Comments on: What humans have that animals don’t..

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07/07/10--19:59: By: CC (chan 1705686)

this is a great article. As I thought more and more about this, we are not the most unique or the only ones to do certain things... i dont know if i can make my point here but let me try. as DC said, empathy is certainly a trait that humans possess but I dont believe we are the only ones. since we can argue that the definition of empathy= knowledge+care (in my opinion). these characteristics can be seen in dogs if you have been with them their whole life and truly love them. you may call it 'six' sense or whatever but when you are truly feeling down, your dog understands and empathize by putting his head on your lap and quietly looking at you. but this can also be argued by our standards/ interpretation of this action. As i said before, i dont know if this is a valid point im making since we CANT fully understand animals (as Xeper mentioned) because we interpret anything that happens based on our knowledge as well as OUR basic morals and standards. I mean, as our views about working women change, the generations to come will not understand why the female lions hunt while the male lions steals the food and no female lion is against it because the male protects their territory. I mean 6~8 females lions can perhaps beat one male lion if they do work together (like that of hunting for prey) I love this topic though. keep it going! i want to get more opinions and their views!


12/18/10--19:16: By: nyc d (chan 1705686)

unlike animals, humans can - and should - control their urges... animals can kill or fight with other animals for the heck of it, every time they get the urge. they can even have more than one mate if it strikes them humans shouldn't -- and if they do they get punished accordingly.


12/18/10--19:25: By: nyc d (chan 1705686)

"Humans are NOT the only species that understands political favors; big predators such as sharks and crocodiles have little friends who clean them and are treated with the utmost favoritism" uhh no actually. take a marine biology class. its not political -- its natural.


04/19/11--14:03: By: xeper (chan 1705686)

@DC Tatner: Empathy is one feeling we are least evolved in, as far as mammals go. Please check the experiment about the chimp given food link with electricity to another one. The chimp soon realizes that when he eats the other one screams in pain and refrains from eating until he is so hungry that he would electrify himself to get the banana. Please cross reference this with the other famous experiment where humans continue to torture the other just because they are commanded to do so by the scientist in the experiment, or the young troops who kill civilians just based on command or just for fun. Did you ever hear of an animal, mammal or other, killing or torturing another of the same species just for fun??!


04/19/11--14:09: By: xeper (chan 1705686)

@CC: thank you for the encouragement. God knows I need it :) Thank you for the input too, and please check my reply to DC above. And it is indeed something weird that lionesses do not enslave lions and beat them. In fact, it is so weird that Egyptian popular classes use the term lioness as a very slang and very derogatory term for women who would do anything for, and are totally controlled by... mating.


04/19/11--14:14: By: xeper (chan 1705686)

@nyc d: Thanks for the comments. I totally disagree on both, after my humble studies at least in politics, anthropology, nature, and zoology. But I do appreciate the input, for, after all, I am no more young enough to know everything :) Wishing us all Wisdom as long as we seek it..


04/22/11--12:34: By: Dan (chan 1705686)

And what of Ethics? Morality? Reason? Culture? Architecture?[and yes, animals build dwellings, but do two different birds of the same species build two different types of nests according to their whim or preference? You said "Did you ever hear of an animal, mammal or other, killing or torturing another of the same species just for fun??!" You don't think there are animals who kill for sport? I couldn't name *the* animal(s) but i'm quite sure I have heard of it being done. I believe the purpose of the experiment you reference: "Please cross reference this with the other famous experiment where humans continue to torture the other just because they are commanded to do so by the scientist in the experiment" was purposed to show how dumbly people place total trust into those with authority, even if they haven't even verified the credentials of the ones in authority, if they look like they know what they're doing, people will trust them. I believe their trust in the person took precedence over their empathy. [i would refer you to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where Harry handles Dumbledore in the cave] lol. jk. Interesting post though.


05/03/11--08:37: By: xeper (chan 1705686)

@Dan: Thanks for the discussion. And you will not find sadistic animals torturing for sport, no. Even cats when they play with a mouse are oblivious to the facts that this is another terrified creature. Only humans enjoy the torture itself. Cats, however, do not torture other cats because they can understand their distress. The point about different nests according to personal preference makes "personal preference" the identifying fact, not the architecture. And I assure you personal preference between members of the same species are always present for the trained eye. And you can say that animals have a rather limited architecture, but this does not make it our monopoly. Same goes for Culture. Reason? I would need a definition for that to give you examples proving they have it, often beyond ours. But authority over empathy? What kind of reason is that! I hope you see why I don't trust human reason :) And speaking of which, you say "before they get proof of authority". Even if they got proof. You think that is justified? Not that I did not do stupid mistakes myself, but I know why I did them: I'm human, and that is not a very wise species to belong to. [And I didn't read the deathly hallows yet sorry! lol] About Ethics and Morality, I trust animal ethics and morality far beyond that of humans, at least they don't do the opposite of what they say then philosophize to prove their moral superiority. When they are hungry and have to pounce over you to eat you, they don't tell you it's for your own good, and did I mention they do it only when hungry? Oh, or trained by a human for combat! Glad you liked the post and hope to see more of your comments.


01/20/12--16:23: By: sam (chan 1705686)

I saw the first comment about how some animals may have religion, i have to say that this is right, at least in the case of elephants. Elephants are the only species on Earth other than Homo sapiens sapiens and Homo sapiens Neanderthalis, known to have or have had any recognizable ritual around death. They show a keen interest in the bones of their own kind (even unrelated elephants that have died long ago). When they come across a deceased elephant in the wild they are often seen gently investigating the bones with their trunks and feet and remaining very quiet. Sometimes elephants that are completely unrelated to the deceased will still visit their graves. Elephant researcher Martin Meredith recalls an occurrence in his book about a typical elephant death ritual that was witnessed by Anthony Hall-Martin, a South African biologist who had studied elephants in Addo, South Africa, for over eight years. The entire family of a dead matriarch, including her young calf, were all gently touching her body with their trunks, trying to lift her. The elephant herd were all rumbling loudly. The calf was observed to be weeping and made sounds that sounded like a scream, but then the entire herd fell incredibly silent. They then began to throw leaves and dirt over the body and broke off tree branches to cover her. They spent the next two days quietly standing over her body. They sometimes had to leave to get water or food, but they would always return. George Adamson also recalls when he shot a bull elephant from a herd that kept breaking into the government gardens of Northern Kenya. George gave the elephant's meat to local Turkana tribesmen and then dragged the rest of the carcass half a mile away. That night, the other elephants found the body and took the shoulder blade and leg bone and returned the bones to the exact spot the elephant was killed. Scientists often debate the extent that elephants feel emotion. Occurrences of elephants behaving this way around human beings are common throughout Africa. On many occasions, they have buried dead or sleeping humans or aided them when they were hurt. Meredith also recalls an event told to him by George Adamson, a Kenyan Game Warden, regarding an old Turkana woman who fell asleep under a tree after losing her way home. When she woke up, there was an elephant standing over her, gently touching her. She kept very still, because she was very frightened. As other elephants arrived, they began to scream loudly and buried her under branches. She was found the next morning by the local herdsmen, unharmed. sorry most of that was copied from wikipedia but im tired and you get my point, we are not the only beings to ritualise death and mourn the passing of loved ones, the fact that elephants also have a close social group and simple hierarchy almost to the point of a tribe, can paint, enjoy different types of music and remember loved ones and grudges points out to me that elephants have strong cognative powers, maybe not advanced as ours as we like to belive. but they are still, in my view extremely intelligent, almost sentient.


01/20/12--16:24: By: sam (chan 1705686)

sorry, that was a little bit too long.