Not biologically, but it would possess a quality that we have often considered unique to humanity. One might even argue that it deserved similar rights. I personally think it would, by the way.
This issue occurred to me because some researchers have suggested that animals like elephants and great apes possess self-awareness. If that assessment is correct, the next question is whether they should be treated more like primitive humans than "ordinary" animals.
I guess my point was a semantic one. I know we use human as opposed to homo sapiens the same way we say dog instead of canis familiaris, but we also use human to mean a quality, a state of being that we ascribe solely to our own species. It is that second meaning that I flex in my question.
I think, when you get down to it, this second meaning is the only one we ever really mean. We may reference the biologic aspect at times, but that isn't what we identify as.
Precisely. When I see a creature like Koko the gorilla who signs, I am made to pause. I see in her a human. An inarguable human. There is a line, and she is on this side of it. I feel like it is moments like interacting with a being such as Koko that the first meaning, the biological meaning, gets flexed as a shield against dealing with Koko in the second meaning, because if we have to engage Koko under the second, more common meaning, then we have to redefine ourselves and Koko.
Hey, guys. Glad to see you're still kicking about the place, wrey. Been a long time since I visited. The forum is so different I sat here for about 20 minutes scratching my head.
I was gone for a year once, and when I returned, the forums had a different layout. Took me some time to adjust.
Probably gonna get out of Algebra 2 Honors. Thank Darwin. People been acting like it's a crime against humanity to take a regular course.
"Regular high school classes are full of stupid people and drug addicts" -- Eighth grade math teacher Paraphrased, but not that badly.
Who think the greatest glory of life is to toss and carry, or kick a ball up and down a field. *puts a protective ward around the two of us from everyone else*
In all seriousness, though, it occurs to me that about three quarters of the kids in my school's honors classes are probably either potheads, drinkers, or both. A fair number are athletes as well.
There is something about a game that takes 4 hours to complete but only has 60 minutes of actual play that is intrinsically satisfying to the brain cell deprived.
Yeah, that's what I want to be. A drugged-up pothead who cares about a damned ball more than anything else and treats women like objects. I'll keep my nerd card with me, thanks. Not that I don't mind watching football a time or two. I get to look at the physics of how the ball moves through the air and all that important science-y stuff. EDIT: Hold up, changing my avatar now.... EDIT: *ding* Done! HA! Now you can no longer mock me for having interests that are different than yours! >:[
