Originally Posted by
Galt
We have an enlightened sense of reason.
Other animals basic survival instinct is to either run or flee; fight or flight. They do either, regardless of reason. Mans basic survival instinct is to reason. Make of that what you will.
Man has the ability to control it's fear. Meaning he can do things other animals can't, i.e; create a fire.
Another major factor is that we are the only known self aware animal. We are aware of ourselves. This boils down to one of the three basic axioms, the objective axiom of consciousness of course.
Also, for you religious dumbarses, we were made in god's image. Animals weren't.
Cool story bro. Feel free to make more up while you're at it.
Man's basic instincts are to eat, fuck, strive for comfort, and nurture. Ergo, identical to most other mammals in the book.
Tell me: when an animal constructs a tool and uses it to extract something it needs, doesn't it use reason? (eg, it figures it needs something long and sharp, or hard and heavy, etc) Because even
crows do that. Is building airplanes an instinct?
Another example of animal tool design.
As for self-awareness...
http://www.livescience.com/animals/0...nt_mirror.html
As for controlling fear...
Selflessness? No wai.
Creating fire requires the kind of motor skills and strength which
no animals except humans and possibly some apes possess. Ever tried actually creating fire? With sticks? Not fun. Humans also didn't know how to create fire for a loooong time, nor did they know/see benefit of cooking food.
Last edited by Odlov; Mar 14, 2010 at 03:23 AM.