Challenge: What do all humans have in common?

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I do believe gorillas like Koko can learn to use language in a manner similar to that of humans. Not just sign language, but "written" language through the use of symbols, with a basic syntax, has been done with a chimp before. I just can't remember the name. Ah, I found it-Kanzi.

Physically, we all have brains, blood, bones, etc.

Also, we can all feel tired.
 
Jabbed said:
Those two bits were very interesting actually, but they still lack temporal thinking.
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Yeah the understanding zero thing blew my mind the first time I saw it. I'm not clear what you mean by "temporal thinking." Episodic memory?
 
"Alex was found to be in good health at his most recent annual physical about two weeks [before his death]."

Man that's hilarious.
 
Reckoner said:
Yeah the understanding zero thing blew my mind the first time I saw it. I'm not clear what you mean by "temporal thinking." Episodic memory?
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Episodic, mimetic, mythic, and theoretic.

Primates are thought to have episodic memory/culture. All higher forms are exclusive to humans.
 
therealfinale said:
I do believe gorillas like Koko can learn to use language in a manner similar to that of humans. Not just sign language, but "written" language through the use of symbols, with a basic syntax, has been done with a chimp before. I just can't remember the name. Ah, I found it-Kanzi.

Physically, we all have brains, blood, bones, etc.

Also, we can all feel tired.
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There are some people who apparently don't need sleep...
 
Womb Raider said:
Are we the only species with an "X" chromosome?
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Sorry, I was going with the "a trait ALL humans have, but not necessarily exclusive to humans" intreptation (kind of read the original post fast...)

Therefore, I'll amend it, there are about 100 ERVs that are exclusive to humans, not sure how many have swept the population but at least a few had to by now.
 
Leoz M Jiliums said:
How about awareness of mortality?
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Dolphins commit suicide to alleviate intense physical/psychological suffering.

But tbh this question is ridiculous because your requirements are ridiculous. Humans do not share the common trait of having two arms because 0,0001% of us are born with 1 arm or none at all? Like seriously.
 
mehc012 said:
There are some people who apparently don't need sleep...
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+1

Genetics professor in my college is famous for answering e-mails in 10 minutes that were sent at 3-4 am. If anyone doesn't sleep, he's one of them.
 
Doudline said:
Dolphins commit suicide to alleviate intense physical/psychological suffering.
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How do they commit suicide? Just not breathing?

I think I learned more about other species in this thread than about humans.
 
Doudline said:
But tbh this question is ridiculous because your requirements are ridiculous. Humans do not share the common trait of having two arms because 0,0001% of us are born with 1 arm or none at all? Like seriously.
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Ha maybe it is ridiculous. Still, I haven't found one answer that I think fits the criteria - AKA none of us can define what it means to be human.

Personally, if I had to choose something I would choose chromosomes. 44 autosomal 2 sex. I have absolutely no idea if there are other creatures out there with the same #, but that's what I would use.
Yes, I realize this excludes things like downsyndrome.
 
Lya said:
How do they commit suicide? Just not breathing?

I think I learned more about other species in this thread than about humans.
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Ye, breathing is a conscious act in dolphins.
 
Lya said:
I did not know that. Do you know by any chance why that might be the case for dolphins?
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Hmm, I am no expert, but from reading around I'd suppose it is because they do not have gills, and thus need to go to the surface once in a while (every few minutes apparently) to breathe. Unconscious breathing would probably put them at risk of drowning by absorbing water through their blow hole while underwater.
 
Leoz M Jiliums said:
Appreciation of beauty? Like in the arts



Edit: Sex for fun? Beards? Fire?
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Dolphins have sex for fun. We are not the only organisms with facial hair. Fire? 😵

Based on your criteria, it has to be something on the genetic level. I don't know enough about the human genome to answer this though.
 
Defining a human is like defining porn... you'll know it when you see it.
 
We kill our own for reasons that aren't exclusively "survival" or "mating" related 😛
 
The ability to mate and produce viable offspring with other humans.
 
Our brain. Humans have the ability to reason.
 
Meta cognition and philosophy? Formal operation capacity and abstract thought? The best sweat system in the animal kingdom?

I would argue that we are human because of our inherent ability to exist beyond the constructs of today and pursue the ideas in our mind. We can use our prefrontal cortex and create an integrated idea of the world and within our mind modify and experiment. Very few organisms can take an idea or a concept that far.
 
I think the only true separation between people and any other life forms on earth is our ability to comunicate ideas and situations that are not immediately present. With our complex language skills we can talk about things weve never seen ourselves and still have some idea what it would be like to experiance said thing. Animals ALL have complex emotions and rationality, if you fail to see this then you have failed to seriously observe any animal for long enough. All forms of life have complex ideas and creative ways to overcome obstacles just look at beavers who damn up rivers to make their lives more confortable. If that isnt complex rationalisation then idk what your definition would be! People need to stop living the "player 1" life because we are not alone in a world of NPCs. We (all life forms) are on this world together cooperatively or competitively but do not underestimate our perceived advantage or we will ruin ourselves with our indulgence and selfishness


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rory.mcglynn.5 said:
I think the only true separation between people and any other life forms on earth is our ability to comunicate ideas and situations that are not immediately present. With our complex language skills we can talk about things weve never seen ourselves and still have some idea what it would be like to experiance said thing. Animals ALL have complex emotions and rationality, if you fail to see this then you have failed to seriously observe any animal for long enough. All forms of life have complex ideas and creative ways to overcome obstacles just look at beavers who damn up rivers to make their lives more confortable. If that isnt complex rationalisation then idk what your definition would be! People need to stop living the "player 1" life because we are not alone in a world of NPCs. We (all life forms) are on this world together cooperatively or competitively but do not underestimate our perceived advantage or we will ruin ourselves with our indulgence and selfishness


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Damn, that's philosophical.

If an interviewer asked me this, I'd probably go with "23 pairs of chromosomes." lol
 
Aren't humans the only known species to blush? I believe blushing is a human only phenomenon.
 
"But isn't it true that frogs sometimes have only 3 legs so you can't really say that they're 4 legged... and can't you say that some are born without skin so you can't really say that they have skin..."

Despite annoying students like this ^, Biology presses on. Humans have 2 arms, 2 legs, a head, genitals, a nervous system, consciousness, etc. The fact that some men have no penis doesn't mean that you can't say that men have penises (peni?). The exceptions to the rules do not change the rules by definition; they are exceptions. This isn't physics where 1 instance of inconsistency disproves a theory.
 
Humans are the only animals that have self-awareness or consciousness of what they're doing/thinking.
 
rory.mcglynn.5 said:
I think the only true separation between people and any other life forms on earth is our ability to comunicate ideas and situations that are not immediately present. With our complex language skills we can talk about things weve never seen ourselves and still have some idea what it would be like to experiance said thing. Animals ALL have complex emotions and rationality, if you fail to see this then you have failed to seriously observe any animal for long enough. All forms of life have complex ideas and creative ways to overcome obstacles just look at beavers who damn up rivers to make their lives more confortable. If that isnt complex rationalisation then idk what your definition would be! People need to stop living the "player 1" life because we are not alone in a world of NPCs. We (all life forms) are on this world together cooperatively or competitively but do not underestimate our perceived advantage or we will ruin ourselves with our indulgence and selfishness


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Strong first post.
 
Human if: Their genes, if constituted into a gamete, can combine with another gamete to produce fertile human offspring.

More philosophically: We are the only known species that actively seeks to radically alter our physical environment to suit our ends, and our ends include---but are not limited to---the basic needs of replication and survival.
 
pyrrion89 said:
More philosophically: We are the only known species that actively seeks to radically alter our physical environment to suit our ends, and our ends include---but are not limited to---the basic needs of replication and survival.
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I don't think this is a very clear statement as "radically" is subjective. With that subjectivity, this definition could be stretched to almost all living organisms.
 
Rik1111 said:
I don't think this is a very clear statement as "radically" is subjective. With that subjectivity, this definition could be stretched to almost all living organisms.
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The problem with any description of humans is the description here is made by humans, so any descriptions are necessarily anthropomorphic. In other words, the words with which we describe ourselves require us to have some consensus on the meaning of words. I think most people can understand what I mean by "radical," in comparing the International Space Station as a more radical alteration of the environment than, say, an ant mound or a monkey using a rock to crack something open. But yes, if I were a robot or an alien with a radically different consciousness and I read the word "radical", then perhaps the word "radical" would have an arbitrary meaning and my description would be meaningless to them. It raises the question of if a good description should be purely physically descriptive rather than philosophical---like appealing to a purely genetic definition based on replication.
 
Womb Raider said:
What makes us "human"? What is our unique distinguishing characteristic(s) that we all have in common? I have my thoughts, but am anxious to hear yours.

*EDIT*
I'm looking for something that is exclusively a human quality/attribute. E.g. a "heart" is incorrect, since other creatures have hearts.
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You know the old saying: Everybody poops? Well . . . There you go.
 
pyrrion89 said:
The problem with any description of humans is the description here is made by humans, so any descriptions are necessarily anthropomorphic. In other words, the words with which we describe ourselves require us to have some consensus on the meaning of words. I think most people can understand what I mean by "radical," in comparing the International Space Station as a more radical alteration of the environment than, say, an ant mound or a monkey using a rock to crack something open. But yes, if I were a robot or an alien with a radically different consciousness and I read the word "radical", then perhaps the word "radical" would have an arbitrary meaning and my description would be meaningless to them. It raises the question of if a good description should be purely physically descriptive rather than philosophical---like appealing to a purely genetic definition based on replication.
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No, that's not a defense. Of course English is human made. That doesn't mean it's subjective. The word "red" corresponds to a wavelength, for instance. Saying "Dophins are really big" is a different statement than saying "Dolphins are 7 feet long and 3 feet wide."

The only thing you need to fix that definition is to inject an objective term in the place of "radical."
 
Rik1111 said:
No, that's not a defense. Of course English is human made. That doesn't mean it's subjective. The word "red" corresponds to a wavelength, for instance. Saying "Dophins are really big" is a different statement than saying "Dolphins are 7 feet long and 3 feet wide."

The only thing you need to fix that definition is to inject an objective term in the place of "radical."
Click to expand...

I think your definition of subjective is... subjective.
 
The ability to construct civilization. Note, this is different from the ability to modify ones own habitat.
 
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