2006-08-01 01:16:43 · 20 answers · asked by wild cactus 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
The power of reason, possessing social, cultural and intellectual traits set man above living and non-living things make him different from all the other creations, the very reason which makes man superior to all other higher forms of animals.
2006-08-01 01:20:40 · answer #1 · answered by cpl. markuss 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Speech and the use of tools. The tools thing has been recently disputed because other animals have been found to use tools. You could say that having a job or driving a car makes us different, but look around you. There are many lower forms of life driving on our highways and working in our offices.
2006-08-01 01:21:15 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is becoming much less clear, the more we study our fellows near the top of the food chain. Elephants have an incredibly wide range of emotions, are highly intelligent, and have a very complex "language", if you will. Chimps have culture and kill eachother for no other reason than to kill eachother, and do so in a needlessly complex and prolonged fashion. So, the answer, IMO, is that we have opposable thumbs and the rest we don't quite know anymore...
2006-08-01 03:14:46 · answer #3 · answered by Elminster 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Animals can communicate, but they do not seem to be able to plan ahead, and this is possibly man's greatest strength. To contemplate and implement a long-range plan of action, rather than simply reacting to stimuli, is to be truly human.
Compassion is another trait that is distinctively human.
2006-08-01 05:44:58 · answer #4 · answered by old lady 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Self consciousness; or rather a reflective capacity. We are the only creatures that seem to have the ability to evaluate the self compared to an ideal, or possible self. So, I guess imagination is in there too, but imagination is another function of consciousness.
2006-08-01 03:15:12 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Human brains can analyze (a lot)(it is a evil as well as an advantage). We built supersonic aeroplanes, submarines, nuclear bombs, cell phones.... Who would have thought we could talk while walking in the market to another person in the world! We can use our brains to create anything.
2006-08-01 01:35:49 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The ability to Question, to ask why and what! Thats what makes animals stay animals and humans be humans.
2006-08-01 02:59:26 · answer #7 · answered by Sergia Mary 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the words of Mark Twain, "Man is the only animal that blushes, or feels the need to."
2006-08-01 01:21:35 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nothing except opposable thumbs, and this is only until they find the other animal that has them too.
2006-08-01 14:05:28 · answer #9 · answered by tyger 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No other animal has developed religion--only Humans.
2006-08-01 01:25:15 · answer #10 · answered by PBarnfeather 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋