Are humans just higher animals so where is evolution taking you ?

Question

Inner Gifts That Elevate Us

A 50-YEAR-OLD construction worker was waiting for his train at a New York City subway station. Nearby, a young man stumbled to the edge of the platform and fell onto the tracks just as a train was coming. Making a split-second decision, the construction worker leaped onto the tracks and held the other man down as the train passed safely over them both.


During the Nazi era, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Europe refused to say “Heil Hitler!” because the German word heil means “salvation.” Their deeply held belief was that Jesus Christ was their Savior and that “there is no salvation in anyone else.” (Acts 4:12) For refusing to idolize Hitler, many were torn away from their home and sent to concentration camps, where they continued to hold to their Christian principles.


These examples show that a human can put the welfare of another—even a total stranger—before self and a respect for principles before personal freedom. Does such behavior reflect the notion that humans are simply highly evolved animals? Or does it suggest that we are a higher creation? Think about that as you reflect on the following questions:


● Why do we have a conscience, an inner sense of right and wrong?


● Why do we feel awe when we reflect on the wonders of creation?


● Why do we enjoy music, painting, poetry, and other art forms? After all, they are not essential for our survival.


● Why do people of virtually every culture manifest a desire to commune with a higher being?


● Why do we ask: ‘Why am I here?’ ‘What is the purpose of life?’


● When someone dies, why do we engage in various ceremonies and rituals?


● And why is belief in an afterlife virtually universal? Is our inborn desire to live forever just an evolutionary hoax?

Answer 1

Evidence for evolution is limited to comparing pictures of species.



If they're similar, they must be related.



Once you're a part of the evolution religion, you can't escape, and you repeat the same superficial arguments ad nauseum.

Answer 2

If you understood evolution you could answer your own questions. The human brain did not poof into existence. It evolved for millions of years. Our brain is made up of three layers, the brain stem, which is the reptilian brain that contains our instincts. The limbic system is the mammalian brain which contains emotions. And the neo-cortex which is the primate brain that allows primates to reason.



It is unknown what the conscience is and what it is for. Does it really tell us from right and wrong or just our concept of right and wrong? This would be found in the neo-cortex, thus all primates are capable of reasoning.



Reasoning also allows us to observe others and mimic them and improve on our behavior. Many primates do this but humans are capable of this at a much higher level.



We enjoy recreation simply because we can. Since we have a fully developed neo-cortex we have the time to reflect on our lives and enjoy activities that would of made us vulnerable in the wild.



Humans are social creatures, the need to communicate is needed for survival. Cultures probably evolved the need to commune with nature or a higher being in hopes it would bring good fortune and be supportive when we are in need of assistance.



We still have yet to answer those questions, I believe it is a burden to be able to ponder on those questions. A more simpler life would allow us to enjoy life without worrying about why we exist and what are purposes are.



Humans are not the only animals to honor their dead. Elephants pay tribute to their dead by returning to an elephant graveyard and paying their respects to their deceased love ones by rubbing their skeleton with vegetation and touching the corpse with their trunk. This is done annually. Also chimpanzees honor their dead similar to humans. They hold vigils to say their final goodbyes to the dying individual. Then touch the face of the decease and leave in sadness. Most animals however still morn for their loss even if they don't practice rituals.



An afterlife is not universal. There are many different ideas for what happens after death. We don't have an accurate answer yet but I believe the most logical is reincarnation.

Answer 3

Do I really have to go through another long page of bullshit to prove you wrong again? Fine -_-

Okay, good for him



One problem, Hitler was a huge believer in Christ; almost every inch of the Nazi's and Mein Kampf were covered in sayings about Jesus being the lord.



We are not the only animal to have a conscience. Conscience in animals are able to grow once they live in a society where their needs are met. For example: Dogs which are home bound would, for a large majority, be helpful to humans, lovable, playable, and amazing companions. A Dog in the wild though is much more 'evil' and 'nasty.' Humans still have the same inner drive if we were forced to fend for ourselves in nature, with no society.



Because of society, we have grown with larger brains capable of learning and thinking better than any other animal; as we grow as a society we begin to ask questions.



Yes? Look into Lazlo's pyramid. We begin to like these things as a society grows and we have our needs met.



Because religions beget religions: Example, look into the Christian flood story vs. Gilgamesh. Religions only build atop other religions. Actually, in my youth, my mom made our family do something (to show how the bible gets translated differently, as we were very religious). She gave someone a story and had them walk across the house retelling it to the next person, and by the end, the story was almost completely different.



Same answer as 2



Because we built religions already: based on the idea of anti-wanting-to-see-grandmas-dead-body, we grew more elaborate traditions. Traditions are constantly evolving.



Actually it's not, the idea of an afterlife is actually quite new. Most religions, such as ancient Egypts, believed only the King got an afterlife, as we was a God on Earth. A lot of early religions didn't even have afterlives for humans. The ones that did were more appealing to the vast majority of people, and thus were adopted more steadily. And of course we want to live forever, we are aware of our death clock. Here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX-Ux1Ad7tY



There are the answers.

Answer 4

A conscience is just part of a set of social tools that has evolved because the species benifits and thrives with a sense of caring for others. Those individuals who contributed to the survival of their kind through selfless acts or acts of conscience were Naturally selected for survival because human social behavior promotes species survival. We have also evolved empathy, being able to place yourself in another's position and understand their feelings helps the individual in every aspect of survival including mating and child rearing.

I feel awe when I am witness to the universe because I realize how insignificant I am in this grand thing we call the observable reality. I also am humbled by how completely improbable I am, my uniqueness and by extension the human uniqueness is stunning for it's unlikely existence and is very special for all we know there may be nothing in all this vast universe that compares with us for self realization and awareness,Music is just math and math is the language of the universe. Poetry lets us know that we are not alone in the way and depth of our feelings and for such a complex animal community is very important, we don't have to have it to survive but that it enhances survival probabilities is so beyond dispute that you should have left that question out.

It is not necessarily a desire to commune with a god it is simply a desire to understand our world those who are lazy take the easy way out and say god did it.

See above.

Because we understand how important our intimates are to us and we know how they will be missed.

Because people are afraid of death because they are not able to think of it as just an integral part of this incredible lif e we live. No gift lasts forever everything is lost eventually that is why you should give all your attention to the here and now because every moment you spend thinking about living forever is wasted.

Answer 5

Well during evolution a mutation occurred that developed beings with a larger skull this extra space also left more room for that particular species of Homo's brains to grow, thus with a larger brain our ancestors were able to do much more and gain more "intelligence" so it can be that will a larger brain cavity over millions of years other animals would be able to reach our standards, however unfortunately this larger skull caused mothers to die during child birth which lead to that species dying out until another mutation occurred which resulted in broader hips to bare the child, it has often been theorised that because of this, if there are other types of life in the universe they will also resemble our humanoid figure.

Answer 6

We have a conscience because we're social animals. My dog feels awe when I make fart noises at him. Art forms such as those help us learn to tell stories which helps us to hunt by predicting where an animal is going based upon tracks. People of virtually every culture also desire to do drugs, but that doesn't make your experience on them real. Because our niche is the thinking animal who builds kick@$$ tools by questioning EVERYTHING. Burying them cuts down on the smell. Buddhists, while believing in an afterlife, attempt to escape it. Just by the by, none of those beliefs you call universal actually are, as people like me don't hold them. On what grounds are we excluded?

Answer 7

But there is no religion associated with reality.



That is the problem that people have. We feel that we need to have a purpose, and that life has a meaning.



We are taught that we have to measure up.



We are not taught that we are here so that the spirits can enjoy their lives more by giving us life.



All they want to do is watch us live. To watch us be alive. But to get there, we have to be 'here' first. This planet is where it starts for us.



There is no religion necessary. Just people who think they need one.

Answer 8

We are created a little higher than the animals, and a little lower than the angels