The Human Animal (Animals)

by dhw, Monday, June 07, 2010, 11:13 (5282 days ago) @ dhw

No-one has taken up my challenge to compile a list of Seven Saving Graces unique to humans, as a counterbalance to the Seven Deadly Sins. This was perhaps a rather clumsy way of trying to combine two subjects: to what extent are we different from other animals, and (yet again) what is the nature of our consciousness? Anyway, I'd like to pursue the theme.-I must confess that I've had difficulty pinpointing seven unique "graces", but here is a very tentative list:-The arts; science; philosophy; history; charity; complex language; writing.-Matt will no doubt complain at the absence of mathematics, but I see that as combining elements of science, complex language and writing. By history I mean the preservation of the past. I've cheated a little by distinguishing between language and complex language, and I would have liked to include the imagination, but feel that it's implicit in the arts. It could be argued that charity, in the sense of altruistic aid, is not confined to humans, but our compassion extends beyond our own borders and our own species. You may think that "reason" is an omission, but animals reason, as is illustrated by the story of Kelly the litter-collecting dolphin, and the more sophisticated elements of reason can be incorporated into science and philosophy (under which I would subsume religion). -Every item on my list raises questions about the nature of our consciousness and the provenance of thought. Animal consciousness alone is mysterious enough, and questions of identity and the will that directs actions apply just as much to our fellow creatures as to ourselves. But the mystery deepens with all of these "graces", and inevitably leads to our other theme of spirituality and the brain. If we accept that humans are descended from other animals, does this mean that the expansion of the brain led to greater complexity of thought, and if so, why did the brain expand? Alternatively, did greater complexity of thought lead to an expansion of the brain, and if so, where did the thought come from?