Reply to comment

It may look like i am beating a dead horse but since the response from the yes group isn’t posted yet; i will try to explain my reasoning why i believe humans are special. ( when i say special, it doesn't mean they are either better nor superior than others since such definitions are highly subjective and are more appropriate for a philosophy class rather than a biology class)         

Although there are many difference between us and other organisms on this planet, I think that the consciousness and greed are the two characteristic that truly distinguishes us from others species and make us special. Although some in the yes group argues that pleasure is also a differentiating factor, I took this out because there seems to be other species that commit acts just for the sake of it ( one such example would be the dolphins, which are believed to be the only other specie  beside us that have sex for pleasure )            

However, no other species is yet know to posses anything even remotely similar to consciousness nor greed. Unlike animals, us humans have a endless desire, whether it may be for material goods or for fame, and will be held slave to this desire until the very day we die. The same thing applies for consciousness as well, animals do not feel bad nor hesitate before killing their prey because they are merely obeying their instinct.            

These two make us unique because no other organism posses anything even remotely similar to them. Yes each species have difference among each other but they tend to be degree in how far or which way that characteristic has developed ( a example would be herbivores and omnivores, both take energy by consuming other organisms, they just differ on which type of organisms they consume)

Like I said in class last Friday. The difference between other organisms is their hardware. Some may have a extremely advanced Pentium quadruple core super ultra platinum edition while some may have a mere 286 processor; they all have chips just different kind. Humans are uniaqe because we have a clear differentiation from others in that we have a software called consciousness and greed when they do not. So far no organisms have anything even reomtley similar and this is why humans are uniqe and special

andy