Why is it that of all the representatives of the animal world, speech has developed only in humans?

The same can be said about human intelligence: chemical signals through evolution.
Humans can make choices - because of their central nervous system. I can choose to swat the bug that's landed on me looking for a meal or I can choose to take it outside and let it go. I can also choose to communicate to another human to "close the damn door before you let every bug in the neighbourhood in!", etc. Human intelligence - and social behavior on top of that - are both emergent properties - each a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
 
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Humans can make choices - because of their central nervous system. I can choose to swat the bug that's landed on me looking for a meal or I can choose to take it outside and let it go. I can also choose to communicate to another human to "close the damn door before you let every bug in the neighbourhood in!", etc. Human intelligence - and social behavior on top of that - are both emergent properties - each a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Откуда вы знаете, что это именно вы сами делаете выбор, а не внешние причины заставили вас мыслить так или иначе?
 
Я читала вашу статью. Но не только обезьяны знают друг друга по именам, собаки и коты тоже прекрасно различают имена. Они отзываются каждый именно на свои клички. Это хорошо видно в стае. За кошками особенно интересно наблюдать, мне иногда кажется, что они телепаты, потому что я часто вижу такую картину: две кошки сидят друг напротив друга, и не смотрят напрямую одна на другую, но видно, что у них при этом происходит напряжённый мыслительный процесс, они могут прижимать уши, могут неожиданно наброситься одна на другую, или наоборот, мирно разойтись. Как будто одна другую оскорбила, или наоборот извинилась. Коты находят дорогу домой за тысячи километров, без всякого навигатора. Ещё они чувствуют собственную смерть, и уходят из дома. Ну и практически все животные беспокойно ведут себя перед различными стихийными бедствиями. Но большинство людей такими способностями не обладают, они у них либо не развились, либо наоборот, почему то атрофировались.
Yes different animals have different evolutionary paths, that has provided the selection pressure to evolve these traits. Speech, flight and singing underwater.
 
Yes different animals have different evolutionary paths, that has provided the selection pressure to evolve these traits. Speech, flight and singing underwater.
А теперь люди могут ввступать в роли эволюции, и менять или добавлять различные гены. Как Вы думаете, менять геном животных - это морально, или не нужно этого делать?
 
А теперь люди могут ввступать в роли эволюции, и менять или добавлять различные гены. Как Вы думаете, менять геном животных - это морально, или не нужно этого делать?
A different question, new thread I think.
 
How do you know that it is you who makes the choice, and not external reasons that made you think one way or another?
I think based on my sensory inputs and my memory and my sensibilities. I chose to take the bug outside rather than squishing it. How can external reasons "make" me think one way or another? Me deciding what to do based on external reasons still sounds like free will to me.
 
I think based on my sensory inputs and my memory and my sensibilities. I chose to take the bug outside rather than squishing it. How can external reasons "make" me think one way or another? Me deciding what to do based on external reasons still sounds like free will to me.
Ваши внутренние ощущения ничего не доказывают, это не научное доказательство. Жук показался Вам безопасным, потому что где то когда то Вы что то слышали о жуках, и он показался Вам безобидным. Если бы Вам попался ядовитый паук, Вы бы придавили его без долгих размышлений. Это внешние причины, такие же, как и у дерева.
 
Your inner feelings do not prove anything, it is not scientific evidence.
If scientific evidence is your standard for this topic then we can't be discussing free will, since it is a philosophical issue.

So you are begging the question - assuming the conclusion in your premise.


That being said, I can certainly demonstrate free will easily enough.

Put me at a table with 100 balls and tell me to pick up the green one. I say "No!" and pick up the red one. Then I pick up the blue one just for fun.

Now the onus is on you to devise a theory WITH EVIDENCE that I did those actions because of external forces beyond my control.

Don't forget to show the physical mechanisms - that weren't due the choices in my mind - by which the red ball MADE me choose it, and then the blue ball made me choose it instead of the green one. Good luck.
 
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Why does a person have almost no instincts? The only thing I read was the fear of snakes. What is a person in itself without society? [...] Почему у человека почти нет инстинктов? Единственный, я как то читала - это боязнь змей. Что же представляет собой человек сам по себе без социума?

Since feral children are extremely rare for research, we don't really know what the unstained tally of natural tendencies would be for a culture-less human. No infant or toddler could survive on their own from that age, so any so-called example of a feral child has been corrupted by at least some degree of mitigated social contact early on. (Even if the "raised by wolves" myths were true, it would still be contamination by adoption of habits from another species.)
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Since feral children are extremely rare for research, we don't really know what the unstained tally of natural tendencies would be for a culture-less human. No infant or toddler could survive on their own from that age, so any so-called example of a feral child has been corrupted by at least some degree of mitigated social contact early on. (Even if the "raised by wolves" myths were true, it would still be contamination by adoption of habits from another species.)
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Я как то видела видео со слепоглухонемым от рождения мальчиком. Вот это, наверное, и есть наиболее похожее состояние человека, которого изолировали почти от любой информации.
 
If scientific evidence is your standard for this topic then we can't be discussing free will, since it is a philosophical issue.

So you are begging the question - assuming the conclusion in your premise.


That being said, I can certainly demonstrate free will easily enough.

Put me at a table with 100 balls and tell me to pick up the green one. I say "No!" and pick up the red one. Then I pick up the blue one just for fun.

Now the onus is on you to devise a theory WITH EVIDENCE that I did those actions because of external forces beyond my control.

Don't forget to show the physical mechanisms - that weren't due the choices in my mind - by which the red ball MADE me choose it, and then the blue ball made me choose it instead of the green one. Good luck.
Конечно же Вы выбрали шары под влиянием внешних обстоятельств. При определённом настроении нам нравятся определённые цвета. Поэтому мы перекрашиваем стены в доме - меняются наши предпочтения. Всё это происходит под влиянием внешних воздействий. Поэтому Вы выбрали красный шар. Кроме того у Вас было игривое настроение, которое тоже возникло из-за внешних обстоятельств, поэтому Вы взяли синий шар. А вот если бы кто то предложил Вам взять зелёный шар, держа Вас или кого то из Ваших близких на прицеле пистолета, то Вы несомненно взяли бы зелёный шар, и это тоже произошло бы под воздействием внешних обстоятельств.

А теперь попробуйте, используя собственную силу воли, пройти сквозь стену, или подпрыгнуть и достать до Юпитера.
 
I once saw a video of a boy who was deaf, blind and mute from birth.
Like Helen Keller - the most famous example here in the West.

Still, she was able to develop a fairly normal life, even learning to speak.

This is probably the most similar state of a person who was isolated from almost any information.
"almost any" is relative. Deaf and blind is certainly a lot of isolation compared to the rest of us, but there are plenty of other senses and experiences to make up a rich life.
 
Of course, you chose the balls under the influence of external circumstances. When we are in a certain mood, we like certain colors.
You contradict yourself here.
In the first sentence you say I chose the balls under external circumstances, then you immediately mention my mood.

That is why we repaint the walls in the house - our preferences change. All this happens under the influence of external influences.
Influence, yes. That does not mean I have no choice.

That is why you chose the red ball.
How do you know why I chose the red ball?

As you just acknowledged, I surely did it because I was in a mood. Mood is an internal thing - even if it is influenced by external things.

In addition, you were in a playful mood, which also arose due to external circumstances, so you took the blue ball
You're making this up, right?
OK, I chose the blue ball because I had a dream last night that was blue-themed. And my dream was certainly an internal experience.

The fact that my thoughts are informed by external circumstances does not eliminate my ability to act or not act on them. That was the point of the second ball in my scenario. The red one I chose just to be ornery; the blue one I chose just for fun, because I like to take control.

. But if someone offered you to take the green ball, holding you or someone close to you at gunpoint, then you would undoubtedly take the green ball, and this would also happen under the influence of external circumstances.
Certainly. However, that is still free will - in the sense we are talking about. Just because I'm under duress doesn't mean I am incapable of making a choice - for example - to not get perforated with lead.

I would surely choose the less lethal option. However, my free will still permits all sorts of possibilities. I could stall, I could plead for mercy, I could make a grab at the gun. I could call their bluff. I could announce "I regret that I have but one life to give". All choices.

Now try, using your own willpower, to walk through a wall, or jump and reach Jupiter.
As stated several times, free will means you can try to do things you are physically capable of. The wall being solid does not prevent me from having free will. You seem to be suggesting the presence of a wall is capable of preventing me from even trying or pretending to walk through it, and instead bumping my head on it.

I think you should take a step back and define, for your own edification, what you think free will means. I think you are confusing a few different issues. For example, you don't seem to make much distinction between "informed by" or "influenced by" external circurmtances and "controlled by" external circumstances.
 
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Like Helen Keller - the most famous example here in the West.

Still, she was able to develop a fairly normal life, even learning to speak.


"almost any" is relative. Deaf and blind is certainly a lot of isolation compared to the rest of us, but there are plenty of other senses and experiences to make up a rich life.
Нет, этот вариант не подходит. Хелен Келлер не является слепоглухонемой от рождения. Она перенесла заболевание в возрасте 19 месяцев, в результате которого потеряла зрение и слух. У нас в России тоже есть такие люди, и они обучаемы. И даже больше того - они учаться чувствовать цвет. Не видеть, потому что видеть они не могут, а именно чувствовать его, используя для этого какие то другие механизмы, которые вы в обычной жизни вероятно не используете, потому что нет необходимости.
А тот мальчик на видео вёл себя как грудной ребёнок, потому что он таким родился, а не стал через время. Он вообще никогда ничего не видел и не слышал. Хотя сказали, что мозг у него нормальный.
 
You contradict yourself here.
In the first sentence you say I chose the balls under external circumstances, then you immediately mention my mood.


Influence, yes. That does not mean I have no choice.


How do you know why I chose the red ball?

As you just acknowledged, I surely did it because I was in a mood. Mood is an internal thing - even if it is influenced by external things.


You're making this up, right?
OK, I chose the blue ball because I had a dream last night that was blue-themed. And my dream was certainly an internal experience.

The fact that my thoughts are informed by external circumstances does not eliminate my ability to act or not act on them. That was the point of the second ball in my scenario. The red one I chose just to be ornery; the blue one I chose just for fun, because I like to take control.


Certainly. However, that is still free will - in the sense we are talking about. Just because I'm under duress doesn't mean I am incapable of making a choice - for example - to not get perforated with lead.

I would surely choose the less lethal option. However, my free will still permits all sorts of possibilities. I could stall, I could plead for mercy, I could make a grab at the gun. I could call their bluff. I could announce "I regret that I have but one life to give". All choices.


As stated several times, free will means you can try to do things you are physically capable of. The wall being solid does not prevent me from having free will. You seem to be suggesting the presence of a wall is capable of preventing me from even trying or pretending to walk through it, and instead bumping my head on it.

I think you should take a step back and define, for your own edification, what you think free will means. I think you are confusing a few different issues. For example, you don't seem to make much distinction between "informed by" or "influenced by" external circurmtances and "controlled by" external circumstances.
Ваше настроение - это внутреннее состояние, вызванное внешними факторами. Под воздействием внешних факторов ваш организм выделяет различные химические реакции, которые вы принимаете за эмоции, и затем реагируете так или иначе. Свободы воли в этом не больше, чем у дерева. Всё то же самое, только химические реакции сложнее. Более того, и ваши предпочтения, ваш характер зависят от генетики, которая даётся предками, и воспитания, которое даётся окружением. Где тут свобода воли? Вы выбирали с какими способностями вам родиться? Вы выбирали окружение, в котором родились? Вы выбирали людей, которые встретились на вашем жизенном пути? Вся ваша свобода - иллюзия, по крайней мере та, о которой вы говорите.

Я удивляюсь этим атеистам: когда им нужно - они якобы обладают какими то нематериальными сущностями типа воли и свободы, а когда не нужно - они материалисты. Ну тогда уже будьте последовательны: вы являетесь физическим макрообъектом, и как и все такие объекты подчинены причинно-следственным связям. Никакой свободы воли в детерменизме не предусмотрено. Свобода воли предусмотрена религиями, в которых есть нематериальные сущности, отличные от материального мира, и не подчиняющиеся его законам. Тогда с чем вы спорите, говоря, что вы атеист?
 
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