Thread

1. georgemcbay · 1789884732 · focus · HN ↗

   Blows my mind that so many people just have this hardened internalized idea that we're somehow significantly different than any other animal.

   Sure, we've got them beat on language and planning, but we're currently in the process of being passed up on both those fronts by multi-dimensional arrays of floating point numbers sitting inside of sand. So, like, how special is that then, really?

   1. JumpCrisscross · 1789889159 · focus · HN ↗

      > Blows my mind that so many people just have this hardened internalized idea that we're somehow significantly different than any other animal

      There are hard-asses on both ends. We are different from other animals. To me, that results in us having more moral agency for our actions. It also means recognising that we share this world with other beings, including billions of people, a tool-wielding sapience categorically distinct within the ecosystem.

      1. phoghed · 1789937186 · focus · HN ↗

         > We are different from other animals

         Most animals are different from most others, we're just different enough to feel that we're somehow special.

         1. s1artibartfast · 1789940661 · focus · HN ↗

            What do you think 'special' means in that sentence? What differences would make something special?

            1. phoghed · 1789943029 · focus · HN ↗

               Obviously God made us in his image and gave us all this to rule over, no way we arose from the same primordial soup as the bugs and rats. We’ve got souls, they don’t.

               1. s1artibartfast · 1789957522 · focus · HN ↗

                  I think you are being sarcastic and avoiding the question. Is there anything you think could make a species special?

                  1. ben_w · 1789978500 · focus · HN ↗

                     I disagree.

                     They wrote "we're just different enough to feel that we're somehow special".

                     I think in that sentence "special" is bound to "feel", it's not separable into an "is" statement-of-fact, and religion is absolutely about feelings.

                     1. s1artibartfast · 1789978810 · focus · HN ↗

                        What do you disagree about?

                        i read 'somehow' in the first post as sarcastic, and think they are intentionally mocking religion in the second.

                        If they are claiming we're not special, I'm asking what they think would qualify, it they think it is even possible to be special.

                        I think many people use snark as a cheap rhetorical trick to be critical without advancing an alternative position.

                        1. phoghed · 1790000543 · focus · HN ↗

                           The “somehow” is because nobody had articulated how they are actually special, besides the usual religion driven answer.

                           The obvious thing to point to is that we’ve acquired more complex language, which enabled us to do various neat things. To which I say ok but a zip file of floats and an algorithm has that too.

                           Eukaryogenesis was probably a more significant / special historical moment than language or writing.

                           I think this is all driven by people’s fear of their own insignificance. Is the pig that I ate last week really that much different than me? When I too die and turn into dirt or ash is that really it? It’s all over? Just like that?

                           So what would qualify as being special? I haven’t seen a compelling argument as to why we are.

                           1. s1artibartfast · 1790013564 · focus · HN ↗

                              The post you origionally replied to included examples of ways humans are different from all other animals.

                              You introduced the word "special".

                              1. [deleted] · 1790028604 · focus · HN ↗

                                 [deleted]

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