What do you think separates humans from other animals?

[conflictofinterests]

That's easy. Self-restraint. Next question.

That comes with a complex understanding of the world around us and of the consequences of our actions, which is only enabled by our ability to combine numerous ideas at once.

You kidding? Wolves and gorillas know not to fuck with the alpha if they know what's good for them. That's self-restraint right there.

Also, humanity as a whole is showing too little restraint too late - we're fucking up the world for everyone, not just ourselves.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch)

Other animals find a balance. We've managed to find where the line in the sand is and completely ignore it.

Are you kidding? Every time we found a line in the sand before, we found some way to better stretch the resources we had. Not enough nuts and berries and wild animals? Ok, we'll invent horticulture and pastoralism! Not enough wild food, tended food, and herded food? That's fine, agriculture it is! Not enough room for all of us to live together without serious repercussions? Sanitation and city planning! We're coming up against another line, and you know what we're going to do? Because I know what we're going to do. We're going to find a way to ensure the survival of the most living people, and we're going to incorporate environmentalism in there. In the Environmentalism is on the rise, and the fact that it was less before shows that environmental damage that we caused was based in a lack of understanding of how the world works (or in the case of modern environmental damage, by economic pressures to damage the environment. People in Haiti need firewood, and there are way too many people there with way too little money, so they deforest the place). There isn't a whole lot of economic incentive to cause ecological destruction anymore, except in the poorest of nations.

And anyways, on the first point, humans exercise a much larger amount of self restraint than animals; we have culture. How many rules JUST FOR SPEAKING can you name off the top of your head?

 

[WitherVoice]

Humans are separated from other animals by our inability to create fertile offspring with them.

donkey + horse = mule; mules are infertile.
lion + tiger = liger; ligers are infertile.
x + y (assuming x != y) = hybrid; hybrids are infertile.

this applies to all species in ability to produce fertile offspring with others. that's what species means. organisms that can produce fertile offspring with each other.

That's exactly what I said... we are separated from other animals because we cannot conceive fertile offspring with them. I'm unsure what your point is in quoting this

 

[rammst13n]

denial, on the most basic level we are all the same

I guess on a cellular level you're correct, but humans are pretty fantastical creatures considering what we've been able to create.

I mean that everything we do is for self preservation, our basic instincts are the same, what we have done with them technologically surpasses animals however it is all for the goal of survival

Everything we do is not for self-preservation. You're on a motherfucking GAMING website, for Christ' sake. If all we did was self-preserve to the best of our abilities, there would be no art, no games, and certainly none of this [a href="https://www.google.com/search?ix=hcb&q=x+games&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=gFvxTrLPLoaLsQK62_GUAQ&biw=1920&bih=955&sei=hVvxTq_JDej2sQKz7YmVAQ"]bullshit.[/a]

games are for enjoyment which helps with mental stability which allows us to live on a daily basis, how is this not self preservation, its is still about survival, it allows us to stay sane, i disagree that games are not important, they can be used for teaching and improving skills in a non real world situation, they are essential to many parts of survival in many ways

 

[emeraldrafael]

The DNA that makes us us?

 

[conflictofinterests]

denial, on the most basic level we are all the same

I guess on a cellular level you're correct, but humans are pretty fantastical creatures considering what we've been able to create.

I mean that everything we do is for self preservation, our basic instincts are the same, what we have done with them technologically surpasses animals however it is all for the goal of survival

Everything we do is not for self-preservation. You're on a motherfucking GAMING website, for Christ' sake. If all we did was self-preserve to the best of our abilities, there would be no art, no games, and certainly none of this [a href="https://www.google.com/search?ix=hcb&q=x+games&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=gFvxTrLPLoaLsQK62_GUAQ&biw=1920&bih=955&sei=hVvxTq_JDej2sQKz7YmVAQ"]bullshit.[/a]

games are for enjoyment which helps with mental stability which allows us to live on a daily basis, how is this not self preservation, its is still about survival, it allows us to stay sane, i disagree that games are not important, they can be used for teaching and improving skills in a non real world situation, they are essential to many parts of survival in many ways

Because [a href="http://www.switched.com/2007/09/17/man-dies-after-days-of-non-stop-gaming/"]this[/a] isn't a thing. How many times have you played a video game and gotten more frustrated than you were previously? How many times have you neglected other duties to play video games? Part and parcel of being human is doing things for pleasure, not just for survival. Mental rejuvenation can be achieved even during activities directly related to survival, and citing that as proof that everything is based on survival is as meaningless as saying "everything we do is everything we do."

 

[GiglameshSoulEater]

We kill each other and other species for fun and giggles. Other species don't.

Incorrect.

Dolphins are dicks.
As in, massive duschebags.

 

[ExileNZ]

That's easy. Self-restraint. Next question.

That comes with a complex understanding of the world around us and of the consequences of our actions, which is only enabled by our ability to combine numerous ideas at once.

You kidding? Wolves and gorillas know not to fuck with the alpha if they know what's good for them. That's self-restraint right there.

Also, humanity as a whole is showing too little restraint too late - we're fucking up the world for everyone, not just ourselves.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch)

Other animals find a balance. We've managed to find where the line in the sand is and completely ignore it.

Are you kidding? Every time we found a line in the sand before, we found some way to better stretch the resources we had. Not enough nuts and berries and wild animals? Ok, we'll invent horticulture and pastoralism! Not enough wild food, tended food, and herded food? That's fine, agriculture it is! Not enough room for all of us to live together without serious repercussions? Sanitation and city planning! We're coming up against another line, and you know what we're going to do? Because I know what we're going to do. We're going to find a way to ensure the survival of the most living people, and we're going to incorporate environmentalism in there. In the Environmentalism is on the rise, and the fact that it was less before shows that environmental damage that we caused was based in a lack of understanding of how the world works (or in the case of modern environmental damage, by economic pressures to damage the environment. People in Haiti need firewood, and there are way too many people there with way too little money, so they deforest the place). There isn't a whole lot of economic incentive to cause ecological destruction anymore, except in the poorest of nations.

And anyways, on the first point, humans exercise a much larger amount of self restraint than animals; we have culture. How many rules JUST FOR SPEAKING can you name off the top of your head?

As a linguist and a bilingual, far, FAR too many. That said, I don't see how rules of communication come under self-restraint - for most people they're implicit, not explicit (we do them because they work, not because we consciously decide not to do otherwise).

Likewise, I don't necessarily view finding a better way forward as being the same as stopping a bad thing. Cultural and technological advancement can be wonderful things, but look at the last 50 years. We figured out a long time ago that we needed to stop dumping our trash and chemicals in the ocean. Have we? No. Have we even slowed down? Not really - we've just found methods of dumping ten times as much instead of 100 times as much.

Overpopulation is nothing new, and yet it still crops up everywhere.

Speaking of which, we're not going to find a way to save the largest number of people - we're going to find a way to save the elite, and then sometime later someone will find a way to make a lot of money selling an inferior version to everyone else. Maybe you won't be living in a domed city, but at least you can buy these disposable air filters! Great prices, no refunds.

That's not how it's going to be, that's how it's always been.
(domed cities notwithstanding)

 

[DarthFennec]

Sentience, self-awareness, that sort of thing. All of our higher brain functions. We can ask why things are the way they are, and we can answer that question using our logic, and we can use that information to change things and make them different. Animals just chug along and do their thing, their behavior is based mostly on evolution. Ours is based somewhat on evolution, but mostly on what we've learned or invented individually. Unlike other animals, humans have the capacity to understand the world around them on a massive scale, and the drive to use that understanding, in order to make tools and things that will help them change that world. There are other animals that do this, chimpanzees and things, but not nearly to the degree that humans do. We have more complex language, more complex society, more complex brains, etc.

Basically, our ability to invent, create, organize, and use tools is on a much wider scope than any other animal. That's pretty much the only distinguishing factor.

 

[xplosive59]

It was the monoliths causing superior beings to evolve and develop tools, watch the first part of 2001.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I hear it is because of self analysis. Humans are said to be the only animals who are doubt their own existence and question themselves.

 

[CulixCupric]

That's exactly what I said... we are separated from other animals because we cannot conceive fertile offspring with them. I'm unsure what your point is in quoting this

i'm saying it works between other animals as well, not just them and us.

 

[sharks9]

games are for enjoyment which helps with mental stability which allows us to live on a daily basis, how is this not self preservation, its is still about survival, it allows us to stay sane, i disagree that games are not important, they can be used for teaching and improving skills in a non real world situation, they are essential to many parts of survival in many ways

Go watch Jackass. Then tell me if you think humans are all about self preservation.

 

[zerobudgetgamer]

I'm gonna go basic and say Opposable Thumbs and Fire, since without both of those, we probably wouldn't have evolved the way we did.

 

[NiPah]

Animals are like TI-83 calculators, they can do some pretty interesting things but in the end they are extremely limited due to their internal wiring.

Humans are like PCs, more power under the hood and can be taught to do some pretty interesting things, but in the end are just upgraded calculators.

Aliens are like Macs, used by people who don't know any better and invented by entrepreneurs from San Francisco to sell suckers useless paraphernalia.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

On the most basic level, humans have free will that allows them to dictate their lives in any manner they chose. Animals are bound by their instincts and machinery can only follow orders, but humans can produce their own thoughts and solutions to their immediate situations.

Although it makes humans unpredictable and rebellious to the norm, it also tends to keep things interesting and exciting in the world.

 

[WitherVoice]

Yes, it separates other animals from each other too, but that hardly makes it LESS of a separating barrier between us and them, does it?

 

[Loner Jo Jo]

I think the only thing that separates humans from all other animals is the ability to communicate using a complex language. While many other animals have methods of communicating with others, some even being able to communicate effectively with other animals. However, the shape of our voice box allows for a greater range of nuisanced noises. Combine this with our intelligence (which is not something only inherent in humans) and we have been able to create languages that are able to communicate deeper ideas. If it weren't for the ability to communicate in the way we do, then great ideas would have never been established or even create civilization as we know it today.

 

[CulixCupric]

I think the only thing that separates humans from all other animals is the ability to communicate using a complex language. While many other animals have methods of communicating with others, some even being able to communicate effectively with other animals. However, the shape of our voice box allows for a greater range of nuisanced noises. Combine this with our intelligence (which is not something only inherent in humans) and we have been able to create languages that are able to communicate deeper ideas. If it weren't for the ability to communicate in the way we do, then great ideas would have never been established or even create civilization as we know it today.

dolphin's have language much more complex than ours. we can't even figure it out.

Yes, it separates other animals from each other too, but that hardly makes it LESS of a separating barrier between us and them, does it?

ok, you are right about that. that is a good point.

It was the monoliths causing superior beings to evolve and develop tools, watch the first part of 2001.

i haven't seen this movie. should i have? is it a classic? what is it? what year was it made?

The DNA that makes us us?

eh, sort of, but you might want to read up on junk DNA, also known as inactive DNA, or evolutionary DNA. it's our dna that is from all other species that just isn't in use, so we have their dna, we just aren't using most of it. they also have it, but aren't using ours. they have the dna of all species as do we, which is why splicing is possible. like the spider goats. or the sheep spliced with human dna.

 

[conflictofinterests]

As a linguist and a bilingual, far, FAR too many. That said, I don't see how rules of communication come under self-restraint - for most people they're implicit, not explicit (we do them because they work, not because we consciously decide not to do otherwise).

Likewise, I don't necessarily view finding a better way forward as being the same as stopping a bad thing. Cultural and technological advancement can be wonderful things, but look at the last 50 years. We figured out a long time ago that we needed to stop dumping our trash and chemicals in the ocean. Have we? No. Have we even slowed down? Not really - we've just found methods of dumping ten times as much instead of 100 times as much.

Overpopulation is nothing new, and yet it still crops up everywhere.

Speaking of which, we're not going to find a way to save the largest number of people - we're going to find a way to save the elite, and then sometime later someone will find a way to make a lot of money selling an inferior version to everyone else. Maybe you won't be living in a domed city, but at least you can buy these disposable air filters! Great prices, no refunds.

That's not how it's going to be, that's how it's always been.
(domed cities notwithstanding)

So you're complaining culture isn't changing fast enough for you. Well, you're in luck, with technology as fast-paced as it is, culture is changing more and more rapidly. There is an end in site to extreme poverty at this point, and it won't take much effort to reach it (though time is a different matter)

Aside from that, air filters for the masses instead of domed cities for the elite will still save a whole lot of people, and this extreme of a gap in wealth has never before existed in human history, so I can't say how long it's going to last. A lot of the disenfranchised are getting pretty pissed, and you get enough people together enough pissed off there's bound to be change.

Overpopulation is only a problem without the right technology. With proper city planning, waste collection and efficient farming techniques, no one has to live uncomfortably (and, in fact, individuals who live in large cities leave smaller carbon footprints than those who live in rural areas, since everything they get already comes to the central hub of the city and doesn't have to travel out to the countryside)

Finally, I wouldn't disregard the rules of language as far as self-restraint goes. In the animal kingdom most restraint is implicit (at least after several run-ins with the alpha of whatever species of your choice). It's hard to discount the internalization and NATURALIZATION of so many artificial and ARBITRARY rules as occurs in human speech, and at some point in our lives EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THOSE RULES we consciously learned as we learned the language. For the most part we don't remember these events because they happened so early in our life cycle, because our brains were in such an early stage of development. How many other animals can take that sheer amount of rules information and then abide by it the rest of their lives? How many rules and regulations is a pack of wolves going to have, and how many rules and regulations is an interaction between two strangers in our society going to have?

 

[TheVioletBandit]

Shame, animals don't feel any shame. Though I guess the same could be said for a few humans as well.