# Whether humans are animals or not **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 26, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760 "2018-12-26T23:07:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/1 "2018-12-26T23:07:58Z")
An attempt to shoehorn a thousands-of-years-old philosophical, religious and scientific into an oversimplified, binary poll… I hold that there is a vast difference between humans and animals, but would be curious to see how the majority feels. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/2 "2018-12-26T23:09:27Z")
There are vast differences between many pairs of species. The only argument that we aren’t animals is the argument that the definition of “animals” should exclude us. What would any other argument be, to the effect that we’re not animals? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/3 "2018-12-26T23:16:28Z")
We’re just the animal with something extra. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/4 "2018-12-26T23:26:18Z")
There’s a big difference between us and the rest of the critters but there’s thousands more things similar. ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/5 "2018-12-26T23:31:33Z")
Why have polls about known facts? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/6 "2018-12-26T23:32:15Z")
If you’ve ever been to a Waffle House at 3AM, you know how to vote in this poll. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/7 "2018-12-26T23:39:35Z")
We’re not plants. We’re not that poorly defined category\* that includes viruses and other non-plant, non-animal living things. Of course, we’re animals. \*Somebody else might come along to tell us just how well-defined that category is. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/8 "2018-12-26T23:44:02Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > There are vast differences between many pairs of species. The only argument that we aren’t animals is the argument that the definition of “animals” should exclude us. What would any other argument be, to the effect that we’re not animals? Well, there are the legal norms of virtually every nation and society since ancient times. Every society has treated the killing of animals (such as pigs, chickens, fish, etc.) as being of far less severity than killing a human - if such a thing were even bad (being able to hunt vast numbers of animals was a source of pride for many). So every society considers there to be something about humans that makes us different than animals - and even in places like Auschwitz, the SS guards had to be really dehumanized (or rather, dehumanize their victims.) ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/9 "2018-12-26T23:44:53Z")
Fungi? Hardly a catch-all taxonomy… ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/10 "2018-12-26T23:46:52Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Well, there are the legal norms of virtually every nation and society since ancient times. Every society has treated the killing of animals (such as pigs, chickens, fish, etc.) as being of far less severity than killing a human - if such a thing were even bad (being able to hunt vast numbers of animals was a source of pride for many). > > So every society considers there to be something about humans that makes us different than animals - and even in places like Auschwitz, the SS guards had to be really dehumanized (or rather, dehumanize their victims.) The question is biological in scope, not legal. I think we would all agree that humans have special legal status in most human laws but also that it has zero to do with the fundamental question of whether or not humans are animals. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/11 "2018-12-26T23:51:37Z")
Are you asking about biology, philosophy, or something else? Biologically, there’s no coherent argument that humans are not animals. Philosophically, or legally, there may be, but those are entirely different conversations. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/12 "2018-12-27T00:12:34Z")
And falcon would argue that there is an insurmountable and intrinsic divide between themselves and all other creatures based on how well they fly. Humans feel the same way about their brains. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/13 "2018-12-27T00:21:41Z")
Of course humans are animals, have you ever lived with one? Even the females fart in bed. ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/14 "2018-12-27T00:22:23Z")
Are there two compelling sides to the question of whether or not humans are legally “different” than animals? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/15 "2018-12-27T00:22:40Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Well, there are the legal norms of virtually every nation and society since ancient times. Every society has treated the killing of animals (such as pigs, chickens, fish, etc.) as being of far less severity than killing a human - if such a thing were even bad (being able to hunt vast numbers of animals was a source of pride for many). > > So every society considers there to be something about humans that makes us different than animals - and even in places like Auschwitz, the SS guards had to be really dehumanized (or rather, dehumanize their victims.) Sure - _this_ is interesting. But then why not compose a post on these substantive issues, rather than the facile clickbait formulation that you chose? ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/16 "2018-12-27T00:26:02Z")
The human decision/invention that we are superior to and different from the rest of the animal kingdom has been a disastrous one for humanity and for the planet. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/17 "2018-12-27T02:30:10Z")
In a biology class or textbook, our special is a member of the animal kingdom. In all other contexts, which is to say 99% of those that matter, humans are not animals. This is blatantly obvious, and the fact that anyone disputes it is a clear example of the moral and logical confusion that so many otherwise smart people live in. People have the right to vote. Cows do not. A jury consists of twelve humans, not nine humans and three zebras. Humans can receive Social Security and other such benefits. Turtles can’t. Humans are entitled to an education. Fish aren’t. Anyone with a brain could continue this list at great length. Since one of the definitions of _animal_ is “pertaining to the physical, sensual, or carnal nature of humans, rather than their spiritual or intellectual nature”, saying that humans are animals leaves out something important. ---
**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:** [December 27, 2018, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/18 "2018-12-27T03:07:02Z")
Voted we’re animals, of course, but I understand the hesitation of the OP. It’s a little like the thing of “Are humans evolving?”, where the answer is yes, of course, but there are necessarily a number of caveats and additional information that must be understood. On its own this fact can be misleading and often leads to daft inferences. IME the people most keen to say humans are _just like_ other animals and we’re evolving in _just the same way_ are the ones who subscribe to this idea of “humans think we’re special but we’re not” i.e. that humans need to be brought down a peg. But, take the emotion out of it, and just look at the facts and I think the answers are 1. Yes, we’re animals 2. Yes, we’re evolving but 3. Sentient organisms are a special case in certain ways ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/19 "2018-12-27T03:11:17Z")
We’re completely animals. We developed the ability of speech, which ultimately led to writing. This sharing of information propelled us as a species. But we’re basically hairless apes with the ability to communicate. There’s no heaven either. When we die it’s all over, just like mice, cows, dogs and everything else. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760/20 "2018-12-27T03:15:00Z")
Humans are a very unique species, just like all the rest of them. Voted that we’re animals. The only thing that separates us from all the others is that we we think we are different. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whether-humans-are-animals-or-not/826760.md?page=2)