INSTINCT

I find difficult to accept the claim that human beings evolved from lower life forms, particularly from anthropoid apes, like chimpanzees. I notice that animals are born with instincts that guide their behavior in life. As far as I know, no bird, for example, has to be trained to build a nest. They all build nests instinctively, and each species builds distinctive-looking nests. Scientists can identify the species of bird simply by examining the nest.

It’s the same with flying. No bird has to be trained to fly like a human being has to be trained to box, to dance, to sing, etc. When the young fledglings become old enough, their parents encourage them to make the leap, so to speak, and the fledging flies. They never undergo any advanced training in flying the way humans require to become proficient in human skills, yet all birds become very proficient flyers through instinct. They instinctively make the correct wing strokes to launch into flight, to propel themselves while flying, using their tails to adjust their direction, and use their wings to halt forward motion when landing. Birds do that instinctively. And different species fly differently, some so much so, that a distant observer can identify the species by the way the bird flies.

Through succeeding generations, different species of birds do not vary their flying or nest building skills. As far as we know each species has always flown the same and made the same nests for as long as those species existed. It’s the same with mammals. They all have characteristic methods of motion, hunting, recognition of prey or predators, and instinctive methods of dealing with them. Even when animals are raised by humans, their instinctive skills don’t change, and no animal, no matter how well trained by humans, can come anywhere near to approaching the capability of human beings.

Humans, however, are vastly different. Most human skills are learned not so much by instinct but from parents or other humans. In very primitive human societies, skills, like shelter building, tool making, and weapons seem to start off from an elementary level, but these societies rapidly adapt their skills and learn from experience. Human skill at making shelters, tools, and weapons has improved at an astonishing rate with ever increasing acceleration. For example, not naturally equipped to fly, humans have developed machines that can fly higher and faster than any bird. Humans are the only species capable of such progress.

Take language for example. Most animals are capable of generating and hearing sounds, and most species have an instinctive array of characteristic sounds that have meaning to each species. Humans, however, are the sole species that have advanced the use of sounds into an intelligent language. No longer relying on grunts and shouts, which however, are still universally recognized by all humans, language is built on specific syllables that convey meaning merely by the sound of the syllables. All human societies that have developed spoken languages have languages that cannot be understood by other human societies unless other societies spend time learning the meanings attached to the sounds.

Language has progressed even further when all but the most primitive societies have learned to express their thoughts in written form, using arbitrary symbols to represent syllables or objects. The written language of one society cannot be deciphered instinctively by members of other societies unless they are trained to decipher them.

The above are just a few of the many, many spectacular differences between human beings and all other species. Surely something is significant here. Humans are much more than just another evolved animal. If you understand the symbols I have put on this computer screen, and we both know that no other animal, no matter how much training that animal has, has the remotest chance of understanding these symbols, rest assured that you and I are unique. I think humans are significantly different than any other life form on the planet, even though many of those life forms have been in existence much longer than humans.

Maurice A. Williams