Comparing Species

Chapter 11 asks, ‘How different are we really from our fellow species?’ Recent research suggests that we have underestimated the intelligence of fellow primates as well as certain bird and marine species, indicating that we are not all that different from fellow inhabitants of our planet. Examining the differences and similarities can help distinguish those properties and characteristics that do and do not make humans and the human mind uniquely different. We can certainly detect the presence of awareness (consciousness) in other species. Where we differ more dramatically from other animals is arguably limited to just three inner ring systems, namely the conceptual system ( c ) and the p and s systems. The last two are together responsible for a special type of linguistic (grammatical) structure which is not found in any other species. With regard to the ( c ) system, it is not so much to exclude the possibility that other species might also have something like a conceptual system. Rather, it is about the sheer complexity achieved by the human mind in how it can structure meanings. Although some species can become conscious in some sense, for them, higher levels of consciousness required for complex reflection and elaborate planning seem not to be achievable.