My brain is way too analytical.

[j_h_smith]

You don't know some of my relatives.

Jim Smith

[Seru1]

Oh trust me I work in redneck supermarket's all day. Some people ACT like animals sure.


I hate to talk religion. Always scared to offend someone.

[unspecified42]

Societal norms, which are mostly driven by the knowledge that less mess equals less disease.

[Elise.m]

I don't get offended by someone talking about religion... I just get annoyed (My friend does it to me all the time, when I told her about termite mounds being perfect habitats for BPs... She went on about how only god could do that. I've learned to tune it out.)

I think cleaning up before we have company is due to us knowing that our company doesn't want to see our mess, and we don't want them to see our mess. I'm sure other cultures are different... I know some people who don't wear deodorant. To me, it's... . To them, it's nothing. But I respect that, because it's their decision.

[Seru1]

See I try not to throw it out like that, but when a question is offered I do throw my belief out there with the caveat that "it's just my belief not something I am pushing on someone else."

[mr. s]

I don't get offended by someone talking about religion... I just get annoyed

Sounds like you don't respect your friend.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Actually, I think you're simply giving humans too much credit.

Most humans DON'T clean up their homes if they are actually abandoning them (as opposed to selling or passing them on).
They leave them in horrendous states of disorder, full of trash and rotting food, and worse.

The only reason humans clean up their home before they leave is so that the next person to get it will be pleased with it, and will think highly of them. This only applies if they're selling or giving it away. So, it's a social thing. (A clean home also attracts buyers, so that's value, there).

Truly abandoned homes are rarely left totally cleared out, let alone actually clean. People take only what they want with them, and leave the rest.

[WingedWolfPsion]

(meant this to be an edit, but time ran out)

And no, I can't set humans apart from other animals. There's not a single solitary thing that humans do that is different in type (rather than degree) from what some other animal can do. From quasi-religious acts to artwork, toolmaking and use to self awareness, compassion to sadism, war, love, hate, you will find it all in other species. All of it. Perhaps not all of it in the SAME other species (apart from great apes), but you'll find it.
As a psychic--yes, they have souls too. Sorry for the folks who have faiths that say not, but some of us can see them, so it's moot. lol This is partly why there are stories of ghost animals, just as there are of ghost humans.

The reason so many people believe humans are different...pure hubris, and lack of understanding. They overestimate humans (who have and continually act upon their instincts), and underestimate other species (who can sometimes override instincts to gain social favor, just as we sometimes can). Humans are really interesting animals, but they aren't 'better', or 'worse' than other animals. They're just the same.
Humans have managed to do just one thing that impresses me--they are actually striving to protect other species that are imperiled. The basis for this may not be unique, but the application is. It's quite an accomplishment.
You see, with this viewpoint, rather than being upset by all the gnarly things humans are doing to the world, instead we can see that, in comparison with other species, they're not doing so badly. Why do we expect more of them? We should instead be pleasantly surprised when they do something altruistic, plan for the future fully, and behave like the higher creatures they're so convinced they are.

[mr. s]

The reason so many people believe humans are different...pure hubris, and lack of understanding.
Humans have managed to do just one thing that impresses me--they are actually striving to protect other species that are imperiled.

You only think humans separate themselves from the animal kingdom in that they help other animals?
Yes, there are GLIMPSES of similarity between humans and other animals, but I don't think our minds can truly be compared. I am trying to think of a specific example that might illustrate this, but.....there are too many. I understand if you have great respect for nature, it absolutely astounds me at every turn, but come on, we have been in space.....

[Seru1]

(meant this to be an edit, but time ran out)

And no, I can't set humans apart from other animals. There's not a single solitary thing that humans do that is different in type (rather than degree) from what some other animal can do. From quasi-religious acts to artwork, toolmaking and use to self awareness, compassion to sadism, war, love, hate, you will find it all in other species. All of it. Perhaps not all of it in the SAME other species (apart from great apes), but you'll find it.
As a psychic--yes, they have souls too. Sorry for the folks who have faiths that say not, but some of us can see them, so it's moot. lol This is partly why there are stories of ghost animals, just as there are of ghost humans.

The reason so many people believe humans are different...pure hubris, and lack of understanding. They overestimate humans (who have and continually act upon their instincts), and underestimate other species (who can sometimes override instincts to gain social favor, just as we sometimes can). Humans are really interesting animals, but they aren't 'better', or 'worse' than other animals. They're just the same.
Humans have managed to do just one thing that impresses me--they are actually striving to protect other species that are imperiled. The basis for this may not be unique, but the application is. It's quite an accomplishment.
You see, with this viewpoint, rather than being upset by all the gnarly things humans are doing to the world, instead we can see that, in comparison with other species, they're not doing so badly. Why do we expect more of them? We should instead be pleasantly surprised when they do something altruistic, plan for the future fully, and behave like the higher creatures they're so convinced they are.

And you totally have a right to believe that duder even if I totally disagree with you Party on dude.