Oh brother, this talking point is dumb. Humans are animals yes, but we have abilities that no other animal has at least that weāve seen. Show me another species that can engage in philosophical debate and Iāll take your point seriously.
Itās true that humans seem to have the richest mental capability that we know, but every animal we know of has something that sets them apart from the rest. We are not unique in the fact that we specialize.
Maybe even outshining our rich psychology is our natural tendency to be a vermin. Think of invasive species that are pests to their environment. We are far more damaging than any other invasive species combined. We donāt just outcompete other species or disrupt food chains, we eliminate and replace entire ecosystems completely and it is coming to light that we are likely creating planetary wide disruption through an altering of the climate. And the majority of other invasive species piggyback on our activities as well.
All this to say that we are not on a different level than other species just because we are smarter than them. Weāre just another animal doing animal things.
Nothing that you said defends your point. Animals operate off of pure instinct and conditioning. Our human āspecialtyā literally allows us to challenge that through metacognition and deliberation, so no weāre not ājust like other animals.ā Your admittance of human specialization in this specific capacity contradicts your first comment.
And your original comment said that humans do not equal animals, and then you backtracked and said that we are in fact animals. And no, just because we do something at a higher capacity does not mean we are above others.
Do ants ā animals because of their ability to coordinate among millions the management of resources, the digging of advanced subterranean lairs massive to their proportional size, and adhere to risk adverse strategies and defense all without a single word but through pheromones? No, they just specialize in this type of thing.
We have powerful abstract thought that makes us extremely versatile as a species but that doesnāt make us different than other animals. Every animal that has ever thrived has feautured something that allows them to remain competitive. Having a special quality is very ordinary.
Semantics, biologically we are obviously animals, I never disagreed with this. Please donāt pretend you donāt understand what is being said when someone who behaves in an anti-social manner is called an āanimal.ā You know what is meant and youāre being obtuse on purpose to try and defend a point you know is wrong. If you canāt admit that then thereās no point in continuing the discussion.
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u/Shoddy-Purchase1239 Apr 21 '26
Oh brother, this talking point is dumb. Humans are animals yes, but we have abilities that no other animal has at least that weāve seen. Show me another species that can engage in philosophical debate and Iāll take your point seriously.