Do you consider humans to be apes?

Question

The forest apes number only in the thousands but the savannah ape (Homo sapiens) number in the billions.

I wonder if the denial of the apeness of humanity is the primary reason people believe in Young Earth Creationism?

Answer 1

No, we're worse.

Answer 2

Apes, are social animals. We are too... And so the story begins... Like nectarines and peaches, both have pits, both have skin with a sweet tasting "meat" inside, and both grow on trees...These are two different, of the same kind of fruit... We are like apes, as to not defy any beliefs, scientists find theories that link us to apes. With theories, (remember, theories are only beliefs and speculations) one can safely say that there were some species or better yet some skeletal remains of the Neanderthal Man, that mark the center of the Evolution of Man theory. Don't forget Lucy, the skeletal remains found in Africa. All of these show signs of civilization, whereas, they found some types of weaponry, and clothing, thus illustrating that they were able to manufacture articles, long before anymore traces of cooking utensils, and or clothing were known, or found. The link? I think that if we came from Apes, then why are there still apes? I think they are meerly a parallel of us, and their habitat is just following instinct. There are so many of them, and many unsolved answers to the relation of man and ape,that this can be studied for an eternity, and with the changing times and continual development of civilization, may never be answered. Good luck! steve

Answer 3

It may be that the denial of the "apeness" in humanity is the primary reason why people believe in Creationism, but overall I think that it's a false dichotomy. One doesn't have to believe in God to understand that our species is quite unique, yet formed by evolution.

No, we're not apes, but we're not God's creation either. Apes are our closest living kin, however, there are important differences between the rest of the animal world and ourselves. According to many evolutionary scientists, our species is particularly unique for two reasons. First, we have a high degree of neural indeterminacy at birth. This means, we are not "programmed" for anything in particular. We have the most plastic of all the brains on the planet. Our neural synapses actually form connections when they interact with the surrounding environment. This is opposed to some species' synapses already being in place in the form of pure instinct. Pedagogy and learning is very important to our species for this reason. We have a long, long time of infant dependency compared to other species because we need that time for the brain to develop.

How did we form such unique brains? Some think that a distant kin of ours, Homo habilis, may have started one of the most unique feedback loops in evolutionary history. H. habilis is known as the 'tool-maker.' The thing about tools is that they allow you to things that you would have previously never thought of. Suddenly hunting became more efficient, more protein was had, life expectancy increased, and so on. The more that the Homo line developed and relied on tools, the more indeterminate our neurons became. Why? Tools created a kind of "shelter" for us. Evolution couldn't work on the Homo line like it did other species. For example... not fast enough? No problem. You wouldn't be selected against because if you're good at throwing a hand-axe, that's enough to stay alive and kill that animal. You get the idea.

Furthermore, tools beget tools. As mentioned, as soon as you start doing one thing, a tool suggests another use. So, the "shelter of tools" became bigger and better as they were passed down the Hominid line. BUT we increasingly came to rely on them because evolution didn't program us anymore. We were out of reach, so to speak. Tools became the mediator between hominids and the environment, and the more our ancestors used tools, the bigger the "shelter," the less we needed instinct, and the more indeterminate our neurology became until the most plastic of all brains was formed--ours.

This, then, is the second factor that distinguishes our species from other animals. We are, at heart, a tool using and making species. I know, I know. There are those who say that chimpanzees use tools. Without getting too nitty-gritty, all I have to say is that termite-fishing stick is not essential to the chimp's survival. But take away tools from H. sapiens and we're as good as dead. No. We wouldn't even develop into a full-blown human being without these artifacts in our environment.

So, the upshot is that we are unique due to a quirky series of historical events way back in our evolutionary history. We are neither ape, nor are we god's creation. We share similarities with other animals, but our reliance on our tool culture and our unique neurology distinguishes us from the rest.

Just my two cents. :-)

Answer 4

It's true. Most (unenlightened) people are offended by the idea that humans are primates. They don't understand, that we are not actually apes, we and modern apes evolved from a common ancestor species. We share 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees.

Some say that if you teach children they are monkeys they will act like monkeys. I find this to be just plain ignorance. I think many of these parents are making excuses because they are not good at rearing their children. I have known humans are primates since I was around 8, and I have never considered myself or any of my fellow humans to be apes. I have always found evolution to be fascinating. A lot of people are afraid of science because they think it threatens religion. Well, if God is real, then how can science threaten devotion to him?

I don't believe that millions of people are going to leave churches if they suddenly realize that humans are a primate species. I still go to church. My doubts about faith have nothing to do with evolution, they have to do with the fact that so much in the Bible originated in other earlier texts. But I can't deny God is real.

Others say that if we are primates, and our species began in Africa, then black African people must be more apelike than the rest of us. Again, plain ignorance. True, Darwinism was used to prove that whites are the superior race, but that is not an idictment of science, it is a reflection of racists who were in search of justification of their views. They preyed upon people's ignorance of science.

All humans evolved from an ancestor in what is modern day Indonesia, that lived about 800,000 years ago. Our evolution is a fascinating story. But it obviously threatens the self image of a lot of people.

.

Answer 5

I wonder how the apes feel being our grandfathers ?

Where did we go wrong possibly ? On the other hand genetically we are very close to mice. How would they feel.

Probably pretty cheesed off.

We do seem to have the appearance of an ape with the breeding capabilities of mice. Creationism creates the dilemma of a God mixing the Mouse mould with a Ape mould with an added banana for the male mould.

Answer 6

Not apes, we're homonids. We are primates though and descended from the same ancestral species as modern day apes.

Answer 7

Our branch off of the main trunk left the modern day apes in the dust, when it comes to development of the cerebral cortex....sorry to burst your bubble.

Answer 8

there a lot smarter then us. we are living by making things that we dont need & killing everything around us, there living by using only what they need.

Answer 9

I have to agree with Joy's answer...!!! LOL

Answer 10

No I don't.