The Difference of Man and the Difference it Makes (Humans)

by George Jelliss , Crewe, Tuesday, July 07, 2009, 11:02 (5410 days ago) @ xeno6696

The idea that mankind is qualitatively different from the animals with and from which Homo sapiens evolved is one that I have tried to argue and defend in debates with my humanist and secular colleagues. The last time I tried I was comprehensively voted down, but I still think the case is strong. Julian Huxley for one, who was President of the British Humanist Association late in his life, also argued this case I believe, though his attitude is now thought old-fashioned. - Part of the orthodox Humanist aversion to this argument seems to me to be simply in reaction against so many religious believers who hold this view, because of course they wish to show that Homo sapiens is a special creation or the pinnacle of evolved creation, neither of which I hold to. - My point is not that Homo sapiens is special but that evolved consciousness is special and important because in a sense it provides a way for the Universe to become "aware of itself". For all we know it may have already evolved independently elsewhere in the universe. There are of course dangers in using this type of language since it can be misinterpreted as implying, a la Deepak Chopra, that the Universe has some form of "Universal Consciousness" which is not at all what I mean. - So you see that this argument is compatible with atheism.

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GPJ