Different in degree or kind: animal minds (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, December 30, 2015, 22:38 (3033 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: Did the birds have to do that? No, they chose to do it, for whatever reasons. I asked whether God had to do it in order to produce humans, but you have not responded.-I've seen all sorts of animals making choices of action, but choices of planning, I doubt it. As for God's intentions, I've answered that over and over. I really don't know how the nest relates to human arrival. It may have nothing to do with it at all. You seem to require God to plan every little detail of everything. Did He is a good question. You've seen my reasoning as to why He planned for humans.-> 
> dhw:I see giant changes from bacteria to all of them, and one such giant change is the colossal gap between our (current) mental powers and those of our fellow creatures. (I don't know about the earliest hominins.)But regardless of degree versus kind, what I cannot accept is that every other form of life throughout the history of evolution existed or exists for the benefit of humans.-I don't know that everything exists for humans. You have extrapolated to that postulate question. All I contend is that humans were the goal and that diversity of animals and plants was required for the balance of nature for everyone..-> dhw: The higgledy-piggledy bush of varieties, extinctions and survivals seems to me to favour a free for all, though if there is a God, he could always do a dabble.-A weird bush, yes, but my answer above accepts that reality, i.e., so what! Must every detail be logical, with everything tied up in a neat package of explanations?