Man As An Intelligent Animal

1. The human brain possesses qualities that have no parallel in the animal world. One consequence is man’s explicit mental capabilities.

Man possesses the faculty of speech and his creative communication by means of his vocal system is completely different from those of animals Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you.”

That’s the longest string of words that Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee who scientists raised as a human and taught sign language in the 1970s, ever signed. He was the subject of Project Nim, an experiment conducted by cognitive scientists at Columbia University to investigate whether chimps can learn language.

After years of exposing Nim to all things human, the researchers concluded that although he did learn to express demands — the desire for an orange, for instance — and knew 125 words, he couldn’t fully grasp language, at least as they defined it. Language requires not just vocabulary but also syntax, they argued. “Give orange me,” for example, means something different than “give me orange.” From a very young age, humans understand that; we have an innate ability to create new meanings by combining and ordering words in diverse ways. Nim had no such capacity, which is presumably true for all chimps..He has the unique ability to pay attention 2.Only man is able to express emotions (e.g., joy, sadness, hope, laughter, shyness). Some animals seem to have similar abilities, but they cannot be compared with human emotions.

3. Hands: All animals have hands but we can move our thumbs all across the palm to our ring and little fingers. We can also flex the ring and little fingers toward the base of our thumb. This gives humans a powerful grip and exceptional dexterity to hold and manipulate tools with. Monkeys have thumbs on their feet as well as on their hands, which really helps in climbing trees (they can grab with their feet as well as with their hands). The human thumb is proportionately longer than those of apes and man can oppose his thumb to his fingers whereas apes and monkeys cannot. Without this uniquely designed hand, no ape could be competent in using tools. The ape lacks the dexterity that humans enjoy.

4.. Only man walks upright in an erect posture. Man can walk comfortably and naturally on two feet. This is his normal posture. Monkeys, apes, bears, chipmunks and other animals may occasionally walk on two feet, but this is not their normal mode of transportation. They usually move on all fours.

5. The brain of a human is normally two or three times larger than the brain of the largest ape, which is the gorilla. our brains weigh an average of three pounds, which is enormous for an animal of our body size. By comparison, chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, have brains that are one-third the size of our own, although they are very similar to us in body size. Most of this brain-size difference reflects the evolutionary expansion of the association cortex, a group of regions that supports such sophisticated cognitive functions as language, self-awareness, and problem solving.

The size of the human association cortex is only part of what makes this region unusual in humans. In addition to having more neurons in the association cortex, brain imaging studies comparing the brains of humans to other primates show humans have a greater number of fibers connecting the brain regions involved in such human-specialized functions as language, tool making, reasoning, and social cognition

6. Man’s body is relatively hairless. Monkeys and apes are very hairy. Some evolutionists refer to man as “the naked ape.” However, have you ever seen a naked ape (an ape not covered by hair)? Apes by definition are very hairy. If man is not hairy, then he must not be an ape!

7.The human nose has a prominent bridge and an elongated tip which is lacking in the apes. [God knew that some of us would one day need to wear glasses, and so He formed us in such a way that we would have a place to hang them!]

8. Man’s arms are very short in comparison to the arms of monkeys and apes. The arms of apes hang down to the ground and like its legs, are used for transportation. 6. Monkeys have thumbs on their feet as well as on their hands, which really helps in climbing trees (they can grab with their feet as well as with their hands). The human thumb is proportionately longer than those of apes and man can oppose his thumb to his fingers whereas apes and monkeys cannot. Without this uniquely designed hand, no ape could be competent in using tools. The ape lacks the dexterity that humans enjoy.

9. Human babies are far more helpless and dependent on their parents than any of the infants of apes and monkeys.

10. Man’s head is balanced on top of his spinal column. The head of the ape is hinged at the front instead of on top. Instead of having the head balanced on top of the spinal column as in humans, the heads of apes project forward. Also, there is a great difference between men and apes in the way the spine is curved. Men have what is called the “lumbar curve;” apes do not.

11. The chromosome count differs between men and apes. The chromosome number of man is 46. The chimpanzee and the gorilla have a count of 48.

EVALUATION

1.Examples of Mammals are the following except—a.Fish   b.Man  c.Giraffe   d.Elephants

2.Human basic intelligence skills include the following except     a.Measurement   b.Interference   c.Inference  d.Reasoning and problem solving.

In what way is man different from animals?