Khedive Rex said:
Korolev said:
As a species we are generally intelligent, and a hell of a lot more intelligent than any other species on the planet. We are the only species with a complex language that has grammar and syntax. We are the only species which has extend its natural lifespan. We are the only species which have comprehended the most fundamental aspects of the universe. We are the only species with philosophy, advanced morality and science. We are the only species which has ANY prospect of self-improvement.
Actually, dolphins and whales communicate with a more complicated language than we do according to a lot of studies.
Countless species have extended their natural life span by adapting to better live around humans. Whether this involves pretending to be dogs (in the case of wolves) so people will give you food, patroling with three people intead of two (in the case of racoons) to ease the act of stealing food, or just making yourself look cuter and more cuddly while around humans (in the case of pigs who before domestication had tusks and wiry hair and now look mostly harmless) so that humans will get rid of all your parasites and generally make your life more pleasent, species are extending their life spans all the time.
As for not grasping the basics how the earth works, Racoons perfer to wash the food they find before they eat it. There would be no reason to do this except to remove germs. Ants build boats which are capable of crossing things like the Mississippi River, I think they would understand properties like boyancy and displacement. There are also the countless species (Crows, Monkeys, ect) who know to use things like gravity in problem solving.
As for animal morality I would point out that just because we don't recognize it doesn't mean it's not there. We can't get people to agree on what is morally correct even amoungst our own species (and there is often violent disagreement on this particular issue), how would we be able to discern what other species view as morally sound or how would we even know that their species had come to any kind of concensus? that being said though, Elephants have grave yards and mourn their dead and it would be impossible to name all the speicies that put the life of their children before their own.
And evolution gaurantees self improvment. All species are subject to evolution and therefore all species have some prospect of self improvement.
I once sat down and tried to make a list of all the things that empiraclly seperated Humanity from the animal kingdom. The only things I could think of were that humans create things for entertainment and have currency. Looking back I'm not entirely sure that those are unique to humans either.
Evolution does not guarantee self-improvement. Only adaptability. That is evolution 101. Whales and Dolphins and Birds have communicative SYSTEMS. But any linguist will tell you that it is not language as it lacks syntax, an expansive vocabulary and it can only be applied to a finite amount of situations, while human language can effectively expressive an almost infinite amount of ideas and expressions. This is very basic linguistics.
And when I mean NATURAL life span, I'm talking about the average lifespan. A dog in the wild is very lucky to live more than 5 or 6 years. Dogs which live with humans generally last only 13 to 15 years, and some exceptional cases, dogs can live to about, oh say 20 something years. But that's only when they live with humans, eating processed dog food as well as being close to a vet. In the wild, dogs still live only a short amount of time, and don't live very long.
But humans.... ah now - humans used to live, oh say 30 years of age when we originally evolved. Not a long time. We didn't have processed foods, we didn't have vaccines, and our teeth quickly wore out. 30 years of life was considered pretty damn good. But NOW.... now we can live to 100. In Japan, the average lifespan is approaching a CENTURY. That's 3x more than what we started out with.
Animals cannot improve themselves. They adapt to the world, but as a species, they are stuck with what they've got until evolution gives them something else. With humans, not so. Human beings are the ONLY species which can make a conscious effort to improve themselves beyond what they have, by THEIR OWN WILL. Animals cannot do that. They have no purpose except to reproduce. They are products of biology, physics and chemistry and have no real meaning. They exist, because they exist.
Humans started out the same way. We came into existence with no real meaning. But we, through the sheer intelligence of our minds, MADE our own reason, looked up and dreamed of something better than stupid, pointless, meaningless existence on the plains.
As for animal morality - I can assure you, animals are no saints. Live in the wild - see how animals interact. At least human beings have ideals, even if we mostly fail to live up to them. But we still have those DREAMS. Those dreams of a better world.
And to reiterate - EVOLUTION DOES NOT MEAN IMPROVEMENT. That is one of the least understood aspects of evolutionary biology. Evolution is adaptability to the environment and other species. It is REACTIVE. Not progressive.
I have never seen an animal create a work of art. I have never seen an animal comprehend physics or the movement of alleles in a population. I have never seen an animal, aside from human beings, which can communicate about the past, the future or debate philosophical ideas. Yes there are some apes which know sign language, but the thoughts they express with that sign language (which was invented by humans), are extremely primitive and basic. Animals are far stupider than human beings. No animal has truly mastered a language, as defined by a linguist. I doubt any animal has ever pondered the reason for its existence. I STRONGLY doubt that any animal thinks of anything more than - eat, sleep, reproduce, eat, sleep, reproduce. Their existence is meaningless, because they have no dreams of anything greater than what they are. They have no desire to make their own meaning, no desire to become anything.
Of course, we shouldn't cause pain to animals. Animals can feel pain (they have nerves after all). Nor should we destroy animals (we need the biosphere to survive). But they are not humans. Their lives of a hundred animals is not worth the life of one human.
