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

by dhw, Wednesday, July 08, 2009, 11:18 (5409 days ago) @ George Jelliss

George writes: My point is not that Homo sapiens is special but that evolved consciousness is special... - Surely if evolved consciousness is special, and we are the only beings we know of that have it, that makes us special. - George (contd.):...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. (By this, however, George does not mean that the Universe has some form of 'Universal Consciousness.') - This is an interesting twist, and I'd love to know how evolved consciousness here or elsewhere could help the Universe to become aware of itself, and in exactly what sense you think the Universe might be 'aware of itself" if not through a form of universal consciousness. I must say that if I shared the atheist faith in the ability of chance to create the formula for life and evolution, I'd see consciousness as an absolute doddle. Just another of those simple variations that brought us sight and sex, lungs and limbs, immune and digestive systems. Either everything is special or nothing is special. - As for mankind versus animals, there are so many basic patterns of behaviour which we have clearly inherited from them that I find it absurd to ignore the fact that we are animals ourselves. It's only because our vastly superior intelligence makes us technologically superior that we are able to dominate other species (most of the time) and can advance our own animal instincts more effectively than they do (e.g. acquiring food, territory and knowledge; communicating; producing, protecting and raising our young; resisting the hostilities of Nature; waging war on our rivals). - Are we different from other animals? Why pin it down to quality/degree? In respect of our instincts and much of our behaviour I think we are the same; in respect of some of the things we do with our superior intelligence I think we are very different and very special. But ants are also special for their social organization, salmon and swallows for their navigational skills, camels for their storage and stamina...and even micro-organisms can achieve lots of things humans can't. Survival may turn out to be one of them. - And so the atheist in me says that everything or nothing is special. The theist in me says that humans are special. The agnostic in me, who always has the last word, says that everything or nothing is special, but humans may be especially special.