To what extent are Humans a Unique Species?
We like to believe that humans are a superior species, highly intelligent and beyond the realms of the animal kingdom, however, are we really as unique as we like to think, what makes us so special? It was once believed that humans were the only animals capable of using tools, and this is what made us no longer just ‘animals’. In the 1960s when chimpanzees were first observed using twigs to retrieve termites from wooden trunks, as a form of tool, it raised the question of ‘what it really means to be human’. With time, our understanding of animal behavior, genetics and evolution is becoming more advanced and humans appear less unique with the more that we learn. It is my aim to address some of …show more content…
Theory of mind is commonly misconceived to be unique to humans. Theory of mind is the concept of an individual being able to understand his own mental state (beliefs, intents, desires etc) and also being able to understand that another individual’s mental state is different to his own. It was previously understood that humans were the only species capable of this, as there have been studies to show otherwise. An experiment done on chimpanzees shows that they not only have the ability to understand another’s thoughts, but have the ability to act on those thoughts. In this example, two chimpanzees are shown a banana, one of the chimpanzees is high ranking and the other is low ranking. When the low ranking chimpanzee is shown the banana and he is aware that the higher ranking chimpanzee has not seen the banana, he will take the banana. However, when the low ranking chimpanzee has seen that the high ranking chimpanzee has seen the banana the low ranking chimpanzee will not take the banana because he has understood that the high ranking chimpanzee has more authority to take the banana than he does (Sapolsky, 2009). In this way chimpanzees display theory of mind, suggesting that this is not a trait unique to …show more content…
The estimated genetic difference between humans and our closest relatives, chimpanzees, is only 1.2%. Although this may seem a small difference it causes several large scale changes between humans and chimpanzees. Small scale changes such as insertions and deletions in both coding and non-coding regions of DNA, resulting in sections of DNA which do not align. There are also large scale changes in the reduction in number of chromosomes and large genome rearrangements (Varki et al, 2008). The phenotypes that these changes gave rise to have primarily altered our cognitive abilities. The human lineage specific traits (phenotypes of human lineage that arose after the split from the pan lineage) include brain size and lowering of the larynx, among others. These changes would support the emergence of human uniqueness in the aspects discussed above, however archeological evidence does not support the correlation of these genetical changes with human behavioral changes. The increase in the complexity and size of the brain was reached about 100,000 years before evidence of modern human behavior was found (O’Bleness, 2012). In this way, genetics is a questionable source to support the emergence of human
We like to believe that humans are a superior species, highly intelligent and beyond the realms of the animal kingdom, however, are we really as unique as we like to think, what makes us so special? It was once believed that humans were the only animals capable of using tools, and this is what made us no longer just ‘animals’. In the 1960s when chimpanzees were first observed using twigs to retrieve termites from wooden trunks, as a form of tool, it raised the question of ‘what it really means to be human’. With time, our understanding of animal behavior, genetics and evolution is becoming more advanced and humans appear less unique with the more that we learn. It is my aim to address some of …show more content…
Theory of mind is commonly misconceived to be unique to humans. Theory of mind is the concept of an individual being able to understand his own mental state (beliefs, intents, desires etc) and also being able to understand that another individual’s mental state is different to his own. It was previously understood that humans were the only species capable of this, as there have been studies to show otherwise. An experiment done on chimpanzees shows that they not only have the ability to understand another’s thoughts, but have the ability to act on those thoughts. In this example, two chimpanzees are shown a banana, one of the chimpanzees is high ranking and the other is low ranking. When the low ranking chimpanzee is shown the banana and he is aware that the higher ranking chimpanzee has not seen the banana, he will take the banana. However, when the low ranking chimpanzee has seen that the high ranking chimpanzee has seen the banana the low ranking chimpanzee will not take the banana because he has understood that the high ranking chimpanzee has more authority to take the banana than he does (Sapolsky, 2009). In this way chimpanzees display theory of mind, suggesting that this is not a trait unique to …show more content…
The estimated genetic difference between humans and our closest relatives, chimpanzees, is only 1.2%. Although this may seem a small difference it causes several large scale changes between humans and chimpanzees. Small scale changes such as insertions and deletions in both coding and non-coding regions of DNA, resulting in sections of DNA which do not align. There are also large scale changes in the reduction in number of chromosomes and large genome rearrangements (Varki et al, 2008). The phenotypes that these changes gave rise to have primarily altered our cognitive abilities. The human lineage specific traits (phenotypes of human lineage that arose after the split from the pan lineage) include brain size and lowering of the larynx, among others. These changes would support the emergence of human uniqueness in the aspects discussed above, however archeological evidence does not support the correlation of these genetical changes with human behavioral changes. The increase in the complexity and size of the brain was reached about 100,000 years before evidence of modern human behavior was found (O’Bleness, 2012). In this way, genetics is a questionable source to support the emergence of human