If evolution is true, how come humans are the only intelligent beings?

[oblizue]

Originally posted by: idNut
"If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes?"

We didn't evolve from current primates. We branched off from them millions of years ago. They took their path and we took ours.

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: CheapArse

Originally posted by: KraziKid

Originally posted by: Moralpanic Because we killed off our other intelligent cousins, the Neanderthals.

This is true. If Homo-sapiens did not kill off Neanderthals, there would be two groups of "intelligent" primates on the earth. Some scientists contend that Neanderthals may have been just as smart, or smarter, than Human Beings.

hah, if you believe in evolution then you should recognize that 'humans' evolved from neanderthals, or as they like to call it, the neanderthals with the 'better' traits outlived the 'dumber' ones. But they were not 2 different species....

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20030512/neanderthal.html

Thanks gopunk, I was just gonna get that link. And CheapArse, I think you should take Moralpanic's advise, and look up your material first. We did not evolve from the Neanderthals. At one point in time, both Homo-sapiens and Neanderthals lived side by side in Europe. It is still a mystery as to why the Neanderthals became extinct, because they were better suited for the climate of Europe. Some theories state that possibly Homo-sapiens may have killed them off.

 

[0roo0roo]

we didn't "evolve from apes" as many ignorant creationists like to spin it. we had a common ancestor.

*edit got beat to the post lol 🙂

 

[djheater]

Does it unnerve anyone that there are so many misconceptions about this?

Here is one of the most hotly contested and divisive theories of modern times, but so many people don't even understand it's basic principles.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: djheater
Does it unnerve anyone that there are so many misconceptions about this?

Here is one of the most hotly contested and divisive theories of modern times, but so many people don't even understand it's basic principles.

yes. but that's what makes it so fun 😛

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: idNut
"If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes?"

Did my cat evolve from a tiger? No, they're branches from a common ancestor... just like we are.

 

[Lifer]

Intelligence defined as the ability to reason, learn, use logic, solve problems, technology... whether to be used towards survival or to improve life.

Take two people and give them a difficult problem to solve.
If only one can solve it, that person is the more intelligent one.
If both can solve it, the one that does it more efficiently (not necessarily faster) is the more intelligent one (at least in regards to the particular problem).

Are you going to argue that a dolphin can understand calculus or physics?
There is NO comparison between the intelligence between the two.

Intelligence is NOT the ability to survive, so don't even mention single-celled organisms and insects.
Our intelligence has no bearing on our physical anatomy. We cannot choose to sprout a tail if we needed to.
But because we are intelligent, we are able to use technology to help us survive.
If we were not intelligent, we would've been extinct long ago.

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
If evolution isn't true and we were truly created by some great bearded cosmic muffin, how come we're the species least adapted to his environment. We need to build houses, harness fire and cultivate food because we have survival skills below those of a newborn raccoon. We have very poor ability to deal with extremes of temperature, too much water, not enough water, we're easy to starve, easy to kill and totally defenseless without tools. When mankind eventually damages the planet to the point where it no longer can support human life, the plants and the insects will go onward and we won't be missed.

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: djheater
Does it unnerve anyone that there are so many misconceptions about this? Here is one of the most hotly contested and divisive theories of modern times, but so many people don't even understand it's basic principles.

Yes it does. I hate attempting to have a serious conversation about this with, say a friend, and have them not even understand what evolution truly means. Evolution is not gaining intelligence, losing intelligence, etc... Evolution is simply the process by which an organism adapts itself to its environment. Yes, their are theories behind why it occurs (Darwin anyone?), but this is the most simple definition.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
we didn't "evolve from apes" as many ignorant creationists like to spin it. we had a common ancestor.

Although the notion that any such common ancestor had more apelike characteristics than modern man is some sort of affront to the idea that man was made in God's image (although I, without theological training, happen to think it's hubris to assume that God's image is distinctly human).

The thing that bugs me about these debates is that evolution is not directly at odds with the basic tenets of the Bible, unless you're a Biblical literalist. If only kids were still reading Inherit the Wind in schools.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Lifer
Intelligence defined as the ability to reason, learn, use logic, solve problems, technology... whether to be used towards survival or to improve life.

Take two people and give them a difficult problem to solve.
If only one can solve it, that person is the more intelligent one.
If both can solve it, the one that does it more efficiently (not necessarily faster) is the more intelligent one (at least in regards to this particular problem).

Are you going to argue that a dolphin can understand calculus or physics?
There is NO comparison between the intelligence between the two.

Intelligence is NOT the ability to survive, so don't even mention single-celled organisms and insects.
Our intelligence has no bearing on our physical anatomy.
But because we are intelligent, we are able to use technology to help us survive.
If we were not, we would've been dead long ago.

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
If evolution isn't true and we were truly created by some great bearded cosmic muffin, how come we're the species least adapted to his environment. We need to build houses, harness fire and cultivate food because we have survival skills below those of a newborn raccoon. We have very poor ability to deal with extremes of temperature, too much water, not enough water, we're easy to starve, easy to kill and totally defenseless without tools. When mankind eventually damages the planet to the point where it no longer can support human life, the plants and the insects will go onward and we won't be missed.

i don't believe he mentions intelligence in his post...

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: Lifer
Intelligence defined as the ability to reason, learn, use logic, solve problems, technology... whether to be used towards survival or to improve life.

Are you going to argue that a dolphin can understand calculus or physics?
There is NO comparison between the intelligence between the two.

See, that's what I mean.

Intelligence, no matter how you slice it is a human concept, based on human achievement or lack thereof. There is no Universal definition of intelligence by which we could even asess the true intelligence of a dolphin. All we can do is evaluate their performance in comparison to how a human would preform. It's inherently biased.

 

[rahvin]

In regards to Neandertal comments:

According to recent research the Neandertal's went extinct shortly after modern humans developed culture. This is believed to coincide with the development of language. It's to close of a timeframe for it to be conincidence and a strong theory suggests that modern humans after they developed group cohesion and culture exterminated their rivals in the food chain.

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: rahvin
In regards to Neandertal comments: According to recent research the Neandertal's went extinct shortly after modern humans developed culture. This is believed to coincide with the development of language. It's to close of a timeframe for it to be conincidence and a strong theory suggests that modern humans after they developed group cohesion and culture exterminated their rivals in the food chain.

Look up, I already stated the theory that Humans killed off Neanderthals.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: rahvin
In regards to Neandertal comments:

According to recent research the Neandertal's went extinct shortly after modern humans developed culture. This is believed to coincide with the development of language. It's to close of a timeframe for it to be conincidence and a strong theory suggests that modern humans after they developed group cohesion and culture exterminated their rivals in the food chain.

heh that's tight. i can just picture a bunch of humans wandering around... all of the sudden they're like "hey lets form a group" "okay" then they eye the neanderthals to the right of them... and eye the stones to the left of them... and again eye then neanderthals...

 

[Lifer]

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: Lifer
Intelligence defined as the ability to reason, learn, use logic, solve problems, technology... whether to be used towards survival or to improve life.

Take two people and give them a difficult problem to solve.
If only one can solve it, that person is the more intelligent one.
If both can solve it, the one that does it more efficiently (not necessarily faster) is the more intelligent one (at least in regards to this particular problem).

Are you going to argue that a dolphin can understand calculus or physics?
There is NO comparison between the intelligence between the two.

Intelligence is NOT the ability to survive, so don't even mention single-celled organisms and insects.
Our intelligence has no bearing on our physical anatomy.
But because we are intelligent, we are able to use technology to help us survive.
If we were not, we would've been dead long ago.

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
If evolution isn't true and we were truly created by some great bearded cosmic muffin, how come we're the species least adapted to his environment. We need to build houses, harness fire and cultivate food because we have survival skills below those of a newborn raccoon. We have very poor ability to deal with extremes of temperature, too much water, not enough water, we're easy to starve, easy to kill and totally defenseless without tools. When mankind eventually damages the planet to the point where it no longer can support human life, the plants and the insects will go onward and we won't be missed.

i don't believe he mentions intelligence in his post...

He might not have, but plenty of others have mentioned survival and adaptation, etc.

The thread is about evolution of a species into more intelligent descendants, i.e. humans.
(although I don't believe that we're evolving into more intelligent beings.. just that we have the ability to learn, and put that knowledge to use)
So if humans have "evolved" over time into the intelligent beings we are today, why are there no other species that evolved into the intellect that we have, or close to it?
Yet, there a hundred different species of many animals and insects stuck at the same intellectual capacity, for millions of years.

I'm looking for another species with the mental capacity of ours.. like in Lord of the Rings, with Elves, Dwarfs, Orcs, Humans, goblins, trolls 😛

 

[PunDogg]

its out thumbs combined with our brains that make us "better" than all the rest, dolphins are smart, but they don;t have a thumb like ours so therefore they can;t build cars and computers.

Dogg

 

[Looney]

Didn't sliders have a huge thing on a parallel universe where the Neanderthals dominated the Cro-Magnons?

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Lifer

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: Lifer
Intelligence defined as the ability to reason, learn, use logic, solve problems, technology... whether to be used towards survival or to improve life.

Take two people and give them a difficult problem to solve.
If only one can solve it, that person is the more intelligent one.
If both can solve it, the one that does it more efficiently (not necessarily faster) is the more intelligent one (at least in regards to this particular problem).

Are you going to argue that a dolphin can understand calculus or physics?
There is NO comparison between the intelligence between the two.

Intelligence is NOT the ability to survive, so don't even mention single-celled organisms and insects.
Our intelligence has no bearing on our physical anatomy.
But because we are intelligent, we are able to use technology to help us survive.
If we were not, we would've been dead long ago.

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
If evolution isn't true and we were truly created by some great bearded cosmic muffin, how come we're the species least adapted to his environment. We need to build houses, harness fire and cultivate food because we have survival skills below those of a newborn raccoon. We have very poor ability to deal with extremes of temperature, too much water, not enough water, we're easy to starve, easy to kill and totally defenseless without tools. When mankind eventually damages the planet to the point where it no longer can support human life, the plants and the insects will go onward and we won't be missed.

i don't believe he mentions intelligence in his post...

He might not have, but plenty of others have mentioned survival and adaptation, etc.

I'm looking for another species with the mental capacity of ours.. like in Lord of the Rings, like Elves, Dwarfs, Orcs, Humans, goblins, trolls 😛

i don't believe you will find any on earth (or we would have presumably already met them)... though perhaps one day we'll meet aliens that do.

 

[Thraxen]

Our intelligence has no bearing on our physical anatomy. We cannot choose to sprout a tail if we needed to.

But we might develop opposable thumbs because our level of intelligence allows us to begin using tools. I wouldn't say it has no bearing. As for the the tail part...don't be so sure. Ever hear of genetic engineering?

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: gopunk

Originally posted by: rahvin
In regards to Neandertal comments:

According to recent research the Neandertal's went extinct shortly after modern humans developed culture. This is believed to coincide with the development of language. It's to close of a timeframe for it to be conincidence and a strong theory suggests that modern humans after they developed group cohesion and culture exterminated their rivals in the food chain.

heh that's tight. i can just picture a bunch of humans wandering around... all of the sudden they're like "hey lets form a group" "okay" then they eye the neanderthals to the right of them... and eye the stones to the left of them... and again eye then neanderthals...

LOL! Should make a movie..

Terminator 3: Rise of the Humans

😛

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Thraxen

Our intelligence has no bearing on our physical anatomy. We cannot choose to sprout a tail if we needed to.

But we might develop opposable thumbs because our level of intelligence allows us to begin using tools. I wouldn't say it has no bearing. As for the the tail part...don't be so sure. Ever hear of genetic engineering?

No, i'll say we need opposable thumbs first, then we began using tools. And opposable thumbs isn't so much about intelligence as about technology.

 

[idNut]

I can see this thread becoming very long.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Moralpanic

Originally posted by: Thraxen

Our intelligence has no bearing on our physical anatomy. We cannot choose to sprout a tail if we needed to.

But we might develop opposable thumbs because our level of intelligence allows us to begin using tools. I wouldn't say it has no bearing. As for the the tail part...don't be so sure. Ever hear of genetic engineering?

No, i'll say we need opposable thumbs first, then we began using tools. And opposable thumbs isn't so much about intelligence as about technology.

Everybody talking about opposable thumbs..

I thought the ability to roll the pinky-side of your hand inwards(like touching your pinky to your thumb) and grasp things was a bigger evolutionary step than opposable thumbs.

That's just the impression I got from the admittedly very little I've read on the subject. 🙂

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Moralpanic

Originally posted by: Thraxen

Our intelligence has no bearing on our physical anatomy. We cannot choose to sprout a tail if we needed to.

But we might develop opposable thumbs because our level of intelligence allows us to begin using tools. I wouldn't say it has no bearing. As for the the tail part...don't be so sure. Ever hear of genetic engineering?

No, i'll say we need opposable thumbs first, then we began using tools. And opposable thumbs isn't so much about intelligence as about technology.

well, you can argue that the intelligence enables those born with opposable thumbs to take advantage of their mutation over those without. which would lead to further humans having the thumbs, and so on.

 

[Thraxen]

No, i'll say we need opposable thumbs first, then we began using tools. And opposable thumbs isn't so much about intelligence as about technology.

I would think it could occur in either order. Anyway, my point was that I don't think it's accurate at all to say that our level of intelligence has had no effect on our physical anatomy. Hell, the development of the brain itself (from an anatomical standpoint vs intelligence) alone disproves that.