Poll: Do you believe humans are apes?

[Maze1125]

Just look at the sunset, a waterfall. There is no way this world could have started by a "big bang" there has to be something bigger then that and I know there is.

I would request that you study Chaos Theory for a couple of years before you make claims like that.

 

[The Austin]

SNIP

yeap ape > greater ape > Human easy simple and different it's a classification not a species you either just showed he has an elementary level education or proved he's ignorant...

......What?
I couldn't understand a word of that sentence.

Are you insulting me?

Nope sorry for the difficult sentence (ya got a crapload of quotes) actually I was insulting the sarcastic fellow who had his head in the dark... and was trying to say that an ape is an animal (rather than a group of animals)

Unless that was what you were meaning then by all means take it on the same level as the sarcasm...

Well, I was kinda being sarcastic.

I was just making a joke.
The question is "Do you believe humans are apes?", which we are clearly not. We might be DESCENDANT from apes, but we aren't ACTUALLY apes.

 

[JeanLuc761]

I have the distinct feeling that someone has answered this almost exactly the same as myself, but here goes.

No, I don't believe we are apes. I fully believe that modern-day chimpanzees/apes/gorillas and humans evolved from a common ancestor (humans arising when we decided to become carnivorous and thus increase brain size due to high protein intake), but we are not apes.

 

[diasravenguard]

Speaking for everyone who doesn't believe in evolution (such as myself) No we are not apes. We never were. And we never will be

Just a quick question I've been meaning to ask someone like you please by all means do not take it the wrong way but, if you do not believe in evolution do you believe in the Adam and Eve thing? Because you know that story goes in the direction of family incest and that we'd be hillbillies because everybody would be related to us right?

Well this is so far the nicest reply on this thread I've gotten, and for that I will be glad to answer your question. I do believe in the Adam and Eve story, but after Cain killed Abel he wondered the Earth. God had created many more humans and allowed them to reproduce with each other. There was no incest just more humans created.

Well, if you reject the theory of evolution and make the claim that we are not related to apes you better have really good evidence, because current evolutionary theory has insurmountable amounts of evidence behind it. What evidence do you have for the Genesis story?

What evidence is there for evolution? For all we know those bones and "fossils" could have been deformities and died. My support of Genesis lies within Faith. Something no amount of "science" or "theories" can disprove. Just look at the sunset, a waterfall. There is no way this world could have started by a "big bang" there has to be something bigger then that and I know there is. His name is God.

Yea that theory of gravity doesn't prove anything at all about how science always works of tangible evidence.

I'll take facts over faith everyday of the week and you do as well unless you want to just say that "faith" built the computer you are using.

Well thats your choice in life and hell im not going to stop you, you can believe in what you wanna believe. And I'll believe and what I feel is right. Thats what makes us individuals in this world.

I believe I posted previously about being able to rationalize the holocaust as feeling like the right thing to do... Even if you think something is "right" that doesn't make it right. Like saying that it is right to eat lobster because it's a fancy dish even though your religious beliefs say that the father "as in the father not the son who is the only way to get to the father and be allowed into heaven" is disgusted by it...

 

[diasravenguard]

SNIP

yeap ape > greater ape > Human easy simple and different it's a classification not a species you either just showed he has an elementary level education or proved he's ignorant...

......What?
I couldn't understand a word of that sentence.

Are you insulting me?

Nope sorry for the difficult sentence (ya got a crapload of quotes) actually I was insulting the sarcastic fellow who had his head in the dark... and was trying to say that an ape is an animal (rather than a group of animals)

Unless that was what you were meaning then by all means take it on the same level as the sarcasm...

Well, I was kinda being sarcastic.

I was just making a joke.
The question is "Do you believe humans are apes?", which we are clearly not. We might be DESCENDANT from apes, but we aren't ACTUALLY apes.

We actually clearly are apes... we have all the features that classify things like gorillas as apes.

If you are meaning that we are clearly not gorillas I'm all with ya (I'm much too smart to be this fellow)

(i'd never wear those sunglasses with that tie!)
or this guy

but the term ape isn't talking about a single species just like a cat could mean a tabby or a lion.

 

[Jonabob87]

You are a moron. Evolution is the unifying theory within biology. As somebody who has studied biology in higher education for over 2 years, I can clearly state that evolution is a fact, and you are in a serious, mentally deficient denial.

You are not in the Dark Ages anymore, you are now the weak minority, it is time to wake up and smell the evidence.

People like you give atheism a bad name.

 

[diasravenguard]

I have the distinct feeling that someone has answered this almost exactly the same as myself, but here goes.

No, I don't believe we are apes. I fully believe that modern-day chimpanzees/apes/gorillas and humans evolved from a common ancestor (humans arising when we decided to become carnivorous and thus increase brain size due to high protein intake), but we are not apes.

then neither is the chimpanzees/apes/gorillas...

we are all in the same family (which is ape)

 

[JeanLuc761]

I have the distinct feeling that someone has answered this almost exactly the same as myself, but here goes.

No, I don't believe we are apes. I fully believe that modern-day chimpanzees/apes/gorillas and humans evolved from a common ancestor (humans arising when we decided to become carnivorous and thus increase brain size due to high protein intake), but we are not apes.

then neither is the chimpanzees/apes/gorillas...

we are all in the same family (which is ape)

I JUST looked that up and was about to edit my post. Dammit

 

[diasravenguard]

You are a moron. Evolution is the unifying theory within biology. As somebody who has studied biology in higher education for over 2 years, I can clearly state that evolution is a fact, and you are in a serious, mentally deficient denial.

You are not in the Dark Ages anymore, you are now the weak minority, it is time to wake up and smell the evidence.

People like you give atheism a bad name.

I didn't hear atheist... all I heard is "use your brain"

 

[diasravenguard]

I have the distinct feeling that someone has answered this almost exactly the same as myself, but here goes.

No, I don't believe we are apes. I fully believe that modern-day chimpanzees/apes/gorillas and humans evolved from a common ancestor (humans arising when we decided to become carnivorous and thus increase brain size due to high protein intake), but we are not apes.

then neither is the chimpanzees/apes/gorillas...

we are all in the same family (which is ape)

I JUST looked that up and was about to edit my post. Dammit

Lol yea that's the point i've been making all day ^^;

 

[The Austin]

SNIP

yeap ape > greater ape > Human easy simple and different it's a classification not a species you either just showed he has an elementary level education or proved he's ignorant...

......What?
I couldn't understand a word of that sentence.

Are you insulting me?

Nope sorry for the difficult sentence (ya got a crapload of quotes) actually I was insulting the sarcastic fellow who had his head in the dark... and was trying to say that an ape is an animal (rather than a group of animals)

Unless that was what you were meaning then by all means take it on the same level as the sarcasm...

Well, I was kinda being sarcastic.

I was just making a joke.
The question is "Do you believe humans are apes?", which we are clearly not. We might be DESCENDANT from apes, but we aren't ACTUALLY apes.

We actually clearly are apes... we have all the features that classify things like gorillas as apes.

If you are meaning that we are clearly not gorillas I'm all with ya (I'm much too smart to be this fellow)

(i'd never wear those sunglasses with that tie!)
or this guy

but the term ape isn't talking about a single species just like a cat could mean a tabby or a lion.

Oh. Well, my joke is now significantly less funny.....

Sadface

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Speaking for everyone who doesn't believe in evolution (such as myself) No we are not apes. We never were. And we never will be

SNIP

Well, if you reject the theory of evolution and make the claim that we are not related to apes you better have really good evidence, because current evolutionary theory has insurmountable amounts of evidence behind it. What evidence do you have for the Genesis story?

What evidence is there for evolution? For all we know those bones and "fossils" could have been deformities and died. My support of Genesis lies within Faith. Something no amount of "science" or "theories" can disprove. Just look at the sunset, a waterfall. There is no way this world could have started by a "big bang" there has to be something bigger then that and I know there is. His name is God.

Yea that theory of gravity doesn't prove anything at all about how science always works of tangible evidence.

I'll take facts over faith everyday of the week and you do as well unless you want to just say that "faith" built the computer you are using.

Well thats your choice in life and hell im not going to stop you, you can believe in what you wanna believe. And I'll believe and what I feel is right. Thats what makes us individuals in this world.

Please don't threaten people with hell.

You are a moron. Evolution is the unifying theory within biology. As somebody who has studied biology in higher education for over 2 years, I can clearly state that evolution is a fact, and you are in a serious, mentally deficient denial.

You are not in the Dark Ages anymore, you are now the weak minority, it is time to wake up and smell the evidence.

People like you give atheism a bad name.

Actually i wasnt threatening.

 

[Jonabob87]

Speaking for everyone who doesn't believe in evolution (such as myself) No we are not apes. We never were. And we never will be

Just a quick question I've been meaning to ask someone like you please by all means do not take it the wrong way but, if you do not believe in evolution do you believe in the Adam and Eve thing? Because you know that story goes in the direction of family incest and that we'd be hillbillies because everybody would be related to us right?

Well this is so far the nicest reply on this thread I've gotten, and for that I will be glad to answer your question. I do believe in the Adam and Eve story, but after Cain killed Abel he wondered the Earth. God had created many more humans and allowed them to reproduce with each other. There was no incest just more humans created.

Well, if you reject the theory of evolution and make the claim that we are not related to apes you better have really good evidence, because current evolutionary theory has insurmountable amounts of evidence behind it. What evidence do you have for the Genesis story?

What evidence is there for evolution? For all we know those bones and "fossils" could have been deformities and died. My support of Genesis lies within Faith. Something no amount of "science" or "theories" can disprove. Just look at the sunset, a waterfall. There is no way this world could have started by a "big bang" there has to be something bigger then that and I know there is. His name is God.

Yea that theory of gravity doesn't prove anything at all about how science always works of tangible evidence.

I'll take facts over faith everyday of the week and you do as well unless you want to just say that "faith" built the computer you are using.

Well thats your choice in life and hell im not going to stop you, you can believe in what you wanna believe. And I'll believe and what I feel is right. Thats what makes us individuals in this world.

I believe I posted previously about being able to rationalize the holocaust as feeling like the right thing to do... Even if you think something is "right" that doesn't make it right. Like saying that it is right to eat lobster because it's a fancy dish even though your religious beliefs say that the father "as in the father not the son who is the only way to get to the father and be allowed into heaven" is disgusted by it...

I'm lost as to where God says "Don't east Lobster, I am disgusted by it."

In the New Testament God tells Peter that all foods are safe and clean to eat. It's half that and half a metaphor for accepting gentiles, but the food bit is relevant here.

"Do not call unclean, what God has called clean."

 

[diasravenguard]

We have more evidence supporting evolution than we do gravity, so if that's what you're asking, then yes.

You just took the subtitlity out of my message *sad face*

 

[Dana22]

Why would humanity be the apex of evolution? We're no such thing. We're not the best, nor all that special - plenty of species are more succesfull than we are, or more complex.

Yes, we are best and "most" successful specie on earth. We are on the top of the foodchain, we dont have natural predators. And Human Brain is the most complex structure in universe as we know it.

That is simply not true. We are at the top of the foodchain, not counting bacteria and virusses, and many parasites. The foodchain is a human invention. It's a thought. Factually speaking, it is not as simple as a foodchain. I could go into the details, but you wouldn't read them anyway.

The brain is not the most complex structure. Also, it is impossible to compare complexity in this manner, since it is relative. There are more complex cells than braincells, and more complex electrical fields than that of the human brain.

Again, succesful is something we made up, plus it's relative. There are no true ways to measure succesfulness, since it does not have a fixed numerical meaning.

With the 80 billion neurons, I am pretty sure brain is one of the most complex.

Also, you dont have to "measure" successfulness of humankind. Just open the window and look outside. We can create artificial life using synthetic dna, and we can destroy all life on earth with the snap of a fingers. What other animal on earth can do that.

That is actually an issue of a phylisophical debate I would argue that us being able to destroy all life on earth (including our own) would show how unsuccessful we have been at cohabitating the planet.

What if I told you that the dolphin has another 3/5th that number of neurons? (they do) it is a very complex structure but look at element 119 thats a SINGLE element we are mostly H2O which has a mass of 8 (element 119 has an atomic mass of 119 BY ITSELF)

Isnt that a philosophical topic anyway ?

Dolphins, no. Whales, yes.

Also, it is the ability that matters, not how we us it. Measure of our success is our ability to shape our environment as we see fit.

 

[Jonabob87]

Speaking for everyone who doesn't believe in evolution (such as myself) No we are not apes. We never were. And we never will be

SNIP

Well, if you reject the theory of evolution and make the claim that we are not related to apes you better have really good evidence, because current evolutionary theory has insurmountable amounts of evidence behind it. What evidence do you have for the Genesis story?

What evidence is there for evolution? For all we know those bones and "fossils" could have been deformities and died. My support of Genesis lies within Faith. Something no amount of "science" or "theories" can disprove. Just look at the sunset, a waterfall. There is no way this world could have started by a "big bang" there has to be something bigger then that and I know there is. His name is God.

Yea that theory of gravity doesn't prove anything at all about how science always works of tangible evidence.

I'll take facts over faith everyday of the week and you do as well unless you want to just say that "faith" built the computer you are using.

Well thats your choice in life and hell im not going to stop you, you can believe in what you wanna believe. And I'll believe and what I feel is right. Thats what makes us individuals in this world.

Please don't threaten people with hell.

You are a moron. Evolution is the unifying theory within biology. As somebody who has studied biology in higher education for over 2 years, I can clearly state that evolution is a fact, and you are in a serious, mentally deficient denial.

You are not in the Dark Ages anymore, you are now the weak minority, it is time to wake up and smell the evidence.

People like you give atheism a bad name.

Actually i wasnt threatening.

That wasn't supposed to be a quote of you but the Escapists quoting system got a bit confused.

 

[diasravenguard]

Speaking for everyone who doesn't believe in evolution (such as myself) No we are not apes. We never were. And we never will be

Just a quick question I've been meaning to ask someone like you please by all means do not take it the wrong way but, if you do not believe in evolution do you believe in the Adam and Eve thing? Because you know that story goes in the direction of family incest and that we'd be hillbillies because everybody would be related to us right?

Well this is so far the nicest reply on this thread I've gotten, and for that I will be glad to answer your question. I do believe in the Adam and Eve story, but after Cain killed Abel he wondered the Earth. God had created many more humans and allowed them to reproduce with each other. There was no incest just more humans created.

Well, if you reject the theory of evolution and make the claim that we are not related to apes you better have really good evidence, because current evolutionary theory has insurmountable amounts of evidence behind it. What evidence do you have for the Genesis story?

What evidence is there for evolution? For all we know those bones and "fossils" could have been deformities and died. My support of Genesis lies within Faith. Something no amount of "science" or "theories" can disprove. Just look at the sunset, a waterfall. There is no way this world could have started by a "big bang" there has to be something bigger then that and I know there is. His name is God.

Yea that theory of gravity doesn't prove anything at all about how science always works of tangible evidence.

I'll take facts over faith everyday of the week and you do as well unless you want to just say that "faith" built the computer you are using.

Well thats your choice in life and hell im not going to stop you, you can believe in what you wanna believe. And I'll believe and what I feel is right. Thats what makes us individuals in this world.

I believe I posted previously about being able to rationalize the holocaust as feeling like the right thing to do... Even if you think something is "right" that doesn't make it right. Like saying that it is right to eat lobster because it's a fancy dish even though your religious beliefs say that the father "as in the father not the son who is the only way to get to the father and be allowed into heaven" is disgusted by it...

I'm lost as to where God says "Don't east Lobster, I am disgusted by it."

In the New Testament God tells Peter that all foods are safe and clean to eat. It's half that and half a metaphor for accepting gentiles, but the food bit is relevant here.

"Do not call unclean, what God has called clean."

Read old testament and don't tell me new testament changed all the rules. New testament is written by man as a testament old testament is written for god by man.

"the word of god is eternal and unchanging" thats the big thing that makes jews and christians different they follow the words of god not the words of the disciples of Jesus.

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

For all of you who do not understand we humans are classed in the same Family(Hominids, or "Great Apes") as Chimps et al.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylogenetics

You're missing the point. As I tried to illustrate with my Felicia Day remark, science does not preclude the sociolinguistic connotations of specific language usage. I was probably naive to think that bored scientists haven't already spent years of their lives scientifically classifying everything they possibly can just to say they were the first ones to do it. BUT, there are many varying ways to interpret the question "can apes and humans be classified together?", and science is not the only one. It might be the most comprehensive, but that's not always a good thing.

To put it more clearly, if you were describing the ape/human connection to an alien, you'd be HIGHLY inaccurate to open with the phrase "Apes and humans are similar because of X scientific reason". You'd then have to spend the next ten hours listing all the exceptions to that statement (humans and apes don't socialise, apes can't talk, apes aren't members of human society, they cannot vote in parliament, they don't use dental floss, they've never beaten Devil May Cry 3 on Dante Must Die mode, etc.)

If the question was "are humans genetically similar to apes?" science would be right to weigh in. But science can't fully define a human, because science is an invention of humans, and therefore cannot be used to differentiate between humans and apes. Otherwise it would go against Gödel's First Incompleteness Theorem [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del's_incompleteness_theorems#First_incompleteness_theorem] (i.e. a system cannot fully define itself).