Are humans special?

Some people like to think that human beings are unique and special especially according to religon, but this seems like a narrow minded point of view.

First of all it could be argued that there are other creatures on this planet that are superior to humans, for example (correct me if im wrong) cockroaches are very adaptable, have been around longer than humans and can apparently survive without its head.

Superority just seems to be a relative term, after all if humans were to be wiped out the world would go on without us.

Now heres the thing it does seem to me that human beings are superior due to our potential. It seems that we could have more power over all other creatures than they do on us. Sure if all the insects got together they could probably destroy us, look at what locusts do.

Well lets put it this way humans have the ability to be more than human the other creatures on this planet cannot. Sure some creatures can change sex but a wolf cant be more than a wolf, an ant cant be more than an ant but if you look where genetic engineering and cybernetics is going humans will be able to be more than human. Also we are dependent on other creatures on this planet but in the future we could probably survive without them ie instead of having to eat food we could sustain ourselves through electricity.

From an evolutionary perspective, the ability of a human to be more then a human could be mimicked by other species overtime.

Originally posted by Quark_666
From an evolutionary perspective, the ability of a human to be more then a human could be mimicked by other species overtime.

Thats true but they dont have it at the moment we do.

I don't think so but this does depend on what basis we are trying to answer from: logic, theology, science.

What basis are using here?

EVERYTHING IS SPECIAL.. 😊

One of the very few things that is different between humans and animals is that humans have the ability to not adept themselfs to their surroundings. Animals always do. Which I think makes them 'better' in some way. Most of humanity will fall if all our own made surroundings would dissapear.

It depends on what you mean by special.I think all humans are special in there own way.That is how we were created in the likes and goodness of the lord.jm

Originally posted by ADarksideJedi
It depends on what you mean by special.I think all humans are special in there own way.That is how we were created in the likes and goodness of the lord.jm

Would you say all "animals" are special?

Sure... were the most egotistically based species there is... though we shouldn't be... as this is what many of the... "tree huggers" think we should live in harmony with nature... yet even many of them live in apartments or housing of some sort rather than sleeping out in the middle of the woods naked with only trees, leaves and things they would obtain directly from nature... we don't adapt... we adapt our surroundings to us... as stated above... i think, of course other animals may think us to also be inferior... we may never know

It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built upon a renunciation of instinct.
-Sigmund Freud

Originally posted by chithappens
I don't think so but this does depend on what basis we are trying to answer from: logic, theology, science.

What basis are using here?

Logical and scientific I guess, not theological. Here are my reasons:

1. Humans can become more than human. In the future we could alter our genetics so that we could live underwater or even in outerspace. All other creatures eventhough they may have special abilities they cannot become more than they are for example a cockroah is supposed to be very adaptable but cannot become more than a cockroach. A chameleon can change colour but cannot grow wings.

2. Power if we wanted to we could have the potential to destroy all life on earth.

3. All other creature are dependent on the ecosystem, humans potentially could become independent if for example they evolved into machines and fed off electricity. (I can see some flaws in this argument).

Originally posted by Alfheim
Logical and scientific I guess, not theological. Here are my reasons:

1. Humans can become more than human. In the future we could alter our genetics so that we could live underwater or even in outerspace. All other creatures eventhough they may have special abilities they cannot become more than they are for example a cockroah is supposed to be very adaptable but cannot become more than a cockroach. A chameleon can change colour but cannot grow wings.

So basically you're arguing for intelligence as the main thing that makes us "special"? It does but not any more special than that cockroach or chameleon since thier abilities are inherent while ours are not.

Originally posted by Alfheim
2. Power if we wanted to we could have the potential to destroy all life on earth.

And? Birds probably could too. We would just do it faster and with more "pizzaz".

Originally posted by Alfheim
3. All other creature are dependent on the ecosystem, humans potentially could become independent if for example they evolved into machines and fed off electricity. (I can see some flaws in this argument).

Yeah, like the difficulty in evolving into something inorganic.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
So basically you're arguing for intelligence as the main thing that makes us "special"? It does but not any more special than that cockroach or chameleon since thier abilities are inherent while ours are not.

What exactly do you mean by not inherent?

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos

And? Birds probably could too. We would just do it faster and with more "pizzaz".

I dont think they could destroy everything. Im pretty sure we could potentiallly do more damage and we could destroy all life. It could also be argued that its not in the birds nature to destroy all life. By the way im also thinking about what technology we could have in the future as well.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos

Yeah, like the difficulty in evolving into something inorganic.

Dont understand how thats a flaw because I can see human beings having the ability to evolve into something inorganic

Humans are both unique and special. Humans are clearly more important than any other species on this planet.

QUOTE=9640275]Originally posted by inimalist
Humans are both unique and special. Humans are clearly more important than any other species on this planet. [/QUOTE]

Throw any "civil" man into a jungle with just a sash and a knife and I'll see how special man is.

Originally posted by Alfheim
Logical and scientific I guess, not theological. Here are my reasons:

1. Humans can become more than human. In the future we could alter our genetics so that we could live underwater or even in outerspace. All other creatures eventhough they may have special abilities they cannot become more than they are for example a cockroah is supposed to be very adaptable but cannot become more than a cockroach. A chameleon can change colour but cannot grow wings.

A cockroach can become more than a cockroach - evident by the fact they are still around. Adaptability, evolution are enhancements.

Originally posted by Alfheim

2. Power if we wanted to we could have the potential to destroy all life on earth.

This is a sketchy point. The "we" is too broad for various reasons.

Originally posted by Alfheim

3. All other creature are dependent on the ecosystem, humans potentially could become independent if for example they evolved into machines and fed off electricity. (I can see some flaws in this argument).

Humans can not evolve into machines. They can add attachments and become bionic but that is a totally different topic. Humans are actually still dependent on ecosystems, but technologies are put in place in different areas to adjust to those places.

Potentially, humans could adapt to any enviornment on Earth but we all know it does not generally work like that in application.

Originally posted by inimalist
Humans are clearly more important than any other species on this planet.

Well I guess thats what im trying to say in a complicated way.

Originally posted by chithappens

A cockroach can become more than a cockroach - evident by the fact they are still around. Adaptability, evolution are enhancements.

No its not more than a cockroach its still a cockroach it doesnt become caterpillar does it?

Originally posted by chithappens

This is a sketchy point. The "we" is too broad for various reasons.

Bare in mind im refering to what humans could possibly do in the future. Obvoulsy though when im talking about humans im talking about a hypothetical situation where humans got together to destroy the earth.

Originally posted by chithappens

Humans can not evolve into machines. They can add attachments and become bionic but that is a totally different topic.

No its not. One of my criteria for humans being special is their intelligence in the fact they can use their intelligence to become more than human. Humans in the future could become robots or completely change their DNA. I guess its not evolution in the literal sense of the word.

Originally posted by chithappens

Humans are actually still dependent on ecosystems, but technologies are put in place in different areas to adjust to those places.

Potentially, humans could adapt to any enviornment on Earth but we all know it does not generally work like that in application.

Also bare in mind im refering to the future. Yes humans can adapt to an extent to the envinronment but its not absurd to think that humans can actually become robots where they would really be able to adapt to any envinronment.

no

I'm certainly special! Just ask the people who love me. They'll tell you what makes me special.

Do you have anyone who loves you?

Our ability to learn is what makes us special. No other creature on the planet is as intelligent and that is a trait we can thank evolution for. We are not born smart but we learn at an amazing rate during our child hood. We have a great ability to retain knowledge and pass it down through generations. Technology and any thing else you can think of are just by products of our one special ability.

Originally posted by chithappens
Throw any "civil" man into a jungle with just a sash and a knife and I'll see how special man is.

What does this have to do with anything?

Ok, so a man in a sash with a knige in the jungle is special. Very special in fact. The fact that this man might die is redundant. Take a fish out of the water and then critisize it for not being able to breathe.

You only have to take one look at a big city from a few miles away, say New York to get your answer to "are we special?".