What separates us from the animals?

reply to post by watchitburn

Spirituality is not a quantifiable thing. It's not part of being a human. I think it is an emotional construct choking reason.

Its not quantifiable yet 80% of our species have some sort of spiritual belief? Even as far back as history has been recorded?

Thus also making it a "part of being Human"... that being, it is human to want to believe there is more to life then just what we see?

Its not human to believe there is life after this existence, as well it being "human" to believe there is No chance there is a supreme being watching over us?

I don't think any other living being even considers such things...

Its all Very Human...

Originally posted by watchitburn
reply to post by AQuestion

 

Morals are relative, therefore not clearly defined.
I think they are just an emotional anchor to a choice, an emotional influence on reason.
reply to post by SPECULUM

 

Thumbs are extremely important, and underrated in my opinion. But they are not exclusive to humans.
reply to post by ThinkingCap

 

Choice is a result of reason and logic.
reply to post by Akragon

 

Spirituality is not a quantifiable thing. It's not part of being a human. I think it is an emotional construct choking reason.
reply to post by facelift

 

I've seen a man raped by a dolphin, and I remember hearing in the news a baby raped by a dog.

Dear watchitburn,

Really, morals are relative? Relative to what, choices may be relative, morals are not. You misunderstand the word, morals mean that the answer to questions and choices should be based on right and wrong. How is that relative. Selfishness is choosing only what benefits us, that is not morality.

You say that spirituality is not quantifiable, okay, You then say it is not part of being human; but, there is no logical connection between your statements. Is everything human quantifiable or do you merely fail to understand that which is not quantifiable? Please, give me the statistics on love, show me the performance measurement of love, it has none.

reply to post by watchitburn


reply to post by facelift

I've seen a man raped by a dolphin, and I remember hearing in the news a baby raped by a dog.


WTF are you talking about..? Are you being metaphorical..?


You 'witnessed' this..? Where..? Some Bullsh!t CGI Bestiality website..?


And since 2010..?


Cancel your ATS account now...

reply to post by Akragon


We will just have to disagree.
I don't disbelieve that there might be a god, in an infinite universe anything is possible. But I'm leaning towards it being a symptom of our overactive egos.

reply to post by AQuestion


Take it easy.
I have been in many debates on ATS regarding morals and right and wrong, and if you can wait until tomorrow I will be happy to discuss it with you.

But it is late, and I am just not inclined to get into such a conversation right now.

Originally posted by watchitburn
reply to post by Akragon

 

We will just have to disagree.
I don't disbelieve that there might be a god, in an infinite universe anything is possible. But I'm leaning towards it being a symptom of our overactive egos.

Fair enough, but that isn't the topic you posted...

Have you ever heard of a dog or monkey in a church praying?

Or even having the ability to question such things if said dog or monkey happened to wander into one?

Ever heard of any animals with an ego?

Cats are different though... We gots an ego...

Proof?

reply to post by facelift


It was a Navy diver, in San Diego I believe. I didn't physically observe it . But I saw the video. It was disturbing. I suppose that's what they get for training dolphins to function underwater mines.

reply to post by Akragon


Hey, I like cats.

But um...


Just saying...

From what I have seen, 99.9999999 % of us are still dumber than animals. Why ?

Because most people do not even know the basics of how to use their bodies. Considering it is the only tool we truly own, it is kind of important.


Never seen an animal not know how to use their bodies. Or not know how to look after it.

What differentiates us from other animals is our developed brain. With the complexity and current structure of our brain, it allows us to process stimuli picked up with our sensory apparatus by using reflected consciousness. As we live our life, events trigger memories of experiences and provoke thoughts and feelings, similar to what has gone before. This is an evolutionary advantage cause it helps us to compare past experiences to current ones and allowes more choices to respond to situations.

We have an advanced capability to self-reflect, partly owing to mirror neurons in our brain, of which complexity is missing in other species. The world that we observe is changing and dynamic in nature but unfortunetly we are too stuck in our old habitual self-centered ways. The damage that we see in our world today is party the result of human activity and decisions. When we stop thinking mainly for "ourselves" and start caring for the whole entire planet, that's when we will evolve as a whole planet. As ONE. This is where compassion comes in. We lack empathy and compassion for our fellow human and animal species. We can't climb on the ladder of evolution and turn back and kick our fellow human brothers and sisters down. That's the path of the ego, we need to do this TOGETHER.

Originally posted by watchitburn
reply to post by AQuestion

 

Take it easy.
I have been in many debates on ATS regarding morals and right and wrong, and if you can wait until tomorrow I will be happy to discuss it with you.

But it is late, and I am just not inclined to get into such a conversation right now.

Dear watchitburn,

LOL, "Take it easy", it was easy. A simple question or two. You say you have debated morals, did you ever bother defining what the word means? Taking care of oneself and putting oneself above every other need is called selfishness, not morality. We have many words to describe these attitudes that lead to our actions, not all reasons are moral.

reply to post by watchitburn


You ask what separates us from animals. Nothing does. We are no more separate than birds are because they have wings and other creatures don't. No more separate than fish are because they have gills to breathe under water and other creatures don't.

So, the human ability to think and comprehend are the equivalent of wings, lungs, and whatever specializes one creature from another.

If you believe that our specialized ability makes us better than all other living things, then think about what human thinking has done to this planet. Dolphins swim the sea - we pollute it. Birds take to the air - we pollute it. Animals thrive in the forests - we cut down the trees. All kinds of creepy crawlie things burrow into the earth and fertilize the soil - we rape the earth for its resources. We drive animals to extinction. We are not the greater species, but the lesser species.

When our thoughts no longer turn into actions that harm everything, only then can we hope to be equal to all other life on this planet.

I disagree that most of us are smarter than animals. Or more spiritual than animals.

Every generation or so, one of those people will come along and teach the rest of us, like circus animals. To mimic their behavior..


Eg.... A Doctor appears smart. Because they can match an ailment to a drug. But don't think for a second that same Doctor could have discovered the diagnosis parameters or invent the drug they are about to prescribe.

Religious icons are always special people.

Just a slightly more advanced version of monkey see, monkey do.



Any animal can appear smart given the right training.

reply to post by jiggerj

When our thoughts no longer turn into actions that harm everything, only then can we hope to be equal to all other life on this planet.

Then maybe what separates us is the ability to change...

Depends on the animal and the person.

Originally posted by Akragon
reply to post by jiggerj

 

When our thoughts no longer turn into actions that harm everything, only then can we hope to be equal to all other life on this planet.

Then maybe what separates us is the ability to change...

edit on 9-3-2013 by Akragon because: (no reason given)

EXACTLY. You get a BIG star from me sir.

What prevents us from changing is our habit of responding to life in conditioned ways. This results in us behaving like repetitious beings even if this behavor is not beneficial for our well being and survival. We react with thinking and emotion, recalling memories and processing what has already gone by and is past. It's like being stuck in a limbo of false robot "personality." Maybe that's the plan of TPTB.

reply to post by watchitburn

What separates us from the animals?

The answer would be language and the ability to convey meaning with words and symbols. Animals can reason and infer; animals can show empathy, but they cannot articulate or express themselves in a set language.

reply to post by watchitburn

What separates us from the animals?

There is nothing that "separates" us from the animals, though our over inflated egos tend to make us feel that there is. After all is said and done, we are, indeed, only animals.

See ya,
Milt

There is only ONE thing that separates us from animals.
- We have seen that whales have morals and have free choice
- We have seen that superstitious

The only thing that separates us from animals is in the arrogance that we think we are different

Originally posted by watchitburn
The ability to use reason and logic or the capacity for emotion and empathy?

Thoughts?

edit on 9-3-2013 by watchitburn because: (no reason given)

We are not separate from animals we are animals.

There is no difference - we are fuelled by the same spiritual energy, breathe the same air have similar urges and needs.

You are a mammal, you are an animal - your body is all beast !!! Get used to it