Humans Are Entirely Unique: Research On Evidences In Literature
Centuries and generations have passed since the early ages of homanids. The human life has continued to evolve and expand in population and knowledge. Although many may argue that humans are not unique due to the fact that they share many similarities with chimpanzees and other organisms, Humans are special and an entirely unique species due to the fact that they can have developed the skills needed to create an advanced civilizations, eave a legacy after they pass away for future generations and have the ability to collectively learn and develop upon ideas. Humans have been proven to be entirely unique due to the fact that they have developed the skills needed to create an advanced civilization with the ability to support and provide for the entire human life.
As stated from the Unit 1 Textbook article “Civilizaiton:The Ur in Sumar”, ”A civilization is often defined as a complex culture with five characteristics: (1) advanced cities, (2) specialized workers, (3) coplex institutions, (4) record keeping, and (5) advanced technology”. During the Old Stone Ages, hunters-gathered increased their food supply by inventing tools which were designed to make daily tasks easier, such as fish hooks to catch fish. Over centuries, people have settled down into stable communities due to the evolution of agriculture. New tools have also been invented, such as hoes and sickles, created to make farming easier and faster. Soon, humans gradually developed the technology needed to control their natural environment, settling down into permanent communities. Tools such as plows, wheels and sailboats were then constructed, which advanced the cities and provided the qualifications to trade with merchants from other civilizations. As humans didn’t need to live a hand-to-mouth life anymore, they has more time to pursue other jobs and develop skills to build up a civilization, such as the control humans have gained over fire.
The article “Why Fire Makes Us Human” by Jerry Adler from the Smithsonian Magazine states, “…. according to a provocative theory by Harvard biologist Richard Wrangham, who believes that fire is needed to fuel the organ that makes possible all the other products of culture, language included: the human brain. ” Other then gaining the ability to control domesticated animals and agriculture, humans have developed a control over fire, becoming the first species to be biologically adapted to have food cooked and not raw. This un-raw meat is what powers the human brain to construct other possible products of culture and language, allowing the advanced institution of religions to be formed. As the human life innovated, religions were formed and cultures evolved onto a newly formed subjective level. Myths such as “P’an Ku, Creator of the Universe” or “Ying and Yang and the Creation of the Universe “ all explain the abundant amount of different beliefs on how the human life was assembled piece by piece. They showcase how many natural aspects - mountains, the sun, the human figure-were formed.
The myth “New Kua, Creator and Preservers of Human Life” depicts this. Nu Kua, using handfuls of wet clay, constructs the human figuree with her bare hands. This myth showcases how many believe humans are first brought to this world, starting to innovate and develop their civilisation layer by layer, generation by generation. Humans have the ability to believe and have faith in what can’t be seen by the human eye, living in a duel reality: subjective and objective. What sets them apart from other organism species is the fact that only humans have the capability to create fictional entities developed on the subjective level. Myths are special stories that teach lessons and structure religious beliefs, used to bring lessons upon humans themselves, painting the flow and order of a civilization. Humans have constructed upon this world a fictional reality, while animals such as chimpanzees only describe the reality as it is, setting the two species apart. Although many other species of organisms have their own cilvilizations, no other species of animals live in civilisations such as the ones the human species has been able to develop. Social insects, such as ants and bees have specialised workers and may have been able to create a complex institution, but they lack the ability to keep record and develop advanced technology. Other animals such as gorillas and chimpanzees posses the ability to record keep, but lack a complex insinuation and advanced technology.
Meanwhile, the advanced human civilisation has gained the skills, allowing it the capability to have specialised labor, a continuously advancing city, complex institutions, record keeping and advanced technology. The human civilisation is much more progressive then any other civilization, justifying the fact that humans are entirely unique. Another aspect that proves humans and special and entirely unique is the fact that they can leave a legacy after they pass away, for future generations to gain more knowledge through their recorded accomplishments and works. The poem, Ozymandias, is an example of when one who fails realise the ability humans have to leave a legacy and gain “eternal life”. The poem imagines a meeting between the narrator and a 'traveller' who describes a ruined statue he - or she - saw in the middle of a desert somewhere. The statue, in this case, is a contemplation upon the fragility of human power and on the effects of time. As quoted from the poem “And on the pedestal these words appear: `My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’ Nothing beside remains. ” The universal theme shown though this poem is the fact that ones physical architectural accomplishments will fade away as time passes if not continuously restored. However, historically recorded information about ones thoughts and accomplishments during the period when they ruled would be passed on as a legacy through generation after generation, proving as a historical artefact for many others to observe and dissect.
The Code of Hammurabi is an example of the ability to keep record over laws and scribes as time moves forwards. The text displays the asserted by the Babylonian social order rooted by the universal and eternal principles of justice. As stated in the Mesopotamia Primary Sources: The Code of Hammurabi, “This was a collection of laws and judicial decisions whose aim was to present Hammurabi as a role model of a just king, serve as a basis for a more uniform legal system across the Babylonian Empire, and teach future generations what justice is and how a just king acts. ” A legacy like this is passed down from generation to generation. Unlike architectural accomplishments, documented artefacts found are analysed by humans thousands of centuries after the dated time. This code of law during the ancient Mesopotamian times displays the behaviour and manners of the past. As the code travels through history, it essentially becomes a permanent legacy for the Babylonian king and empire during the 1754 BC. Another example is Gilgamesh, who was a historical king of the city-state of Uruk and a major hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first literary work in history that has been written down and discovered. It reflects the myths and stories that were told in ancient Sumeria, forming the beginning of a new political structure that would evolve into an empire. The poem describes the series of events Gilgamesh suffers through to gain eternal life. The universal truth emerging from this myth is the fact that although one will never be able to have eternal life, a legacy formed by knowledge and the ways of that specific time period will be passed down internally. Leaving your accomplishments for future generations is the only way for one to maintain “eternal life”. Gilgamesh created a documents empire, becoming a legacy that has been carried through history till this day. Those who pass down their knowledge and mind set through history as future generations contribute to those ideas and accomplishments have essentially made a long-term impact for the whole human species.
All these pieces of evidence prove that humans are unique as they have the ability to leave a legacy behind after they pass away, for future generations of people to build upon and increase the knowledge and wisdom of the human life as it is. The final aspect that proves humans are special and entirely unique is the fact that homosapians have the skill to collectively learn, the ability for a species to retain more info through generations, while developing upon the information retained, not only adapting to them. The Allegory of the Cave” is an example of what happens when humans aren’t willing to retain the truth and lose the ability to develop information to improve the human society. Found in Book IV of the Republic, it shows how many people are unable to believe in what they can’t see with their eyes, and conceive what they can see as the truth. Nonetheless, when one is set free from the chains and begins to understand the new world, they acknowledge their actions and ignorance before. The shadows display a false visions of the truth, an illusion of the reality. The prisoner who escapes the cave to discover the real world voluntarily climbs back in, allow his fellow prisoners the chance to gain the truth. However, they are unable to receive and understand this newly gained knowledge. Plato states, “…the prisoners were in the habit of conferring honors among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows…do you think he [the man who discovered the reality] would care for such honors and glories or envy the possessors of them?” Many are blinded by the “shadows”, unable to see the truth. Yet, after one discovers the truth, they are unable to look at the world the same way they did before. If the prisoner were to be send back into the cave and chained up again, he would understand the real truth behind the situation and suffer. Human life is unique because humans carry out advanced thinking that greatly improves the society around them; In contrast, no other animals are fluent in any fields of advanced thinking to the extent humans are capable of.
Philosophers such as Plato tried to teach those who were uneducated the reality behind the shadows. However, many of them were unable toe receive and understand the profound knowledge. He pointed out a great problem in his society that can be corrected after carrying out advanced thinking. Humans have the ability to conceive the truth, and innovate it with their own ideas to improve it. However, if one refuses to truly understand and seek the truth, then the ability they have to collectively learn and develop information retained for the better will be seized. Yuval Noah Harari is an Israeli historian and a tenured professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During his TED talk “Why humans run the world?”, Harari stated “Put 100, 000 chimps in Wall Street or Yankee Stadium, and you’ll get chaos. Put 100, 000 humans there, and you’ll get trade networks and sports contests. ” Humans have the ability to cooperatively work together, building up each others ideas to form a nuanced discovery. When 100, 000 chimpanzees are placed in a stadium, they are unable to cooperate and build off of each other ideas. Therefore, chaos will ensue. However, when 100, 000 humans are placed together, they are able to cooperate and collectively learn from each other ideas. Through working and communicating as a large group, they are able to create complex institutions such as a trade network or a sports contest. While chimpanzees are able to collectively learn from each others behaviours, they are unable to work cooperatively in large numbers. Human brains are much more complex then the brains of primates, as they have the ability to obtain, process and improve ideas. Meanwhile, monkeys only have the ability to obtain what they see from each other behaviours. Inherit the Wind is a american play written based off of the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trials, banning the teaching of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. In Inherit the Wind, page 93, it is stated “We must not abandon faith! Faith is the important thing! Then why did God plague us with the power to think? Mr. Brady, why do you deny the faculty which lifts man above all other creatures on the earth: the power of his brain to reason. ” As Brady declares faith in god and religion should come first, Drummond argues and states that if faith is the most important thing, how come god “plagued” us with the power to think? God has given us this one faculty which lifts the human species above all other animals ; the power of ones brain to reason and develop ideas of its own. Although, not every single advanced idea humans come up with corrects a past mistake in the society, but most are able to provide a new fundamental base for future ideas that may be able to improve and innovate the human civilisation. Animals improve through the natural process of evolution, while humans continuously improve due to their complex thoughts and ideas.
Other then humans, no other species of organism is able to make continuos efforts to improve the society and no other animals other than humans are able to make efforts on improving the general society on a individual level. Human individuals not only carry out advanced thinking to improve their societies, but also for themselves to be more successful in life. These documentations show that humans have the ability to collectively learn, and the capacity to gain more knowledge as time passes, while developing upon the information retained, not only adapting to them. While animals adapt to their environment for survival, humans establish new aspects to their environment to benefit their species.
