Bio 103, Week 6, Evolution and the "Specialness" of Humanity ....

I think we are very special in the things we do...I know a big confusion was what we meant by special. I mean special in that sense that we are unique not superior. I think that there a lot of species out there that are special. We all have traits and do things different than each other that makes us special.

I enjoyed the discussion we had on Friday. Although I still side with the "no" group, the "yes" group had many valid points.

The idea of humans being the only beings that can reason is obviously a good point. Why can't other animals reason like we can? Is it that they are not capable? Is it possible that in the future other animals could devolop this skill? What are the brain functions that we have that we use for our reasoning that animals do not have?

although i was absent from class on friday, i looked through the previous posts and found the responses to the debate over whether humans are special or not very intriguing. Looking at the reasoning behind the "yes" and "no" group, I'm stuck in the middle. I think it is very elitist of us to say that humans are special but in saying that we are not special likens us to simpler organisms like bacteria. 

although i dropped in late for the debate on whether or not humans are special, i thought most of the things that the two teams were arguing were legit.

one of the groups talked about how we're special in the sense that we have "culture": means of art & music & literature & what not. and they claimed that animals did not have that same thought of expression.

but the thing is, how are we to know what animals are thinking? and how are we to know what they do is not out of intention or expression of feelings?

by even assuming that other animals may not think like we do is making the assumption that we are superior. but i don't think that's the point in being special; special is just different.

but here's the deal: in the end we're all the same.

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

I think this is an interesting debate and certainly one that we should touch on in the future. I'm pessimistic, however, to us ever finding an answer. I think one of the first questions we need to answer is what "special" means. If we define it in different ways it is impossible to come to a conclusion. I think that if we take it to mean "superior" I would have to disagree that humans are "special." One of the most important reasons for that would be that we are not the "goal" of evolution. Evolution is a way to figure out what works and what doesn't, not necessarily to find the "best" organism. So if single-celled organisms work for what they need to do, and we work for what we need to do, and elephants work for what they need to do, everything is special, in a way.

The idea of special organisms and better organisms is an unclear debate. Yes, it can be argued that species are special but as we discussed in class does that make them better? We then came upon some type of consensus and decided that certain species are better suited to adapt to certain situations than others and because of that they can be labeled "better", but only when the organisms are compared in a certain situation.

In general species may actually not be able to be compared because they are so different and special in their own ways. Because of this I feel that it makes sense to simply state that all species are special and evolve in their own ways to better suit their own situation.