In the last chapter of Naked Ape, Morris writes, and I agree with him that
despite all our technological advances, we are still very much a simple biological phenomenon.
He continues to write
Despite our grandiose ideas and our lofty self conceits, we are still humble animals, subject to all the basic laws of animal behaviour.
Before you hang me, he also writes
we are an extraordinary species and I do not wish to deny it, or belittle us.
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I think it’s really important that we remain constantly aware of this, it affects so much of our behaviour – well, all of it! But I don’t think it in any way belittles us to acknowledge it, and I also think most species on close inspection are extraordinary (to our silly little animal minds). 🙂
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I agree with all you have said!
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I am humored at atheists who struggle to present humans as extra-ordinary. I get when theists do it, they have underlying mistaken theology, but what excuse those atheists have escapes me.
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Maybe we could pick this up with Desmond Morris! Am a reporter who finds the laughing animal a funny creature
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Do I remember correctly that chimps laugh.
I think you are right, readers need to know they are special — theist and atheists alike. I understand this with kids, but aren’t we suppose to grow up? 🙂
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Am not sure whether chimps laugh, maybe they do. Am not aware. The number of times have been in close proximity with chimps haven’t heard a laugh, maybe they were stressed.
I think it would be an up hill task to demonstrate why humans are special. If you check the link I attached in the response to John, you will find some of the reasons people have offered to support why they think they are special. I just think we are a strange ape.
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I’m not sure we ever really do, Sabio. We seem to need frequent reassurances, no matter our age.
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I’m not so sure about the “extraordinary” part, most animals can do a number of things we can’t – we just found our niche in the continuum, and within that niche, we seem to excel.
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I agree with you archy- dogs smell better than we can, horses are stronger and faster, cats see better than we can, ants built better than we can, sharks swim and smell better than we can dream and the list is endless. Maybe Morris wanted to appease some few friends who he thought wouldn’t receive the book well.
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And yet using our specialized problem solving skills, we have been able to surpass the ability of any other animal in every conceivable area. There’s nothing inherently special about humans, we’re only special for what we are able to accomplish.
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I.e., our niche —
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I will not argue against this
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Was it Morris who wrote: “We are the only animal who can be highly active whilst sitting still” ?
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I can’t seem to find who said those words but I found a debate
http://www.ted.com/conversations/15208/debate_are_humans_better_tha.html
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Ah, thanks!
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I don’t know, but I wish I’d said that!
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Claim it! Change animal for “creature,” highly for “immensely,” and drop the “still” and I think you’ve altered the required 25% to call it original in the eyes of the Law.
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“Creature” implies creation. Best to find an alternative word or theists will claim you’ve tacitly accepted their world view.
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Good thinking! Organism works a charm
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Judge for yourself:
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OK, that’s a 7.
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It is like that but I think the biology only defines the plattform. It sets the stage. The brain has a very high plasticity. We take up information from the environment (including the culture we are living in) and this information becomes active in us. It is like programming a computer. You cannot derive from electronics and computer science what the computer will be doing. It depends on the program and the information that is put in. E.g., while wordpress works according to laws of electronics and some programming languages, you cannot derive its content from these laws. That is why we spend time here.
In a similar way, we are to a large extent cultural or informational and not biological. Chimps are like that as well, to a lesser extent.
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I think on the contrary we are mainly biological. Our cultural or informational way of life follows closely the biological.
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I think there is a biological level but it is overlain by culture and does no longer determine what we do. For example, one blogger I know once posted an interesting article about marriage. The biological level is sexuality, but different cultures and different individuals make quite different behaviours out of this, see https://maasaiboys.wordpress.com/2013/04/08/traditional-marriage-it-gonna-be-any-takers/ 🙂
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Hahaha!
You win on that! I have no further comment
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Have I thrust archy and mehitabel on you you yet?
http://donmarquis.com/reading-room
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Hahahaha!
Quite true
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Love this quote! Think I’ll use it on monotheists who try to argue with me that humans aren’t animals, or that we are innately “special” somehow. Um, no we are not. Our niche is simply intelligence.
Or ay least it’s supposed to be. 😛
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Glad you liked it.
Thanks for the visit
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