What Makes Human And Animals Different

There is no doubt that humans rule the world, but it wasn’t always like this. A long time ago our species was just as equal as any other species on Earth. In America, humans are almost always separated from animals, excluding our pets. However, at one time animals ruled the world. Over time, as humans continuously kept growing in population, the animals population decreased and we started controlling their life. There are still countries where humans and animals share the land, but this is not the case for the rest of the world. Physically and mentally, humans and animals have plenty of differences but also share many similarities. To look at a dog and look at a man, it is very easy to notice these differences. The dog stands on four limbs, it is covered in hair, has a long nose, and perhaps big floppy ears. Whereas the human stands on two limbs, has hair, has a nose, and has ears stuck on the side of it’s head. Though they might appear different, they still have all of these things in common and they use them for the same purposes. This is the case for most animals; many animals smell, see, hear, taste, and feel.

So, one reason humans and animals are different is their physical structure, but how about the fact that humans can be anatomically different from one another, like hight and bone structure for example. We do not consider them to be different animals. Animals have families, they get hungry, they have memories, they can recognize people, they get sick, they need attention and they can be social; all of these things are familiar to humans. We are very similar to them, however, the only thing they do not do that we do is physically change the world for the benefit of our own species; regardless of the other living things. Does this still mean that we are considered just another species of animal, or does it mean that we are a superior being? About two years ago, I asked myself this question and shortly after that I stopped eating meat. Ever since, I have felt a different kind of emotional connection to other life, because in my eyes I see all of them no differently than any human. Just like us, they did not have a choice to be born, they just were, and some lives were born more privileged than others. I want to know what separates the human race from the rest of the life on Earth and when did people stop being considered animals.

Upon searching the question, “When did humans stop being considered animals?” I found many controversial articles, in which most conflicted with each other. Some say we were never animals or that we are still animals but more advanced. I found religious articles that completely went against the articles that talked in terms of evolution. My goal in this is to find out why humans and the rest of the living species on earth have been separated from each other. I would like to find out why humans believe they are the superior species. That being said, I chose to explore the evolutionary aspects more than religious information, as I can gather a lot more information and go more into depth. This question is difficult to conclude a solid answer for because it is based on a separation that happened prior to documentation. Some aspects of this question can be opinion based, like that one species is better than the other. Other aspects are based on factual research, conducted over time, like that we share many genes with species of monkeys.

To start my research, I began with as far back as our ancestors evolved. According to the Introduction to human evolution, found on the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History website, modern human ancestors began evolving sometime around 100,000 years ago. Before this evolution, we were ancestors to chimpanzees and not humans. We were not considered anything more than a primitive animal. A species of ape developed around 6,000,000 years ago, these apes had a feature called “bipedalism”, which means they walk on two legs. Around four million years later their jaw structure and brain size went through significant adaptations. Eventually the primates developed completely new parts and connections in the brain that allowed them to use their hands to make tools.

These connections also led to the development of language. This has all changed in a short amount of time compared to how long some species were living prior to the existence of the human. Our species, the homo sapien has only existed for about 40,000 years. (Introduction to Human Evolution) After searching for deeper information about how we became human, I found a very useful article entitled “What does it mean to be human?” This article showed me that throughout evolution, we have gone through lots of changes that took place over a long period of time. We started in Africa, as primitive species that hunted, gathered, and we found a new shelter every night. An initial change we made was collecting fish or animals and cooking them on a fire. Before this, all meat was hunted and eaten raw. We then began creating, using, and trading tools or supplies. We also began to spread from Africa to other countries. Originally there were more than homo sapiens, there were also homo erectus and neanderthals; however, homo erectus and neanderthalswent extinct throughout these years. Around 50,000 years ago is when the first humans painted on cave walls. It wasn't until about 12,000 years ago that humans discovered how to control and produce crops to eat. This discovery eventually resulted in the domestication of animals like cows and sheep. Once humans cultivated crops and animals, they did not need to remain nomadic any longer. Instead they began to create towns and farming communities.

This was popular in Middle Eastern areas where they learned to domesticate cows and sheep. (Humans Change the World) After these changes the world became a completely new place. This gave me a good idea of when and what isolated men and women from other species. When conducting an interview with Bio-Med student, Carly Cole in attempts to observe the way people generally feel about animals, I found that people are compassionate when discussing the other species lives. When asked about the emotions felt when seeing or being in the presents of an animal she responded with, “warm, exited, compassion, and happy. ” There are plenty of people who agree with this statement and would also feel a rush of excitement and happiness. When asked what it means to be an animal, she said, “To be intelligent, have emotional and instinctive communication, and be objective driven. ” I asked how she thinks Earth would look if humans never evolved, to which she replied, “In a world without humans, everyone would be fair game.

Animals would hunt and be hunted. The world would look similar to the pictures we see that take place before the evolution of humans, the only difference is that new species would have been allowed to evolve. ” So what I concluded from this interview is that although humans and animals have differences the human still has feelings and connections to animals. Throughout my research process I gathered that, over time we went from being the same as every other animal, to creating tools that would allow us to cultivate food and supplies. Then we began to create languages and relationships, ultimately protecting themselves from other animals or predators. This is a main factor of what separates humans from other animals. There is no other species in the world that is as privileged and protected as we are. Most animals live every day in fear that they are going to be hunted and eaten by another animal that is more powerful. Still, even predators, such as cheetahs or bears are not protected like we are.

They have to find their own food and shelter, and they have to depend on themselves for their survival. Today we have come to the point where not we don't only use tools we've built from trees or trade goods with one another, but we have machines and factories along with stores and websites that allow you to buy just a about anything. Unlike other animals we can produce, distribute and consume, which ultimately builds connections and makes humans lives easier. To sum everything up, humans are animals with a combination of a few special features; the features include bipedalism, communication, ability to build/use tools, and self awareness/awareness of death. Humans stopped acting like other animals when they began manipulating the growth of plants and animals.