Don't recent observations of various apes using tools make it obvious they are our cousins?

Question

Primates seem to stand out in this way.

There are now many examples of learned behaviour being passed on to others, from using sticks to retrieve termites to sitting warm springs to avoid the cold.

Or does God want apes to use tools to test our faith?

Answer 1

I can only go by your picture, but, yes I can see how you might think that. ;-)

Answer 2

Of course they are our cousins. We share a world in which we breathe the same air, eat the same foods and drink the same water. There are many similarities between species that live and work in a shared environment. The problem is not our similarities, it is our differences. No one would argue that apes are not highly intelligent, intelligent enough to use tools, what I would argue is whether this is evidence that they evolved from a common ancester which we share.

The great apes are fasciniating in how similar they are to humans, but similarity does not prove relationship. Sharks and whales are very similar in appearrance, environment and food sources, yet we know they are very different.

Although we share up to 98% of our DNA and 99% of our genetics with Chimpanzees, our genes are very different. Human genes have "transcription factors" that are missing in apes. This is what allows us to develop higher reasoning and advanced skills as evidenced in our huge intellectual advantage over apes.

If mavro-evolution were so certain we would have witnessed it in at least some small degree. The fact remains that it can not be reproduced.

". . . it was and still is the case that, with the exception of Dobzhansky's claim about a new species of fruit fly, the formation of a new species, by any mechanism, has never been observed."

- Jeffrey Schwartz, professor of anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh

Answer 3

No, it doesn't make it obvious. That's the kind of inferential thinking that encourages theists to say things like "Doesn't the beauty of a sunset make it obvious that there is a god?"

The fossil record, DNA, the existence of ring species (Wiki it), the evidence of artificial selection, field observation and careful study, however, do make it obvious that apes are our closest cousins. Tool use by some of them does not contradict that evidential claim, so it's a point worth adding to the mix.

Answer 4

Apes are not our cousins. We may share a lot of DNA with apes, but there is no scientific evidence that says one species turned into another. It is possible that God uses apes to test our faith. After all, people come to one of two conclusions about apes, either we evovled from them or God created apes and people seperately.

Answer 5

I want you to see exactly how stupid your ideals are, You say we came from apes, because they have certain skills, Therefore you think we are a decedent form apes, & that is the only animal you mention & that is because they have certain capability of doing something, I have 2 dogs, I tell them to sit, they sit, I tell them to lay down they lay down, They have knowledge to protect the house & family. Now according to you we now have people coming from dogs, & what about the birds that can talk, we say hello, they say hello, Now what people came from them. I also have about 12 cats, they know exactly when it is feeding time, they all gather at my front door, waiting to be fed, What people came from them, What about the dolphin, or the sea turtles, that can go thousands of miles away from their birth place But yet they all come back to the very part of their birth & lay eggs themselves. Think about it.

Answer 6

It has long been obvious that chimps, gorillas and orang utangs are members of a great ape family, as are humans. Humans are the most populuous, widely distributed and arguably most intelligent species of this family. Humans are, by numbers at least, the reference species for the family "great apes".

Intelligent humans look at other great apes and see a reflection that helps them understand their humanness. Compassionate humans look at other great apes and see cruelty and threatened extinctions as a moral emergency.

Answer 7

They also have been seen making and using spears to hunt which is a step beyond what you have. The other cool thing is they have a sense of morality. They have drowned in a zoo trying to save another, and they will stave themselves for days rather than pull a chain that gives them food, but shocks another.

Answer 8

i think the genetic evidence is more than adequate. the fact that chimps use tools is not really an indicator of a relationship as i have seen dogs on skateboards ans a sea lion playing a xylophone.

Answer 9

Hey, I believe that we evolved from some lower life form....maybe apes.

It's kinda hard to get my head around the fact that Bonzo is my cousin. Might raise a few eyebrows at the next family reunion if he showed up.

Answer 10

apes are not the only animals that 'appear' creative

actually Bolo spiders throw their webs like a lasso and real in flies. Trap door spiders and underwater spiders have some slick tools.
Some fish dig a little cave to live in and have a blind shrimp like 'pet' they survive by cooperation Some rare elephants go into caves and mine salt.

they appear creative because of the 'creator' not because they are our ancestors but because of a wise and intelligent creator

Answer 11

Wow, some of my cousins in Alabama can't even use tools.