# What is the name for the desire to believe humans are more important than we really are **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 24, 2014, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488 "2014-03-24T23:44:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/1 "2014-03-24T23:44:20Z")
Watching Cosmos last night they talked about this logical fallacy humans are prone to. We want to believe we are unique, that everything exists to serve us, that we are a lot more important and central to existence than we really are. The fact that we (spiritually) believe reality was created for us and for our benefit, that we believe(d) the solar system and universe revolved around us, that god cares about us above all other species combined, etc. I am pretty sure the term for this starts with an A, but I can’t remember it. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/2 "2014-03-24T23:46:39Z")
Anthropocentricity? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/3 "2014-03-24T23:50:05Z")
Leaving God and the universe aside, for all practical purposes on Planet Earth, aren’t we? It can’t be a logical fallacy if it’s true. \*\*I know this is ignoring the OP question. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/4 "2014-03-24T23:53:30Z")
Human exceptionalism ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/5 "2014-03-24T23:55:00Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Leaving God and the universe aside, for all practical purposes on Planet Earth, aren’t we? It can’t be a logical fallacy if it’s true. > > \*\*I know this is ignoring the OP question. We are the dominant species here on earth. However we are still prone to believing reality (if not just reality on earth, all reality including the entire universe) was created by a god who values us above all other forms of life, and who created reality for our purpose and agenda (to test us, to help us grow, etc), on some level. Like they said on cosmos, we assume comets exist for our benefit (by giving us messages). Anthropocentricity sounds correct. Is that distinct from Human exceptionalism? Does anyone know why we do this? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/6 "2014-03-24T23:56:58Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Human exceptionalism As a race and species, what are we but truly exceptional? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/7 "2014-03-25T00:05:21Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Anthropocentricity sounds correct. Is that distinct from Human exceptionalism? It basically means the same thing. BTW, "anthropos " is just Greek for human, so when you’re looking for a word that has to do with humans, it’ll probably be “anthropo”- something or other. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/8 "2014-03-25T00:10:52Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > As a race and species, what are we but truly exceptional? Yes, but astronomical phenomena has nothing to do with us or our lives. The universe and solar system doesn’t revolve around us. Reality wasn’t created by a deity to test us, judge us or help us grow. God (assuming there were a deity) doesn’t look/think like us, or value our existence, or share our values. Our pain and suffering is as meaningless to existence as the suffering of any other organic life form. We are exceptional as a tool making species but this character trait I’m describing runs far deeper than that. We thought comets were secret messages from a god who values us above all other life back before we had any meaningful technology. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/9 "2014-03-25T01:42:54Z")
What makes you think we’re the dominant lifeform on the planet? ---
**Author:** ![WheatCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@WheatCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WheatCat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/10 "2014-03-25T01:46:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What makes you think we’re the dominant lifeform on the planet? Our intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/11 "2014-03-25T02:00:52Z")
Hubris. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/12 "2014-03-25T02:37:15Z")
> [@WheatCat](#): > > Our intelligence. Have you met us? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/13 "2014-03-25T02:44:04Z")
One thing to point out is that not all religions do or have taken the line that humans are so special, and everything is for us. Plenty see us as the gods’ ugly cousins, so we should spend our lives sucking up to the gods, before they notice we’re worthless and get rid of us entirely. I think the bias to often imagine natural phenomena have a sentient cause, with human-like motives, is the more pervasive. And it is this bias that is more responsible for people seeing a comet as a message from the gods IMO. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/14 "2014-03-25T02:50:13Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > We are the dominant species here on earth. Nah, we’re nothing next to bacteria. Heck, the human body mostly _is_ bacteria. But we’re probably in the top 10, somewhere below phytoplankton, ants, and beetles. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/15 "2014-03-25T02:57:46Z")
Conceit. While the cat’s door is closed Schrödinger is in an indeterminate state, both alive and dead ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/16 "2014-03-25T03:04:35Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I think the bias to often imagine natural phenomena have a sentient cause, with human-like motives, is the more pervasive. And it is this bias that is more responsible for people seeing a comet as a message from the gods IMO. In poesie, the _Pathetic Fallacy_. Which is only rude if one intends it to be, as one often does. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/17 "2014-03-25T03:10:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What makes you think we’re the dominant lifeform on the planet? Why wouldn’t we be? We do no have the resiliency of bacteria but we do have our own skillset via tool making. We are dominant over most of the world’s land surface. Plus we are causing a 6th extinction. Say what you will, that is pretty dominant. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/18 "2014-03-25T03:18:17Z")
We’re important because we say we’re important. It’s not like someone’s going to make an objective measurement with an importantometer. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/19 "2014-03-25T03:26:53Z")
How about, “It’s not all about you.” ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/20 "2014-03-25T03:28:48Z")
The term is “anthropocentrism” or (slightly older term) “anthropocentricism”; the assumption that humanity is at the centre of all things. It’s often used in contexts where it’s opposed to theocentrism. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488.md?page=2)