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yaaarrrgg · 06-02-2007

That's a good point...

Really there is a lot more that distinguishes humans from other animals than just being rational. Not all humans are even rational (for example babies) so this distinction breaks down in many places.

There's a bunch of things that makes us unique:

humans are extremely delicate compared to other animals (thin skin and little protective hair)
humans have long parental investments in our children (about 18-25 years?). humans have the largest brain/body weight ratio
humans are able to travel (walk) longer distances than most other animals.

Of course most all animals are unique in some way, so uniqueness isn't all that unique overall.

06-02-2007	#3 (permalink)
yaaarrrgg Super Moderator Join Date: May 2007 Location: Indiana, USA Posts: 976	Re: aristotle's rational man That's a good point... Really there is a lot more that distinguishes humans from other animals than just being rational. Not all humans are even rational (for example babies) so this distinction breaks down in many places. There's a bunch of things that makes us unique: humans are extremely delicate compared to other animals (thin skin and little protective hair) humans have long parental investments in our children (about 18-25 years?). humans have the largest brain/body weight ratio humans are able to travel (walk) longer distances than most other animals. Of course most all animals are unique in some way, so uniqueness isn't all that unique overall.