Humans are Animals OR are they Beings ?

[The New California Republic]

Humans are animals with the ability to aim higher.

I dunno, I have seen monkeys aim pretty high when throwing shit...

[Topoliani]

I dunno, I have seen monkeys aim pretty high when throwing shit...

(though this website has taught me that that is questionable)

nah jk, love ya fam (erm... platonically)

[UKCS]

We are animals, just ones with higher brain functions than others (in certain areas).

[Thermodolia]

Humans are animals with the ability to aim higher.

I dunno, I have seen monkeys aim pretty high when throwing shit...

So are politicians monkeys in disguise?

[Lost Memories]

Humans are animals with the ability to aim higher.

The will/effort of the single person is what decides if they stay animal or they move higher.

I dunno, I have seen monkeys aim pretty high when throwing shit...

Duh, it isn't about aiming shit, but yourself. Unless you think of yourself as a shit.

[The New California Republic]

I dunno, I have seen monkeys aim pretty high when throwing shit...

Duh, it isn't about aiming shit, but yourself. Unless you think of yourself as a shit.

And the joke is lost.

[Datlofff]

-snip-

i don't think you're getting it. animals aren't sentient. humans are. we are much different from animals.
we can stand upright, expand our knowledge, are smarter in general, and have achieved dominance over the planet. and many more.

we aren't animals for god's sake...

We are, you and me evolved from a common ancestor to the modern chimp. Thats why you could give blood or receive blood from a chimp if you were the right blood type. Also Animals are sentient if we go by the dictionary different. Also many animals can stand upright, like most birds. Animals have been proven to learn, there was a parrot that learn to distinguish colors in English. WE are smarter because we evolved a big brain, simply by chance, we achieved dominance over the planet because of this brain.

If you think we aren't animals, open up a fucking biology textbook, or go google what evolution is.

Also our biggest trait is our brain, lets compare our other traits with other animals.

King of sight: Peacock mantis shrimp (can see in 14 more color spectrums than us)
King of smell: The common dog? or shark?
King of Hearing: Definitely the whale, they can hear calls from 100s of kilometers
King of strength: probs the elephant
King of Speed: Cheetah

We as humans are quite lacking in terms of physical traits. The only reason we dominate is because we are smart enough to innovate and make things to counter these weaknesses. IF I lock you in a cage with a tiger, you are either gonna figure out how to make a spear, or die a pretty quick death when he crushes your neck with his bite. WE don't have strength, or speed, or hearing. We have brain power, thats our unique trait, it just happened to be the best one. Who knows, maybe in the next 1 million years dogs will gain the ability to think like humans, and apposeable thumbs. Im pretty sure all religions would die at that point.

[Soldati Senza Confini]

We're animals. Why is this even a question?

[Katganistan]

Yes to both.

[Soldati Senza Confini]

We're animals. Why is this even a question?

To me, it isn't. However, we have taught differently. For instance, some faiths teach we are beneath God, or that we have the capacity to be a Deity. To me, that is ludicrous. Others plan what they will do "after". After what...death ? As far as I know, my brain will stop functioning and my body will start to rot. There will be no consciousness, nothing to "know". I will be dead and I will know nothing.

I mean, I'm a Christian myself (non-denominational, for the curious), so while I have deep religious beliefs, from a biological perspective I'd say human beings is just what we classify ourselves as, while human beings are a class of animals, if we're being completely frank. There's no demonstrable difference other than semantic meaning on either concept.

We as humans are egocentric, so we're always going to think of ourselves as better than other animals. Why? Because it promotes the survival of our species. No other animal thinks of us back, so we have no obligation to nature to be responsible to it in return. We have a responsibility to sustain our own species, and in this regard it's a benefit for us to preserve our environment, but that's for our benefit. We can consume all resources around us and drive ourselves and other life to extinction and, quite frankly, life will go on without us. Life already has had several extinction events happen to it, and it's still here.

In other words, while I do believe in a deity, there's also the biological view, which is not as bad as people think it is.

In the matter of death and religion, while your opinion is valid, I'd also say that there's more to human beings than "death", given the goal of humans in general is to leave their legacy -- that is to say, their mark -- upon this world. The internet, and for that matter, every written record in human history is the drive to have our existence preserved. At least that's my opinion without bringing my religion into it. Even if there is no afterlife and you will know nothing after death and you will be just a corpse rotting underground, we as humans have the collective desire not to be forgotten.

[Collatis]

Humans are animals with the ability to aim higher.

You forgot about giraffes.

[Telconi]

Why not both?

[Major-Tom]

We are animals, and we are sentient beings, simply put.

[Risottia]

i can see this thread going.. smoothly.

humans are not animals, because we are sentient. we can think and have self-awareness.
but if you say humans are animals biologically, then sure, humans are animals

Almost every animal is sentient, as all it takes for sentience is having sensory organs.
Almost every animal can think, as all it takes for thought is a central nervous system.
Some animals are also highly self-aware (see the mirror test), like dogs, chimpanzees, humans and some birds.

Humans have proven to be capable of abstract thought, but so have chimpanzees and gorillas.
Technology (building tools) and civilization (organising the territory to suit the society) aren't human exclusive either.

One of the things that really set humans apart is the highly complex system of vocalisations called "speech". Another one is the foot.

[USS Monitor]

Locking the thread because the original OP got deleted and all their posts got removed.