Should Chimps be Considered Human

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It sounds like your vote is consistent with what you are saying here…
 
Wingz said:
They are also able to learn language. (Not through speaking because they cannot make a wide range of sounds) but they can learn sign language.
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I suppose that was how we first evolved. We didn’t speak much. Communication was perhaps more of groan, showing of teeth, beating of chest, thumping of feet, and pulling by the hair (?) 🤣

Does not sound much different, does it? language was developed and learnt.

The potential for these animals to further evolve, and earlier on I did mention about dolphins and octopus, is simply mind blowing.

Thus, while, we still rule, might as well keep it that way. 😆🤣
 
Psychologists who study animal cognition may disagree. For example, studies of chimp food transfers suggest a variety of reasons, including chimps’ regard for the nature of the relationships. This food sharing is not only based on reciprocity, evolutionary survival, or avoidance of predators, but also possibly empathy.
 
A pack helps with survival. Empathy would be last on the list of possibilities, I would say. They have empathy, contagious empathy, but not cognitive. Cognitive empathy is something only humans have.

This is exactly what makes us human: our ability to think of others before ourselves out of pure love. St. Thomas Aquinas notes that when we resort to the flesh, we become like animals. We think of only survival of this life and not the next. I think this is a good way to compare the two.
 
I think some folks who want personhood for apes are just trying to be revolutionary.
 
niceatheist said:
I’m not terribly convinced by claims of human specialness. We are hominoids like chimps, we evolved from a common ancestor, and our suite of behaviors simply are not that different. It’s a difference of quantity to be sure, but ultimately we are animals.
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Our biggest distinction is arguably that we have transcended the environment to the point that we are a danger to ourselves as a collective. What other species has done that?

The Fermi Paradox is very possibly solved with “They all, essentially, killed themselves”.
 
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My vote is no. Chimps are not humans. They may be closest according to the phylogenetic scale; but from both a secular and religious standpoint, they cannot be regarded as people.
 
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I think we should first convince the chimp that he is human, and then we can discuss further.
 
misstherese said:
A pack helps with survival. Empathy would be last on the list of possibilities, I would say. They have empathy, contagious empathy, but not cognitive. Cognitive empathy is something only humans have.

This is exactly what makes us human: our ability to think of others before ourselves out of pure love. St. Thomas Aquinas notes that when we resort to the flesh, we become like animals. We think of only survival of this life and not the next. I think this is a good way to compare the two.
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Contagious empathy? I think that you just made that up.I’m not entirely sure that you know what empathy means.
 
Cruciferi said:
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Bradskii:
Contagious empathy
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I had a case of that over the winter. It was a pain to get rid of! Now, I’m back to my heartless and cruel self 😠
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I had a case of IPA last week. Went down very well.
 
I had 5 craft beers last night and they didn’t go down well at all 😦 Been a lousy day 😑
 
There is contagious yawning and crying, for example, but research suggests it is NOT connected with empathy.
 
If a human self identifies as a chimp can they collect free bananas instead of food stamps?
 
My list in no specific order:
  1. Man has an immortal soul
  2. Christ became man and died for man
  3. Man is made in the image and likeness of God
  4. Christ would have said something about dying for animals
 
Are we engaging rationality or personal emotion and sentiment?
 
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