miracles every where you look, or no miracles at all.... but what you are is what the entire universe can never be.. and the human race are individuals with this same experience as yourself....

what a drag,, what a bore

Originally posted by HangTheTraitors
So we are not really "king" of the wild without doing some "cheating".

edit on 3-2-2012 by HangTheTraitors because: (no reason given)

Cheating? No. We make our tools with our minds.

To say we "cheat" is to say chimps "cheat" when making tools of sticks to catch termites... or that birds "cheat" when making nests to rear their young. Beavers don't "cheat" when making damns as homes, nor bees when making bee-hives as colony support.

Nope, we are actually so much more advanced that our arsenal of tools outdoes any creature you can name.

reply to post by targeting


You must remember how fragile we are. It is sentience that sets us apart.

This site (VERY GRAPHIC, you have been warned, luckily the home page is a bailout page for the faint of heart) is a reminder of how fragile we as beings are, we arent the top of anything, a hungry dog can take out a full grown man.

One word..... ALIENS!!!

2nd

reply to post by 8fl0z


Yeah maybe so, but a hungry dog cannot put a fully grown man in a cage, or tranquilize him, or shoot him........
Its obvious we are the dominant species on the planet, but that very domination may prove to be our undoing!!!

Pick up a pen, write with it, what other creature can do that? there are lots of very intelligent creatures on this planet, but without that opposed thumb........

because we were pack animals and worked in teams like raptors.
through that natural progression we evolved the necessary processes for evolutionary domination, like understanding of different technologies to suit our natural demands

reply to post by pikestaff


Also look in a mirror and recognize your self, not many animals can do that.

Or go to your room and spend some time in quite introspection.. I dont think many animals can do that either.

I think its far more than an opposable thumb that differentiates us from the rest of the animal kingdom, Dont apes have opposable thumbs? Self reflection plus an extremely analylitical mind, capable of logical reasoning is probably the biggest factor that sets us apart in my opinion. Then the ego pipes up and the rest is history

reply to post by targeting

why would evolution create a species

Evolution is not a conscience process, it doesn't decide what species survives, rather natural selection favors certain traits over others. The advantageous traits have a better chance of being passed on since the organisms with those traits have a better chance of surviving long enough to pass on their genes.

Why human beings survived while others did not is an interesting question. As to what makes us "so different", not much. We're genetically almost IDENTICAL to chimps, the main difference being that chimps have more chromosomes than we do. We're really not all that different behavior wise from other apes, our brains are a bit bigger and more advanced of course but we're really not THAT different.

Originally posted by BillyTJames
reply to post by 8fl0z

 

Yeah maybe so, but a hungry dog cannot put a fully grown man in a cage, or tranquilize him, or shoot him........
Its obvious we are the dominant species on the planet, but that very domination may prove to be our undoing!!!

Read what i said. The only thing that sets us apart is our sentience, our ability to imagine, and create, the ability to openly communicate, and understand. Other than that, we're about one of the weakest, most fragile species on earth.

Our mind are the only thing that make us superior.

I personally believe we are aliens, we arent from this Earth. It might sound a bit off the wall, but i believe we were seeded here by other humans, but due to some unkown event, we've lost all contact with them, or they have just let us be, but i dont think we originated from this planet. I doubt we'll ever know, not in our lifetimes.

reply to post by 8fl0z


I agree with you mate, I think we have had interplanetary DNA for some time!!

Sorry if I misunderstood what you said, I was just replying to one part of your comment about a dog being able to take out a man

we arent the top of anything, a hungry dog can take out a full grown man.

I agree a starving Bull Mastiff is an animal i wouldnt wanna be alone with but their not on top of us on the food chain, which was the point I was trying to illustrate.

EDIT: I do get where your coming from though, that without our intelligence we would be easy, delicious meal for many predators

Originally posted by darknull
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.

Seeing that chimpanzees are known to hunt other mammals, and Bonobo Chimps hunt, kill, and eat other monkeys...AND considering there is evidence that Gorillas may also hunt other primates...

...then I would think they would have use for a shotgun. Or maybe a rifle.

For millions of years mankind lived just like the animals.
Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination.
We learned to talk.

Keep Talking

[yvid]

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


hmmm learn something new ever day cannibal monkeys awsome

Originally posted by targeting

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.

If there was a scientific answer for everything, than why did we come up with religion first?

Also, we have our priorities all wrong.
We put a man on the moon before we put wheels on personal luggage.
We are still in the wilderness when it comes to finding a way to respect and acknowledge each others beliefs and live within the parameters of each others way of life.

Short answer.....

We're not afraid of vacuum cleaners.

Who's to say 'lesser' creatures don't feel that they are the top of the spectrum? For example, the domesticated dog. Provided with food, water, shelter and love simply for existing and wagging your tail now and then.

On a more scientific basis, I think we evolved to dominate this planet because of a genetic mutation that enabled us to 'think'. Research has shown that art, language and culture started suddenly appearing at roughly the same time in the human species. My personal opinion is that this mutation freed our species from being computer-esque, unlike other species on Earth.

What I mean by 'computer-esque' is as follows: a computer-esque organism would feel the need for food, and therefore go through the necessary steps to obtain food, be it hunting, pushing a lever, whatever. Human Beings have the choice to say 'well I'm hungry, but I'm not going to eat and starve myself instead.' I believe it's this free will that set us apart from our fellow species on this planet, rather than the deterministic behaviour of other animals.

Just my opinion, and highly speculative of course. I don't think there's any hard science to back it up, but theories are fun to entertain with or without the backup of science. If you were to ask me for a theory backed up by science, it would be that we are simply more adaptable.

Cheers,
Ben.