Chimpanzees: Not Human, But Are They People?

baggygreen · 10-15-08, 10:50 PM

Are we not much less alike than we were to neanderthals?

We use neanderthal today as a derogatory term, indicating someone who is not a human. Primates, regardless of their spots on the evolutionary tree, are still not people. Most animals are capable of independent thought, and in any domesticated animal we can see different character traits, if we look for long enough. Independent thought does not make a creature a person. Nor does having a 98% genetic similarity.

That 2% difference is what makes us people. it is the 2% which sets us above the other animals on the planet. It is that 2% which gives us thousands of languages, philosophy, (for better or worse) religion, manufactured goods, the pyramids, agriculture, yada yada.

10-15-08, 10:50 PM	#7
baggygreen Sea Lord Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Canberra, ACT, Down Under (really On Top) Posts: 1,880 Downloads: 7 Uploads: 0	Are we not much less alike than we were to neanderthals? We use neanderthal today as a derogatory term, indicating someone who is not a human. Primates, regardless of their spots on the evolutionary tree, are still not people. Most animals are capable of independent thought, and in any domesticated animal we can see different character traits, if we look for long enough. Independent thought does not make a creature a person. Nor does having a 98% genetic similarity. That 2% difference is what makes us people. it is the 2% which sets us above the other animals on the planet. It is that 2% which gives us thousands of languages, philosophy, (for better or worse) religion, manufactured goods, the pyramids, agriculture, yada yada.