Friday, August 08, 2014

Tool-Using Monkeys

I saw this animated GIF on Cheezburger.com that shows two monkeys using a heavy stick to crack open a nut.



The use of tools has been one of the characteristics that have been traditionally used to distinguish human superiority to the rest of the animal kingdom. 

As we discover that other living creatures also share "human" qualities- such as tool use, language, aesthetic judgement, empathy, and self-awareness- it becomes apparent that there is not a clear line dividing us from the rest of the animal kingdom.

We are animals, despite any religious or philisophical argument that claims otherwise. The human race is nothing more than a group of monkeys that have figured out more sophisticated technologies.

Not that this is a trivial thing at all, but there is definitely not as much of a gap between us and the "beasts" as we think...

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