Says new BBC feature:
We once viewed ourselves as the only creatures with emotions, morality, and culture. But the more we investigate the animal kingdom, the more we discover that is simply not true. Many scientists are now convinced that all these traits, once considered the hallmarks of humanity, are also found in animals.
If they are right, our species is not as unique as we like to think.
In a rare, special tribute to common-sense, Brit Tax TV offers a look at the counter-argument as well. Not an especially insightful one. Which is probably what they wanted.
But there is really no argument. It apparently never occurs to the people who write this sort of thing that, were it true, they should not demand that we all “do something” about climate change. No similar demands are placed on rats or cats, or bonobos or mosquitos. If they die, they die, and something else replaces them.
Unless, of course, the real point of all the argument is something other than self-evident fact.
See also: The Science Fictions series at your fingertips (human evolution) and The Science Fictions series at your fingertips (the human mind)
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