Outside of our human genome, is there anything at all that we ALL share as humans but DON’T share with other animals? I argue that the answer is NO. What’s your take?
Hello Lisa,
I would venture to say that the size of our frontal cortex which allows us to use our brains to reason separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. Also, I am not aware of other animals that use written languages to communicate or generate visual imagery that we call art. One of the key concepts of this website is that we can use reason to create social structures that emphasize our healthy productive tendencies and minimize our unhealthy destructive tendencies.
Another important idea in your question relates to the idea that there are human aspects that we all share. I am sure there are cultures that don’t use written language and perhaps some of us are born without a frontal cortex. I think that Grant Ramsey’s new book introduces the concept of “trait clusters” (see the link on the front page) that addresses this issue. Also here is a link to Donald E Brown’s list of human universals.