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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 12:39:22 PM   
bipolarber


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Status: offline 		Hey, that list was taken from a text that came out of an early "Order of the Dolphin" symposium. (They're the ones who helped define the criteria for SETI) I figured their take on what makes an intelligent, sensient being probably remains a pretty good yardstick.

True, other animals display emotions, can make rudimentary tools, and like to fuck for pleasure. (Bonobos especially... their social order, one of the most peaceful in the kingdom of great apes, is based almost entirely on solving problems via sex.) The question remains if animals have the same "time bending" ability that we do. Can they conceptualize the future, and act on their projections? Not much evidence of that beyond just sensing winter coming on, and preparing for it.

So much of it seems to be a question of extent, rather than some mysterious quality that only we have above all other animals.

Yet, I sit here, typing letters on a phosphor screen, putting down a code that you can read... and suddenly MY thoughts are in YOUR head.... and these thoughts can stay here, and can eventually be read by others... and I'm in their heads too... even though I may have died years ago....

THAT is a major accomplishment of our species. We don't just survive... we build our knowledge, and share our thoughts.

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 2:26:27 PM   
eyesopened


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quote:

ORIGINAL: bipolarber

1. We know about death.



Elephants visit the bones of their relatives and grieve long after the death of said relatives.  They seem to know about death, grief, and the need to connect with the dead on some level.

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 2:59:09 PM   
CuriousLord


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Raechard

We are the only ones that have made procreation a recreational activity.


Spoken just like a man who's never had his leg humped by a female Jack Russel in heat.

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 3:10:46 PM   
CuriousLord


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Status: offline 		Humanity?  It's arbitrary.  Our culture, as a subset of our species, as a subset of life, as a subset of this physical world and its laws, as a subset of possibilities.

We're just animals.  Stupid animals with whatever characterstics.  There's no great spirtual bit in us (unless one counts his own delusions).

So, this is us.  We're life: distortions that reproduce in this particular area of existence.  And I wish that, when I say that we're "stupid animals", there would be a way to express the magnitude to which this is true.  There's this horrible illusion that we're somehow noble creatures.

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 3:19:43 PM   
Raechard


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quote:

ORIGINAL: CuriousLord
Spoken just like a man who's never had his leg humped by a female Jack Russel in heat.


Damn that's a good point I hadn't thought of that, it's hard to argue against.

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 4:51:01 PM   
bipolarber


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Status: offline 		So animals may or may not know "death" as we do. They know that there is loss, they know the absence of a mate or their young... but that's a far cry from taking out a life insurance policy, or drawing up a will...

This thread could easily spin off on "sex with the alien" themes. If we are so close to animals, as several on here have said, why does there seem to be so many taboos about having sexual relations with them? Cross species sex seems to exist all throughout the natural kingdom... (Just ask my Dog, Igor, about all the times he's raped our tomcat, Fernslayer. Except Fernslyer seems to enjoy it...) I personally had a rather non-consentual encounter with a horny dolphin several years ago, back when swimming with those horn dogs was all the rage. So why don't humans interact with animals more, if we're so close to them?

For that matter, do you think, should we ever actually make contact with E.T.'s, that our dating pool would instantly expand? Or, since parallel evolution is probably bunk, would we be about as attracted to an alien as we would a great dane-sized Orb Spider?

I mean, as long as we're having one of those, "pass me the joint, I can almost conceptualize another universe in the tip of my finger," arguments... LOL

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 4:53:21 PM   
IdiotMale


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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 5:11:57 PM   
kdsub


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Status: offline 		There is only one true deciding irrefutable difference… we can kill better than any other species. If you try to complete with us we kill you. And we kill not just for survival but also for fun.This circumstance is only temporary...personally I think human...or homo sapiens will not be the ultimate species in the long run. Viruses will eventually be triumphant and rule until the earth is brunt to a cinder.

Unless there is a God

< Message edited by kdsub -- 11/18/2007 5:12:54 PM >

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 6:32:24 PM   
DesertRat


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quote:

ORIGINAL: CuriousLord
...It's arbitrary... 
...We're just animals...  ....There's no great spirtual bit in us...

...There's this horrible illusion that we're somehow noble creatures.


I agree with this. I think our major distinguishing trait is that we use a tool to make a tool. Still just animals, though with no more or less intrinsic value than any other animal. The greatness some claim for us is self-referencing.

Bob

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 6:59:15 PM   
dcnovice


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Status: offline 		Am I the only one who remembers Steel Magnolias?

"The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize."

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 7:00:22 PM   
Owner59


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quote:

ORIGINAL: CuriousLord

quote:

ORIGINAL: Raechard

We are the only ones that have made procreation a recreational activity.


Spoken just like a man who's never had his leg humped by a female Jack Russel in heat.


A dog humping your leg isn`t in heat.It`s an instinctive act of dominance,that some male dogs do.It can be trained out,like any undesirable behavior.It has nothing to do with sex,though we tend to associate leg humping and the little red rockets, w/ sex.

< Message edited by Owner59 -- 11/18/2007 7:03:09 PM >

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 7:11:14 PM   
juliaoceania


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quote:

ORIGINAL: velvetears

Humans can cry other animals cannot. 

But i think what really seperates us from other animals is our spiritual connection to something greater than ourselves (whatever form it takes) - and i don't necessarily mean organized religion. 


Not according to yahoo answers

http://ask.yahoo.com/20030313.html

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 7:17:30 PM   
popeye1250


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quote:

ORIGINAL: CuriousLord

Humanity?  It's arbitrary.  Our culture, as a subset of our species, as a subset of life, as a subset of this physical world and its laws, as a subset of possibilities.

We're just animals.  Stupid animals with whatever characterstics.  There's no great spirtual bit in us (unless one counts his own delusions).

So, this is us.  We're life: distortions that reproduce in this particular area of existence.  And I wish that, when I say that we're "stupid animals", there would be a way to express the magnitude to which this is true.  There's this horrible illusion that we're somehow noble creatures.


CL, you got that right!
I'm not "Noble" by any stretch!

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 7:17:58 PM   
dcnovice


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Status: offline 		I think we're the only animal that makes or wears clothing, though elephants dust themselves with dirt or mud.

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it's never enough to keep up.

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INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 7:30:02 PM   
CuriousLord


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Owner59
quote:

ORIGINAL: CuriousLord

quote:

ORIGINAL: Raechard

We are the only ones that have made procreation a recreational activity.


Spoken just like a man who's never had his leg humped by a female Jack Russel in heat.


A dog humping your leg isn`t in heat.It`s an instinctive act of dominance,that some male dogs do.It can be trained out,like any undesirable behavior.It has nothing to do with sex,though we tend to associate leg humping and the little red rockets, w/ sex.


Then why did this dog also hump inanimate objects..?  Trees, chair legs, shoes, ..well, really anything it could get its crotch on..

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 7:31:34 PM   
angelikaJ


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Status: offline 		We have developed methods of communication that enable us to share and store our collective memories, thoughts etc.

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 7:34:15 PM   
dcnovice


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Status: offline 		We may be the only animals that think about what makes us different from all the other animals.

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INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 7:42:12 PM   
Owner59


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From: Dirty Jersey
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quote:

ORIGINAL: CuriousLord

quote:

ORIGINAL: Owner59
quote:

ORIGINAL: CuriousLord

quote:

ORIGINAL: Raechard

We are the only ones that have made procreation a recreational activity.


Spoken just like a man who's never had his leg humped by a female Jack Russel in heat.


A dog humping your leg isn`t in heat.It`s an instinctive act of dominance,that some male dogs do.It can be trained out,like any undesirable behavior.It has nothing to do with sex,though we tend to associate leg humping and the little red rockets, w/ sex.


Then why did this dog also hump inanimate objects..?  Trees, chair legs, shoes, ..well, really anything it could get its crotch on..


It`s instinctive.

They`ll hump male dogs too.

My neighbor`s black lab practically rapes my dog(mine is a male too),like a hump machine.He could make electricity if you harnessed him.It`s all I can do to tear him off my elderly and easy-going mutt.

I used to have a dog that would roll in dead dear carcase, or dear poop.He`d come back with that "stuff" all over his neck and back.
Never caught him in the act,so I never could train it out of him.

It`s a hunting related instinct.

Go figure...

Another instinct that dogs have,is to not attack other dogs.Almost all species of animals will not attack, or kill it`s own.

Humans on the other hand, are very, very lethal to other humans

< Message edited by Owner59 -- 11/18/2007 7:46:27 PM >

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 7:44:40 PM   
CuriousLord


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Status: offline 		So, what's your claim?  It's instinctive, or about dominance, or related to a hunting instinct..?

At what point do these things differ from recreation?

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RE: What is the essence of being human? - 11/18/2007 7:49:54 PM   
dcnovice


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quote:

Almost all species of animals will not attack, or kill it`s own.


It does happen, though. Jane Goodall found, for instance, that the chimps at Gombe waged what appeared to be war with one another. And cannibalism is not unknown among animals.

_____________________________

No matter how cynical you become,
it's never enough to keep up.

JANE WAGNER, THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF
INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE

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