Agree or disagree? Everything that we do has a biological explanation

[Taverner]

I truly beleive this, and hold that we are animals - not in the pejorative sense but in the sense that we are no different than the bear, grasshopper or musk ox.

How did our great brain come about? you may ask...well evolution explains this as well. Just because an animal has a trait, doesn't mean they can use it. It took mankind tens of thousands of years to get this far - and we really didn't use it to store data (the only thing truly seperates us from other animals) until recently.

[jpgray]

1. Yes

But since we'll never understand it or be able to observe the biological processes, and as Goedel would say "no system can explain itself" it doesn't really matter much.

[Taverner]

2. I disagree

I think given enough time, the fact that we can record data gives us a leg up in that arena.

[jpgray]

5. I really doubt it

In theory given enough time if something can happen it will, but I doubt that this can happen. Maybe with the help of a non-human agency such as a supercomputer.

[LaraMN]

3. Pretty much, yeah.

It's the only reason I can find to explain much of my asinine behavior throughout my life.:shrug:

[Richard Steele]

4. If you mean a COMPLETELY biological explanation, then no.

But if you mean that everything has SOME basis in biology,
then I agree completely.
I think the percentage is pretty high;
our conscious, rational mind is a pretty thin veneer
over a big heaping pile of complex chemical interactions.

[hunter]

6. We are animals dressed up in clothes and fancy words.

Naked Mole Rats, version 2.0



http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/SmallMammals/fact-nakedmolerat.cfm

[Shine]

7. I disagree.

Although our biological imperative is ever-present, I do not think it is our sole source for all the actions we choose.

We are spiritual beings, having a Human experience.

[Xithras]

8. 95% of everything we do is biologically based.

You can play the "why" game with almost any human activity, and they nearly always funnel back to personal survival or reproduction. Working. Getting an education. Dating. Fighting wars. Racing hotrods. All of these and more trace back to fundamental biological dispositions.

There are certain behaviors that defy this, however. Why do we go on vacation? Why do we go see pretty things? Why do we create pretty things? The answer, in those cases, is that our curious and creative nature allows us to sometimes engage in activities that aren't biological at their foundation. For nearly all of us, however, these are simply occasional diversions from the biological reality of our daily lives.

[Pacifist Patriot]

9. Have you ever read any Joseph Chilton Pearce?

[EstimatedProphet]

10. I agree with one exception-true consciousness

the brain in and of itself works much like a computer. Consciousness, reason, creativity-they aren't figured into the brain's hardware. At some point for some reason, in our evolution (and the higher primates) the whole became bigger than the sum of the parts.

[Taverner]

11. Personally I think reason is a learned behavior

Chances are the first humans did not have the capability of reason, and only learned it as a result of saving data.

[EstimatedProphet]

12. It can be learned, but we have the capacity

Animals have a much more limited capacity than we do.

[Taverner]

14. Again, I'm not too sure about that

Thing is, we are a species which has had the advantage of breeding for intelligence as of recent times, and the gift of a written communication form. If a dolphin, say, had both of these - in a way that a dolphin could understand, who's to say the dolphin wouldn't be able to reason?

[EstimatedProphet]

16. I would also include the whales and dolphins too

But...I would say still that it is a significant seperation from the rest of the animal kingdom.

[Taverner]

17. Oh definitely

But I still think we are animals, first and foremost...

[Nikia]

13. We are the most learning oriented animal

We have mostly lost our instincts and have to learn most things. Some things we learn trigger instincts, but we can learn just the opposite. For example, we can learn to eat something again that once appeared to make us sick even though we might have an initial adversion, which is triggered by instinct. As a result, we can be taught to do things that really aren't in our best interests from a biological point of view. These lessons might be taught directly or be reinforced every day in societial images and intereactions.
I don't know what you mean about animals not being able to store data. Most mammals at least have memory. My dog recognizes people and places after they he has not seen them for several months. I would say that our great advantage is that we can think of the past, present, and future possibilities and draw relationships and to put ideas together in ways that they have never been put together beofre (at least in our limited world view) and to communicate those complex ideas to other people.

[Taverner]

15. By storing data I meant a written language, or an oral storytelling

tradition. The ability to pass on data from one generation to the next, or accross cultures.

Other species don't have this (yet)

[Orsino]

18. Almost everything has a biological explanation, sure...

...but you won't find comic books, model planes or mathematical theory anywhere else in the animal kingdom. Yes, we're animals, but ones with a unique adaptation: the capacity to dream about things that never were plus the pure reasoning ability and opposable thumbs to make those dreams come true.

It's a gift with consequences we're not well-equipped to foresee, and our conventional animal natures conspire to prevent our giving up any fun but dangerous habits.