Reference no: EM13478449

The Difference Between Us and Other Animals: Why There is No Such Thing as a Prejudiced Dolphin

It is an undeniable fact that human beings are animals. Despite its obviousness, it is almost equally undeniable that we are uncomfortable accepting this fact. The act of conceding that humans are animals is typically accompanied by some significant distinguishing qualification, e.g. we are animals, but we are more clever, more intelligent, etc. The tension between accepting that we are animals while struggling to find a way to distinguish ourselves from other animals has led down through the years to a very interesting disagreement: that is, whether humans are different from other animals merely by degree, i.e. of intelligence, or categorically,i.e. by typeof intelligence. I argue that it is clear that we are distinct from other animals categorically, on the grounds that, while we share a type of awareness with them - animal awareness - we have another type of awareness that they do not have - rational awareness. As a result of having two competing types of awareness at work at the same time in our experience, we are the only animal among all known species with the telltale characteristic of being existentially distracted., that is, distracted from the animal survival context which is the focus of our animal awareness. Moreover, because of this unique characteristic among animals of being existentially distracted, be are also the only animals capable of being prejudiced. Prejudice is or is the product of a deficiency in judgment whose enabling - but not activating - mechanism is existential distraction.

Everyone who observes them at length marvels at the intelligence of dolphins. And rightly so. They can accomplish mental feats that one think impossible for humans to accomplish. They can memorize the details of their immediate environment almost instantaneously.

In fact, dolphins are so intelligent, one wonders why a bucket of fish must always be on hand to reward their performances. In the case of humans working for others, the reward for the work done does not have to be present in the immediate environment to stimulate the workers to work.

This difference between humans and dolphins is not to be understood unless it is recognized that the intelligence of a dolphin, as masterful and as superior to humans as it is, is contained within the realm of animal awareness. We make a great mistake if we fail to recognize that humans have two types of awareness - that is, animal and rational -whereas dolphins have one. The simplicity of dolphin awareness might even contribute to the dolphin's superiority to us in animal awareness. Since the dolphin has no existential distraction, it pays full attention to the concerns presented to it in animal awareness, whereas we are considerably distracted from the same.

Having two distinct types of awareness makes for a truly distracted mind. This may be the key distinguishing feature of a rational animal. To appreciate this point best requires further elaboration of the distinction between animal and rational awareness.