Socratic Seminar Topic

What separates humans from animals? Is it the fact we can walk on two legs? That we communicate with one another in English? The question “What separates a person from all other animals?” was brought up in this past Socratic Seminar and truly stumped everyone. What seemed like such a simple question turned into a half-hour long conversation in which an answer wasn’t found. For some, this answer might be redundant since we believe we are nothing like animals and are far superior. However, why do we think this? In fact, genetics show that we aren’t actually that far off from some sorts of animals.

            Here is what really stumps me… Is the reason that we believe we are nothing like other species because we are just comparing them to ourselves? What if they do have their own form of communicating with themselves? With all of this being said, humans truly are something special. The way in which we interact is nothing like any other species. We communicate for a living and truly strive only when we do so. Unlike other species, we don’t succeed in isolation. In a movie I just watched in one of my classes, it describes the true characteristic of a human being: greed. Us human beings strive to get to the top and will honestly do anything to get there. There are so many examples of this especially coming from the Wall Street. Some people on the Wall Street get so caught up in trying to reach the top that they even screw people over trying to get there. They steal money from hard working people because of all the greed present.

            So, some people ask what the difference between humans and other animals are, well, I think it isn’t the genes and such, but the way in which we act. Yes, other animals seek love along with greed, but it is far less dangerous than the way we feel it. With all of this being said, it is only an opinion. I am quite certain and excited that the future will give us a lot more information about the differences between humans and animals. I believe that we will soon learn that these other species are a lot more similar to us than we think now.