You are no more unique than the bacteria in your gut without which you couldn't even digest your food.

- Where would you start?

Grammar Nazi Alert:

"For many grammarians, unique is the paradigmatic absolute term, a shibboleth that distinguishes between those who understand that such a term cannot be modified by an adverb of degree or a comparative adverb and those who do not. These grammarians would say that a thing is either unique or not unique and that it is therefore incorrect to say that something is very unique or more unique than something else."


So DA, what were you saying about us being no MORE unique?

But to the point. Chimpanzees share 98.5% of their DNA with us indicating we evolved from a common ancestor - Do we share 98.5% of our achievements with them? Does any other species do a fraction of what we are able to do?

In fact every other species on this planet is in the main confined to activities such as eating, crapping, procreating, sleeping, hunting, fighting and grooming.

I also think that we are the only species to stand alone within a genus.

So are we unique? Of course.

The question is would we stay unique?

On the basis that chimpanzees can understand basic sign language and demonstrate the ability to use innovation when solving problems, it would seem not. Give them another couple of million years and they will probably join us in destroying the planet and maybe even make it to the giddy heights of producing their own reality TV programs: Chimp Idol - Celebrity Fit Chimp.

So as much as I would like it to be otherwise, I cannot really agree with you Jim. We are not a poke in the eye for evolution.

Now there is half a debate to be had about whether the future chimps would develop all of the characteristics that we have, such as complex emotion, love, art, justice, compassion, philosophical musings, sex for the fun of it etc. Can we even assume that they would become self aware? Would they develop religion without us Christians placing Gideons Bible's in the Monkey Hospitals?

Now I'm straying into origins. I won't go there, not on this board.

Regards,

Blacknad.