Animals as "others"

I've posted this on another western forum and will be interested to see people's opinions and whatnot.

What is an "animal"?
Aren't humans "animals"?
What differentiates us from non-human animals and is the distinction always clear?

 

I thought humans were animals but the Bible said that people were different cos they had the 'breath of life' and so because it had such an impact alot of people think like that. Or something... I dunno my science teach can really talk.

 

Of course were animals theres no denying that! Im guessing the word animal comes from like the same roots as "animate"? As in beings with some kind of moving energy? I dont know though, but i know the human being is an animal! Its REALLY funny people generally dont realise this.

And now i have REM in my head

As ive said before here, i think clumping all other species together and labelling them "the animals" is a big mistake and very misleading for everyone, and may even be a very small part of the cause behind mistreatment of other animals or just complete ignorance about them. Our way of thinking is important

Not making sense but uh yeah, were animals. Does that take away all our positive unique qualities and the things we do better than other animals? Of course not. So, like, whats the big deal?

 

Homo Superior is the only animal that can discuss the subject, I dont think any other species gives two hoots about any other animal or whether it even is an animal or not.

 

What differentiates us from non-human animals and is the distinction always clear?
humans have the power to control other animals.

 

well say animals could talk , some of them are pretty ropey bears for example eat bears, walrus kill baby walrus so they can mate with their mothers .

if we got to know animals we might conclude these are worthless trash lets exterminate them

 

Huh, wheres this going? Other aimals talking? LOL they DO talk. They have their own communication systems. Just because theyre not opening their mouths and forming English words doesnt mean theyre not talking! And these communication systems can be learnt and understood and we can even use them to talk back, just like another human language, in many cases. People just dont bother. There be the problem

 

well what if they said something like i want to eat you , I feel a lot of animals would be mighty ropey .
cats for example could be really cruel and talk about enjoying torturing mice

 

Humans are kings over animals. Infact the bible says something about every animal will be man's something something. It was in Genesis.The difference between Man and animal is that animals have no spirit. They have no consciousness. Take cats. All they know is lick paw,brush against owners foot and sleep around all day and fencewalk at night, catching rats and other disposable rodents. In other words, animals are irrelevant. Man was given the breath of life. But one thing is in common. Man and animal will have the same fate. Death. Returning to the soil once more.

 

This reminds me of an old SF story about a bunch of people who've been captured by aliens. They keep trying to convince the aliens they're intelligent, sentient beings but nothing succeeds until they happen to make a pet of some alien rodent and build a little cage for it. The punchline is that only intelligent creatures put other creatures behind bars.

 

I dont have much time and so cant say all i want to, so for now may i just say

Im incredibly surprised anyone could make such an assumption. And, to be honest, quite alarmed. Isnt it odd how two human beings can have such a different perception of the same thing? Anyway cant stay, but ill be back. I didnt want to get deep into this thread as weve already talked about it, but i can never just let things lie

P.s-As weve actually discussed here a few times, "man" is an animal. Therefore your wording seems a little off

 

i don't really see us as anything different from the animals around me. i defend my space, give up some space, hunt, run, feather my nest, raise my children, blah blah blah.

 

...discuss the meaning of reality....

 

this thread reminds me of the wild thornberrys

 

Man is not an animal. It evolved from an animal and it now is a completely different realm to the animal kingdom. We can relate with many animals in that we live, make the most and then die. I don't think my rats had any concept of the outside world, God or what life means. Because last time I checked up on them, they were not sitting down having question time.

Animals are puny because nature is their master. Animals are controlled by instinct, not by freewill. Humans are closely related to the apes, but when we evolved we broke off from the animal world. I also didn't know any animal that questions reality. If humans are animals, I think we can just say that we are party animals.


Evolution started out with God who started the big bang. His day was a billion years. Yet his work isn't complete until Jesus comes again. Animals are there for humans. God said, the fish are there to be caught and the animals are there to serve as food. And the trees are there to serve us for food.

I think that in the Bible it says it sacrifices animals. Yet man cannot sacrifice man. Man is in likeness to God himself. Therefore Animals are simply our servents. It is the way of God.Consult bible. THough am not Christian or religious, I feel that the Bible can answer most questions if not all, If you can put your mind to what it says. Ditch the old latin, go for Good news.

 

That is an extremely christian viewpoint... Which i dont agree with... I think all animals have a soul.

 

Humans are members of the hominidae (great ape) family in the mammalian class of the animal kingdom - we're African primates alongside our close relatives, chimps and gorillas.

It's the Judeo-Christian tradition which separated man from the beasts of the field, but quite clearly this is a nonsense We are a very small step away from other higher mammals some of whom clearly have a form of second-order consciousness almost indistinguishable from our own. Other advanced mammals exhibit humanlike characteristics like altruism, playing for the hell of it, killing for fun, fear, anger, jealousy, love, etc. There are very famous stories of wild dolphins saving the lives of humans. I'm sure some species-centrism is an unavoidable human universal but modern evolutionary biology is telling us that the distinction we thought existed is much finer and narrower than we ever imagined

 

you're right. i don't think mammals are that different from us, chimpanzees actually have a better memory than us! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7124156.stm

 

Scientists have taught apes sign language, who have then taught it to their children. I wonder if in the future people will genetically twist monkeys into being able to talk as we do? That would be interesting..

 

I think there's a theory that the other great apes aren't able to produce the range of vocal sounds that humans are capable of because of the arrangement of their vocal chords, etc. The evolution of language was probably a fortuitous combination of physiognomy and mental capacity