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Food for thought...
I would say in many ways we are successful because we can adapt in so many different places. But when we compare oursleves with animals we ignore the smaller creatures like flys, roaches, rats, and bacteria. All adapt pretty well in many different kinds of environments, and are pretty good at combating humans, even killing humans like the bacteria. So are we successful, yes, but are we the most successful, I wouldn’t say so.
I would have to say mankind is not anymore special than any other species. I think we cheat ourselves into thinking we are so much more ahead of other species and dominate rather than belong with other animals because we can manage to build such complicated societies. But do we need that? We make life a lot harder than it should be and I think animals are just better at thinking rationally. They survive mostly on only what they need rather than what they want. In that sense I think animals are more successful than us because they know what they can accomplish and what they can’t rather than our species that keeps on producing more however does not think of the possible outcomes that comes with that building. Yes we have more brain power however sometimes it gets us into more trouble than it’s worth.
First of all, why did everyone choose to comment on the statement “courtesy of ms. kelsey wise”? Shouldn’t pick the paragraph with the information you’d like to discuss (i.e. number 2) and go from there? Anyways, this question requires the reader to play the “what if” game. What if humans didn’t have as many advantageous traits? What if we weren’t at the top of the food chain? What if we didn’t have opposable thumbs? Humans hold themselves superior to all other animals on the planet, but as much wreckage and havoc as we cause, are we really the “best of the planet”? We selfishly take and take until we have completely sucked an area dry and then move on without giving another thought to the wildlife and other organisms we have rendered homeless. Most other species will recognize when an area is over crowded and will back off to allow the regrowth of vegetation in order to sustain life. Are we really the ones who should be running this planet, relentlessly taking its resources and giving little in return?
looking at it from a point of view of a human seems to be blinding people of the fact that-humans haven’t been around as long as other species. Sure what sets us apart are our intelegence but to say that we are the only species with intelect i cannot belive that. If you take elephants they mourn, they literally mourn for their dead and have ceremonies. Humans they mourn, they have ceremonies. So then the question becomes which is the more “intelegent” ceremony. Then another question comes to mind about faith. Do elephants have faith? why do they mourn? and then what about the athiests, the ones without faith are they less rank. Sure there are always exception, but to know if really humans are the more superior species you would have to study from other animals perspectives, which as of right now is impossible.
Our intelligence is one of the things that sets us out in the animal kingdom. Thumbs are another. But, I agree with David. Our intelligence isn’t the best thing to ever happen to us. We can do great things, build higher and farther, educate ourselves, travel internationally and, in a limited sense, even interplanetarily if that’s a word. However, our intelligence and creativity is our greatest down fall. Many of the new technologies we come up with are damaging to the environment and harmful technologies always outpace the beneficial ones. Swords came before armor. Guns before bullet proof vests. The ICBM (InterContinental Ballistic Missile) before the missile defence system, which really isn’t complete. Internal combustion engine before electrical. Coal burning before wind farming. The best thing about our creativity though, is our ability to think up solutions to most of the problems we make. Most.
I don’t believe that we are too special in some regards. Sure, we may have tall buildings and stuff – but look at termites. They build their homes from nothing but mud and they don’t pollute and destroy their environment. I think that if we were somehow visited by aliens or something, we wouldn’t be held in very high regards. We’re a violent race. Just look at all the wars we’ve fought in. Then again, we’re capable of more than just fighting and killing our planet. There’s a lot of people out there willing to change their ways. There are people that are considerate and things like that, and those are the shining stars of our world, if I can say that.
We’re pretty smart and we’re capable of learning – but aren’t all other creatures capable of learning in their own ways? Do they have to be ’sentient’ to be considered intelligent?
I can’t really answer the comment on faith. The way science is written it says that faith is basically something that was invented for us humans to believe in or to blame when something goes wrong.
I have my own beliefs as well, and if that were the case, then we’d be identified by our seperate faiths.
wen we compare humans to other species humans are really advanced int he case of intelligence
but oyu wont be a able really know what is going on with the animals intelligence wise
our forefathers started ina jungle and made it all the way thru till today
i think that is pretty cool
The idea of humans vs. other species and how we can think and communicate better has always fascinated me. This is perhaps the greatest and the coolest adaptation in any species. Despite of being relatively physically weak, we are extremely successful, due to our thinking and communicating abilities. It goes to show that how efficiently something is done is greatly dependent on knowing the right way and not just on how powerful you are. We are the only species that can cure our own diseases, travel to other planets, create artificial organs, work efficiently as a group, take down an animal ten times our size using our brains, grow and even process our own food, and most importantly, learn and understand biology. It’s like biology was doing its part and creating organisms and evolving them, but it was pointless, until the biology itself created man, who could understand and appreciate it.
Success is relative. Who are we to judge to advances of other species? Humans are so competitive. Im sorry, but I find it hard to imagine ants looking up at us and saying, “man, those humans suck, they have no perspective…marriage is such a farce.” However, this is due partly to the fact that ants cant really speak and have extremely miniscule brains. Sorry, random tangent. Anyways, in my view, humanity’s intelligence does define us. God specifically said that we are to have dominion over the creatures of this earth. However, that does not mean that they are any less important. All creatures great and small are successful in their own way.
If we were equal to other species intelligent wise then our life span would be substantially shorter. Our intelligence has helped us expand our life span through curing diseases and continuously discovering new ways to improve our health.
If ten people were dumped in a jungle for a couple of days, probably only one or two people would come back alive. Everyone else would be eaten by something bigger and with sharper teeth or just wouldn’t know how to survive in nature. When set against the standards of other species we are definitely very unsuccessful, but I believe we are redeemed by our intellectual capabilities. We may not be able to hunt gazelle like lions in the Savanna, but hey, that’s what the grocery store is for.
This is a deep question. I think for the most part it is our intelligence in all aspects that sets us apart as unique species. However, our intelligence is not exactly the best thing to happen to us. In a wierd sort of way, we would be better off bieng equal to other species, intelligent wise. Then, we wouldnt have any of the problems we have today. We would only have the basic struggle for survival. But then again, in that case, we would not be people.
Deep..and from Kelsey. Well well.
Interesting question. I think its hard for people to understand how the human race is not as successful as other species since success is largely defined as the ability to produce viable, fertile offspring. But I do agree, our superior intelligence has to place humans high up on some sort of scale. Maybe the “success of mental advancement” scale.
I agree that our higher level of intelligence and form of processing is superior, however, I do not agree with the notion that we hold a higher position against all other creatures. Although, our expanded brain has allowed us to transform and adapt to the world around us in such a drastically different way, our survival as a species has grown increasingly unbalanced, weakening and strengthening with no regards to our brain capacity. Although we have great defenses due to our intelligence we have created determinants to our survival along with them. Success from and evolutionary standpoint does not define our species because of our inability to produce large populations of offspring among other things not affected by intelligence.
success defined is the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted. With this in mind i believe all organisms are successful. Although animals cannot speak they communicate and understand eachother with noises and hand gestures (for primates). being able to reproduce and not go through extinction is a success. people may think that we are more successful considering we can speak and perform challenging tasks. some people can build houses but not everyone. the houses that all of us in classrooms did not build our homes that we live in. all birds can build nests. all animals find their own food. if the government were to shut off our food supply and destroy all homes, thousands of people would die.
Are we really a form of higher and intelllegent beings…..We think we are superior but are we really, I mean what if the other species think they are superior than us,how can we prove it.
I think that our higher level of thinking definitely defines and separates human beings from the rest of the organisms that currently inhabit earth. We as a species are unique. Our level of intelligence and technological advancement compared to other organisms can only be due to the will of a higher power. There is no other way to explain the similarities that we share with some species, such as primates, and yet be so vastly different in intelligence, and other aspects of our lives and culture. I’m not saying humans beings are perfect. We are still vulnerable to organisms so small that they can’t be seen by the human eye. Organisms with no organs. Organisms that seem inferior but yet they can still bring us to our knees. Are we superior though? I believe we are; in our thinking, level of intelligence, and culture. But we “superior” beings rely heavily on all the other “inferior” species for practically everything we have and or do. We all depend on one another. In that sense we are not so different. Every living thing has its own place and vital role that it plays while it is alive and on this earth.