Unique human behaviors
While
my mind was wandering this evening, it landed on animals behaviors.
What are the things that we do or think that they don't?
Speech:
...is not one of them obviously.
Though
people think a dog's growling is a sign of aggression, it is more of a
warning. They are feeling fear or uncertainty about something or
someone and are warning it/them to stay away. A dog that doesn't growl
ever is normally more dangerous simply because it doesn't warn before
it strikes out. Barking has recently been attributed as a
pack-oriented speech which says "I'm alone and there's another dog
around. This isn't natural and we should be near each other for
protection." That sort of explains why little dogs bark all the
freaking time incessantly. Howling seems to be a word for "I'm injured
or my pack-mate (human or otherwise) is injured, come help!" Cool.
Birds
obviously communicate by their songs. Sea-mammals seem to have very
complex languages... probably due to their brain-power alone. Moths...
though at a very rudimentary level, speak by scent, sometimes over
miles of distance.
Emotions:
That's an obvious one for anyone who has a dog or has seen the result of (again) a penguin whose egg has frozen.
Sex for fun:
...is not one of them.
Some
primates are very promiscuous and have sex a lot with many partners for
what seems like recreation. Dolphins appear to do the same thing. I
don't know of any others, but there's two.
Monogamy:
...is not one of them.
Generally
bird species are more or less monogamous, penguins especially. Most
birds are only seasonally so, but penguins can live an entirely
monogamous life, unlike many humans I know.
These aside, there are some things we do that no other animal, despite its brain size or apparent intelligence, does.
Art is the biggest.
What
other species appreciates art or any aesthetics for that matter? We
have seen none and even those who have the know-how and the creativity
of thought to try to find it have failed to do so. What purpose does
art serve other than to be pleasing and why is it pleasing? The only
apparent other reason for art is the other main behavior that humans
seem to have exclusively:
Introspection:
Though it is
hard to test this sort of thing since we can't read the minds of
animals, introspection is something humans have in AMPLE supply. We
spend huge amounts of time simply re-evaluating our lives, our
behaviors, our morals, our beliefs, and all that we value in general.
Our culture, our art, our relationships, our philosophies, and our
religions are the result. Many, including myself, would go so far as
to include self-awareness in this list as this trait leads to all the
prior ones mentioned. Humans have a sense of eternity and immortality.
We are basically incapable of imagining ourselves ceasing to exist.
It is unfathomable to an ...unmedicated (read uninhibited) mind. None
of these things appear in other species. We can at least feel special
in these.
If we ever encounter " ♫ intelligent life somewhere out in space ♫ " the first thing I'd want to experience would be their art and philosophy. It'd be a real trip.
meh. Who cares what I think?
20 Comments
Farhad2000The reality that you will some day die is not something that crosses the minds of animals I bet.
ponceleonYou forgot cruelty... a bit rarer, but definitely present in the animal world. In particular, orcas who torment seals and use them as toys... one could argue that it isn't necessarily cruelty, but a lack of empathy, but I think that's splitting hairs. They tease and "play" with them before finally killing them, and even then are known to bash the bodies around just for sport...
rottenseedThe ability to comprehend one's mortality on more than just a instinctual level. We've devised religion to help ease that pain...
I think art and introspection are just a side effect of our intellect. I think art started out as just a simple past time. A way to tell stories. As we got our shit together, collectively, and didn't have to worry as much about the day-to-day because of agricultural advancements, individuals had more free time to create.
Introspection is another one of these personal past times. If you think about it, art and introspection are tightly woven together.
ponceleonWe should note that there are some animals of higher intelligence (like Dolphins) that are very difficult for us to fully understand, part of me feels that they may even cross the line of introspection/art.
Have you ever seen the ways that dolphins create intricate bubbles for no other purpose than play/amusement? One could argue they are artistic in a way...
fford says...I wouldn't put art on the list of uniquely human behaviors. Bowerbirds create some pretty amazing displays. And there's all the "performance" art of different species mating rituals. And before you try to make a distinction between human and animal art, think about how many teenage boys learned to play guitar or wrote poetry so they could impress the girls. Humans creating art is really just a sexual/social act. That it's developed into things as incredible as Bach's fugues is just a matter of degree.
Abstract mathematics, though, is definitely something uniquely human. I can't think of anything like it outside of human behavior.
rottenseed^good job challenging the definition of "art". Art as a display to win over a mate is crude and indistinguishable to humans, but it may be a parallel.
blankfistGod.
EndAllI care what you think! This is an excellent blog entry, and it has provoked a very interesting discussion.
Do animals have senses of humor? Do monkeys giggle at their farts?
Perhaps that's something else exclusive to humans :}
berticushttp://www.videosift.com/video/Neurology-and-the-Passion-for-Art
ponceleonRaptor Jesus disapproves.
>> ^blankfist:
God.
ponceleonOh, btw, sifting videos is a uniquely human behavior...
Buck>> ^EndAll:
I care what you think! This is an excellent blog entry, and it has provoked a very interesting discussion.
Do animals have senses of humor? Do monkeys giggle at their farts?
Perhaps that's something else exclusive to humans :}
Sometimes I wonder about my dog. As we walk down the hall she'll intentionally try to trip me. It's completely out of nowhere, she uses her front paw and accurately knocks the moving leg into the other. She seems to want to instigate play. I may be anthropomorphizing the situation but it seems like she is playing a "joke" on me.
enochimagination.
which quite neatly encompasses the art/religion/death examples.
1.no animal expresses through myriad mediums their inner-most workings.
2.what animal has created a mythos to explain the unexplainable?
3.we are the only animal which can imagine its own death.
think about it,would you ever create a liver-n-onion ice cream?
no...
why?
because you can IMAGINE how disgusting it would taste.
StormsingerBipolar Disorder. Schizophrenia. OCD. A vast array of pseudo-scientific crap spewed by the psychiatric/psychological professions (frikkin' witchdoctors, in reality).
Now, I'll proceed to argue for both sides...
Alright, to be fair, some animals may well suffer from these, but we have no way to tell (even in humans, most of these are "diagnosed" mainly based on self-reporting). It's fairly easy to believe that most animal's brains are enough simpler than a human's that such imbalances are far more uncommon, or even non-existent. The great apes, though, are all so close to human level complexity that I don't think you could argue a meaningful difference.
As for dolphins, they live in a world that is so wholly alien that I seriously doubt we'll ever be able to be sure of anything about their mental processes.
berticus>> ^Stormsinger:
Bipolar Disorder. Schizophrenia. OCD. A vast array of pseudo-scientific crap spewed by the psychiatric/psychological professions (frikkin' witchdoctors, in reality).
You don't know what you're talking about.
berticusActually, I may have misinterpreted what you said
Sorry, had just woken up.
StormsingerS'alright, Bert. Anyone can be forgiven for not following my ramblings while still half asleep.
And after the last couple days, anything short of a flaming torch shoved up my ass seems pretty tame.
Doc_M>> ^Stormsinger:
Bipolar Disorder. Schizophrenia. OCD. A vast array of pseudo-scientific crap spewed by the psychiatric/psychological professions (frikkin' witchdoctors, in reality).
If you get out an E-Meter, I'm leaving.
ponceleon>> ^Doc_M:
>> ^Stormsinger:
Bipolar Disorder. Schizophrenia. OCD. A vast array of pseudo-scientific crap spewed by the psychiatric/psychological professions (frikkin' witchdoctors, in reality).
If you get out an E-Meter, I'm leaving.
That is EXACTLY what came to my mind as I was reading that...
StormsingerNo e-meter here...the scientologists are exactly the sort of moronic loons that one would have to be to take any of Hubbard's stupid crap as truth. Amazingly, he's even better at creating a completely unbelievable religion than he was at creating truly awful science fiction. Frankly, I didn't think that was possible.
My disgust with the state of mental-health professions (and professionals) stems from a far more personal set of encounters, seeing as I helped check my wife into the hospital yet again, Monday. They'll mumble their magic incantations, and toss a few darts at the medication chart to pick out a new drug cocktail, and hope it has some beneficial result (and not -too- many nasty permanent side effects). I'll believe they have something approaching a science when I can have my wife diagnosed by four different doctors and get any two of them to agree. Three out of four would leave me ecstatic. As it is, four doctors will (and have) give us five different diagnoses...
Did you know that electroshock therapy is still a common treatment? Fucking barbarians is what they are.
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