What makes us human
One more thought on whether language defines who we are (see application key words).
For my final exams, a question which often comes up is of the form:
The only defining difference between animal behaviour and human behaviour is the ability for humans to use language. Discuss.
It’s actually a lot harder to argue against than it might first seem.
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One Response to “What makes us human”
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About me
I'm a playwright and investment analyst. I have a broad range of interests: food, gardening, innovation & intellectual property, sustainability, architecture & design, writing and the arts. I sit on the board of Talawa Theatre Company and advise a CIS investment trust on socially responsible investments.
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Recent Work
Recent plays include, for theatre: Nakamitsu, Yellow Gentlemen, Lost in Peru, Lemon Love. For radio: Places in Between (R4), Patent Breaking Life Saving (WS).
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Nakamitsu
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Yellow Gentlemen
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Another argument I’ve heard – as a major defining difference between humans and animals – is a need for justice. You’d never find Judge Judy mediating between a lion and a gazelle’s family on whether the death was justified. Perhaps then, this defining difference is more about why humans kill at all. Animals do it, on the whole, to satisfy hunger. Humans do it for a whole other complex array of emotional reasons.