there's this funny anecdote i had heard about why men are behaving more and more like animals... and why animals so much more humane than most of the specimens of our species!if you believe in the hindu theory of reincarnation you will know that the soul is imperishable and is reborn in differnt forms depending on their accumulated past actions... now given the way in which most of us live our lives we should be reborn as animals... but then we human beings have not spared too many of the animals either... in fact we've driven many of them to extinction!
so some of us come back as human beings because there were no animal forms available at the time we were born... so we were accidently born as human beings when we should have actually been born as some animal!
so maybe that explains why most of us behave more and more like animals... sometimes more than the animals themselves!
(now some of you might say that i'm only 'monkeying' around here! but i'm not passing off some 'cock' and 'bull' story here... and i'm not going to 'chicken' off by your threats! :P )
there was this very interesting discussion about the key differences between human beings and animals that i read in this slightly bizarre book called 'fierce invalids home from hot climates' by tim robbins.
the list of characteristics that differenciate man and animal include - imagination, rebelliousness, aesthetics, spirituality, eroticism, and humour.
the list of characteristics that differenciate man and animal include - imagination, rebelliousness, aesthetics, spirituality, eroticism, and humour.
now when you pause to think about it, you tend to agree with this list... and it leaves you wondering if there was anything else you could add to this list... (i couldn't think of anything, can you?)
i then flaunted this list to the big boss on day... i felt she too would feel humbled by this list and wonder if she could add something to complete the list...
she heard me out and then summed it all in obe single sentence - "all of these have to do with the intellect... and that is essentially what differentiates a man from an animal!"
suffice to say that i was humbled and struck speechles... which people who know me will certify is an extremely rare occurence! :P
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:P and in the end, the big boss cleverly sums it all up in a few but very correct words! LOL
Poor animals are not even part of this comparison and we have drawn conclusions. Humans thrive at analysis than pure observation without any analysis behind it....
Boss compiles the research and gets the credit... :-)
On a more serious note: The list is quite appropriate... but if you would think of the negative traits in humans animals don't have it..Deceit, Show-off
i think its awareness that differentiate an animal from a man....animals too have intelluct and also reasoning...but they lack awareness, which is a byproduct of our highly developed communication skills and the ability to pass on learned knowledge from generation to generation...
our current plight is also due to this awareness...this ability to observe ourselves...
having said that, i can truly say that all of us are just animals coz our daily life is no different from theirs...we survive, feed, protect our territories, mate, sleep and shit...we are just doing the same things perhaps differently but its the same nonetheless...
you mention about animals....what about plants? plants i believe have the innate quality to share their beauty and fragrance with the world selflessly...about humans one quality that i believe would separate a man from an animal is the power of discrimination...no matter how strong you are, how intelligent you may be you will not be a man if you cannot tell right from wrong
I agree with Ganesh.And I feel that nature's rule for animals (THE FITTEST SURVIVES) is not applicable to human beings.For us(assuming we are human yet) the rule is--ONE WHO ADAPTS SURVIVES!. Right?
The list of characteristics is very much appropriate too.I would like to add few more chars--
1)Loyalty (as in Dogs)
2)Imitation (as in Monkeys)
3)Cunning-ness(as in a fox)
4)Selfishness(as in snakes-they eat their own eggs)
And the list goes on....
Afterall we are descendants of monkeys;-)
I think animals and birds have brains as well as emotions, what they lack is a society. Humans have become refined because we live by a set of rules.
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