Where’s the Dividing Line?

We humans have long believed ourselves to be fundamentally different from other creatures. We’ve pointed with pride to the many achievements of Homo sapiens as proof of our difference, even as evidence of our superiority—achievements such as the Pyramids, Gutenberg’s printing press, and the Twinkie. Of course, we’re far more reluctant to recognize our other unique “accomplishments” such as DDT, instruments of war, and global warming—but that’s a topic for another time.

I find it fascinating that many of the barriers we’ve erected between ourselves and other members of the animal kingdom are tumbling down, as science plods its inexorable way forward. We once were confident that making and using tools distinguished us from all other critters. We pointed to our African ancestors of hundreds of thousands of years ago, who fashioned sophisticated stone tools and then used them to become brilliantly effective hunters. It separated them from the other great apes. Surely that was special!

In the last few decades, however, research has demonstrated that other critters have developed pretty impressive tool skills. We first had to admit that chimpanzees do it, then other primates. More recent studies have shown that even “lowly” crows construct and employ some complex tools.

Well, OK, if we’re not unique in tool use, surely we are fundamentally different in our cognitive abilities. You know, that big brain of ours, with its massive cortex. In particular, we’d like to think that our consciousness, our self-recognition is unique. A dumb animal looks at its reflection in a pond and just sees another dumb animal, right? It has no ability to comprehend that it’s staring at itself, right?

Wrong. Numerous clever experiments have placed animals in front of mirrors (they do it with mirrors!) and have clearly demonstrated the existence of self-recognition. (On the part of the animal, that is. I assume the researchers already were able to recognize themselves.) In a recent study a dot was attached to a magpie, in such a way that the dot could be seen by the magpie only in a mirror. Guess what? The bird soon realized that the mirror image was itself (it began scratching at the dot) and not another animal.

Will these results begin to sink into our psyches and tell us that we are not as different and as unique as we once erroneously believed? Will we soon come to revere all creatures (not just humans), rather than insensitively abuse them? We’re all in the same boat—Homo sapiens, all the way “down” to bacteria. That boat is called Earth and it needs the mutual acceptance and tolerance of all its critters—especially from us, the critter who believes it’s on top.