Can You Define Human?

What is it that separates human beings from the animal kingdom? Where do we draw that line? Is it merely the scientific designation of Homo Sapien? Is there anything we have inherently that distinguishes from our nearest genetic relatives, the great apes?

I have no intention here to argue about the existence of a soul and get into the debate about whether or not an ape or any other animal possess a soul. For the record I believe in both God and Evolution. Perhaps later I will be willing to open that can of worms, but not now.

The argument used to be that man was the tool user until we found out that the great apes make nests and use grass blades to catch ants. Chimpanzees have even used sticks and rocks as weapons to kill prey or to wage war on other groups of chimps.

The new argument has been that man is the only animal that uses language. That benchmark of humanity has been badly eroded over the last fifty years. There have been many studies where apes have been taught sign language or some other symbolic form of communication. Apes do not have the physical structure for vocal speech. It is also true that they have no natural symbolic communication as far as we have been able to discover, however, I find it interesting that they have the same speech centers in the brain as humans. If they did not they could only parrot our gestures, not combine them for true communication.

If the claim then, to human superiority is the degree of intelligence, the ability to handle abstract concepts, then we are on shaky ground. Apes have demonstrated fairly sophisticated problem solving skills in behavioral experiments. There is also a photograph of KoKo the gorilla who is probably the most proficient of the "talking" apes, when she was told that her kitten was killed. In that picture it is impossible to miss the raw grief she felt. She clearly understood what she was being told. Death is an abstract concept.

Moreover that particular gorilla has been tested as having an IQ on the human scale of 75-95. How can we differentiate her from a human with the same IQ if the difference between ape and human is intelligence? Are there then degrees of human? Is a gifted child considered more human than a retarded child?

I do not expect that our species who have not yet learned to treat other humans humanely will be extending the privilege of human rights to the great apes anytime soon. Nor am I a member of PETA or a vegetarian. I do have concerns about our treatment of the animals we eat, but again, that's a discussion for another time. I am merely suggesting that we treat our nearest relatives a bit better. The bonobo for example has DNA 98.4% the same as ours. Could we possibly stop experimenting on them in painful ways? Can we insure the ones who perform in shows and circuses decent living quarters and fair working conditions? Could we perhaps exhibit them in large preserves rather than zoos? I would like to see care of a great ape to be more like an adoption than a sale. I would like to see us extend just a bit of human compassion towards our cousins. I don't think that's too much to ask.

For more about the bonobo go to Bonobo Initiative

For more about KoKo go to The Gorilla Foundation