The big difference

Yes there is a difference between animals and humans. Even the fact that we split ourselves into these two groups shows that. There is one difference that I keep coming back to almost no matter the end. It has something to do with the scientific name for our species, Homo Sapiens - Humans, the Wise. That's right we decided from the beginning that we were the only intelligent species on the face of the planet. But past that there is another thing that this brings up. What is wisdom? If we alone have it, how does that make us different to every other species on this earth?

It has been defined as the ability to know what to do with knowledge and while this is true, I would like to propose an addendum to this. It's also the ability to synthesise information, which leads me to the point that I wanted to make. The difference between humans and animals is that instinct doesn't rule us.

This is a fairly easy thing to see. If an animal is hungry it will find something to eat, no matter what it was doing immediately before that. If a human is hungry and was doing something, that will finish first. We set priorities that can override our own survival requirements temporarily. No animal will go on a hunger strike. But it also has some deeper consequences.
A human can protect others over themselves.
A human can fight and kill other humans for little or no reason (ie with out the need for protection or to satisfy a need for survival).
But also a human can literally put a value on a life - it isn't just something to fill in time with or a collection of health-some proteins.

And so this is what I come back to, this is my reason for doing a lot of things. Instinct would tell me to do all sorts of stuff that would get me into trouble - instinct is bad for me. Doesn't mean that I shouldn't eat when I'm hungry, but when instinct tells me to be angry or what ever, then I should ignore it and try to find something new. This is why I dislike painkillers - the instinct is to try and prevent or relieve pain. Pain is a teaching method that the body uses to try and keep us safe, relief of this stops the lesson. It also limits the things that we can do as part of anything (and you know how much I hate limitations). They work by slowing the nerve receptors in the brain and therefore slowing the brain. If the brain is what separates us from animals, why would we want that?

The other thing that this difference means is that animals sharing human rights, at least to me, makes no sense. I would argue that if they are to get human or human like rights, they have to first be able to argue for them on their own.

Stereotypes

The interesting thing about stereotypes is that almost universally we are told that they are lies or misconceptions, but in most cases, they are close to being truth. This is no fault of their own however, it is simply that they exist that this happens. Take the stereotype of blondes; blondes are ditzy airheads who barely think about anything, and if they do, it's on the lowest level that is humanly capable. I know highly intelligent blonde girls who have changed their thinking to reflect this; they don't get jokes even after they've been explained, they are incredibly gullible, but they know more about fashion and make-up than I will ever know about anything. This is the problem, they change their thinking and start believing what they are told. This self perpetuation is one of the biggest problems with any form of discrimination, be it racism, sexism, ageism, beardism or anything.

For example, there are very few male nurses, despite the fact that much of the work of a nurse is better suited to males - lifting, holding etc. This has given the conception of nursing is that it is a woman's job, so no man will do it, so it is a woman's job. This is a self perpetuating cycle that firstly limits nurses - they get the jobs that 'men' shouldn't be doing, and secondly of men - they shouldn't be nurses. Did you know that in order to get trained medical professionals to care for the wounded in the marines they had to change what they called nurses, they are now known as medics.
Or, again with the medical theme, there are very few female doctors, despite the fact that in most cases, men lack either the necessary rationality to be able to treat the sick and injured and the humanness to be have a real bedside manner.

In Australia, Black Aboriginal people are often treated as lower people because they have a reputation. There are a larger proportion of the Aboriginal community that get caught in alcoholism, narcotics, petty crime and violence than other groups. This has meant the acquisition of their reputation. This reputation now precedes every one of them every time they do anything. What it has also meant is that large amounts now also believe it for themselves. Which means that they have no hope but to get caught in alcoholism, narcotics, petty crime and violence, for no greater reason than that is what happens to all of them.
This particular case really gets to me because it has caused a large part of a generation and much, not all but much, of a race to get caught in self destruction.

The same thing is seen in every minority group - Including interestingly those who deserve it, but that's for another time.

I'm not saying that all stereotypes are bad and should be exterminated with the greatest of non-prejudicial judgement just that we have to be careful how and why we use them.

On God and happiness

There is possibly no variation of Christian Doctrine that has been more damaging than the so-called Prosperity Gospel. This is the one that says that God wants you to be happy and that he will achieve this by giving you health, prestige and most importantly, wealth. It is most damaging not just because it takes something that was never anywhere in the bible and adds it for no reason, but also because it diminishes every other part. It makes Jesus out to be nothing more than a great cosmic Santa who wants you to be good and talk to him every so often.

You can see the damage that it causes in two places. Firstly in the place that most of us will see more clearly, the early morning televangelists. These people have massive followings and all of them say that Jesus wants to make us better or to give us more than what we have. These people get a following of themselves rather than a following for Christ and this is where the damage comes in. There are thousands of people calling themselves Christian because they follow the teachings of a televangelist. Because of this they won't listen to actual teachings and have left themselves out of the truth.
The second place that you see it is in third world countries. Missionaries who go over to poor communities and tell people that Jesus wants them to have education and hospitals and food. This is an effective way to build up a congregation quickly since the only way that you can get these blessings is to confess your sins, come along to church every week and be good. There is a word for these people in India - Rice Christians, people who follow the teachings of Rice. The damage here comes because firstly these people do not have a relationship with God, but with their now satiated gut. If and when this fails then God is a sick joker who lies to people in order to play some twisted power game. This response is one that is contagious and that is where the next damage is found.

However there is some side truth to this statement. Not in the way that might be initially expected, but there is some surprising truth there. When you read the Old Testament there are many repeated moments when God allows people to try happiness. The biggest example went down something like this
"Are you absolutely sure you want compete Self-Autonomy? Are you sure that you want everyone forever to be the final say on what is wrong or right? Will that make you Happy?"
"Yes it will"
"Fine; there it is. And you will suffer for it."

I am of course referring to the Garden of Eden.

This approach is not dissimilar to what is being called experiential parenting, where you teach your kids through experiences rather than through lessons. For example in order to teach your kid not to stick his finger in the power socket, you let him stick his finger in there and then let him learn what will happen when he does that. However it is also similar to the other approach where you tell your kid that sticking her hand in a ceiling fan will hurt or that knives are sharp. You tell them that if they do that, it will be bad.


The third thing that is a part of this is that if the outcome of Christianity is an eternity in heaven, literally, then why would you want to taint it with the second-rate crap that makes up physicality?