# Things that all humans know **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 24, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992 "2012-05-24T19:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/1 "2012-05-24T19:18:03Z")
What are some things that all humans know but no other species does? For the sake of argument, we don’t have to include humans with various medical disabilities, such as being in a coma. For instance, we all know how to swallow. But so do a lot of other animals. What is common knowledge unique to humans? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/2 "2012-05-24T19:44:36Z")
Language. That’s it, probably, but it is a lot. ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/3 "2012-05-24T19:45:13Z")
That we are going to die. (Assuming you mean adult humans.) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/4 "2012-05-24T19:51:44Z")
> [@LionelHutz405](#): > > (Assuming you mean adult humans.) Good point. Sure, let’s say humans who are past puberty. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/5 "2012-05-24T19:53:04Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Language. That’s a tough one because it’s been shown that some animals have language as well. We could say written language, but not everyone is literate. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/6 "2012-05-24T19:58:17Z")
Eating crap is something that should be done in private Where beef comes from That the world is larger than the distance that we can walk That thumbs are special ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/7 "2012-05-24T20:02:25Z")
Maybe “all” is stretching it, but I bet we’re the only species that understands how babies start. How to dance. Some animals will instinctively move to the music, but they don’t make up dance moves. they don’t “Know How.” Same with singing. Animals will copy what they hear, but they don’t write songs or try out new combinations of notes. How to put on clothes. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/8 "2012-05-24T20:11:00Z")
How about consciously blinking? Or can cats do that? Is the feeling of embarassment unique to humans? Or once again, do cats do that? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/9 "2012-05-24T20:11:41Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Language. > That’s it, probably, but it is a lot. It’s also not true. [Whale language](http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8886-whale-song-reveals-sophisticated-language-skills.html). Other species exhibit similar behavior as well. I’ve said it on the board before, but there is truly little that sets humans apart from the rest of the animals. Take tool use for example. We are far better at it, but it is far from unique. Human hubris makes us want to think that things like tool use and language are unique, but they simply are not. We need to be a little more humble. Shoot, knowledge of [death](http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/200910/grief-in-animals-its-arrogant-think-were-the-only-animals-who-mourn) has also been observed. Believe me, I’m not trying to threadshit, but this is a very tough question. I can’t think of a single damn thing that ALL humans know that no other species does. I’m wracking my brain and I’m coming up with nothing. Everything I can think of has either animals knowing it in some form (language, tool use, problem solving, etc.) or not all humans knowing it (higher level math, what the moon is, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/10 "2012-05-24T20:11:52Z")
I asked this question on thew board before and it appears that only humans play catch. In other words only humans cooperatively throw objects TO each other with the intention of having the other party catch it, and the other party has the ability to catch. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/11 "2012-05-24T20:15:44Z")
Art, created by conscious thought. Chimps slinging paint at a canvas or an elephant smearing paint with its trunk don’t cut it. Only humans can pick up a pencil or a paintbrush and produce a picture that is recognizable by others. Only humans can compose music, poetry or prose. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/12 "2012-05-24T20:16:12Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I asked this question on thew board before and it appears that only humans play catch. In other words only humans cooperatively throw objects TO each other with the intention of having the other party catch it, and the other party has the ability to catch. Now THAT’S a good one. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/13 "2012-05-24T20:16:12Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Believe me, I’m not trying to threadshit, but this is a very tough question. It’s not threadshitting at all, it’s a legitimately tough question. Humans are not the only species to use weapons, but are we the only ones to fashion them? Can all humans do this to a least a rudimentary level? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/14 "2012-05-24T20:17:25Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Only humans can compose music, poetry or prose. Can all humans do that? I suspect we can all draw to a certain extent. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/15 "2012-05-24T20:21:10Z")
How to use fire? Other species run away, or possibly try and extinguish it, but we’re the only ones I can think of that know it’s useful. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/16 "2012-05-24T20:27:22Z")
I dunno about the language thing: the ability to use a language grammatically is something that has not been convincingly shown in other species. The linked article about whalesong is pretty preliminary stuff and contains no information about the meaning of any whale syntax or indeed whether there’s any meaning there. It’s perfectly possible that whalesong contains no clear message communicated via syntax. Can a whale say, for example, “The food in this spot is better today than it was yesterday, but I still wish there were some mackerel around here”? Steven Pinker, in The Language Instinct, has a lovely passage describing the uniqueness of the elephant’s trunk. He says there’s nothing else in nature quite like that trunk–and that if elephants were biologists, they might claim that possession of such a trunk was of central ethical importance. He argues that in the same way, our ability to use language is unique in nature, and that making such a claim is no more remarkable than making such a claim about elephant trunks. I tend toward his point of view on the matter. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/17 "2012-05-24T20:33:47Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > How to use fire? > > Other species run away, or possibly try and extinguish it, but we’re the only ones I can think of that know it’s useful. And that’s a VERY good one. I’m kicking myself for not thinking of that earlier. Art is debatable, but fire is probably the one single activity that does set our species apart. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/18 "2012-05-24T20:36:14Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Can a whale say, for example, “The food in this spot is better today than it was yesterday, but I still wish there were some mackerel around here”? There’s some kind of prairie dog that can say “Hey, here comes the human in the blue shirt”, Hey, here comes the human in the red shirt", and “Hey, here comes the human in the blue shirt, but today he’s wearing the red shirt.” But I’m sure that they can’t discuss more abstract ideas. That could very well be uniquely human. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/19 "2012-05-24T20:43:20Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Can a whale say, for example, “The food in this spot is better today than it was yesterday, but I still wish there were some mackerel around here”? > > Steven Pinker, in The Language Instinct, has a lovely passage describing the uniqueness of the elephant’s trunk. He says there’s nothing else in nature quite like that trunk–and that if elephants were biologists, they might claim that possession of such a trunk was of central ethical importance. He argues that in the same way, our ability to use language is unique in nature, and that making such a claim is no more remarkable than making such a claim about elephant trunks. > > I tend toward his point of view on the matter. I tend away from that view. It is again, the height of hubris to think that just because we can’t speak whale that they can’t confer thoughts and desires the same way we do. It sounds like Mr. Pinker is saying that human language is unique, and since no other species speak human language, they don’t communicate well at all. I highly disagree with that. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992/20 "2012-05-24T20:48:08Z")
Can any other species interlace its fingers? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-all-humans-know/622992.md?page=2)