We are a unique ape. We have language. Other animals have systems of communication that fall far short of that. They don't have the same ability to communicate complicated conditionals and what-ifs and talk about things that are not present.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the uniqueness of human communication compared to other animals, emphasizing our capacity for complex language.
Richard Dawkins underscores the exceptional nature of human beings as a species, particularly in our ability to use sophisticated language. Unlike other animals, whose communication methods are limited and contextual, humans possess the capability to express complex thoughts, abstract concepts, and hypothetical scenarios through language. This fundamental difference sets us apart in cognitive ability and social interaction, allowing for rich cultural development and shared understanding.
In practice
In a discussion about creativity, to illustrate the importance of language in human expression.
No educated person believes the Adam and Eve myth nowadays, but it's surprising how many parents think that it's somehow fun to pass on this falsehood to their children...I would want to argue that the truth of evolution is more interesting and more poetic
If the history-deniers who doubt the fact of evolution are ignorant of biology, those who think the world began less than ten thousand years ago are worst than ignorant, they are the deluded to the point of perversity.
The population of the U.S. is nearly 300 million, including many of the best educated, most talented, most resourceful, humane people on earth. By almost any measure of civilised attainment, from Nobel prize-counts on down, the U.S. leads the world by miles.
When you make machines that are capable of obeying instructions slavishly, and among those instructions are 'duplicate me' instructions, then of course the system is wide open to exploitation by parasites.
Even if not a single fossil has ever been found, the evidence from surviving animals would still overwhelmingly force the conclusion that Darwin was right.
The bitter hatreds that now poison Middle Eastern politics are rooted in the real or perceived wrong of the setting up of a Jewish State in an Islamic region. In view of all that the Jews had been through, it must have seemed a fair and humane solution. Probably deep familiarity with the Old Testament had given the European and American decision-makers some sort of idea that this really was the historic homeland of the Jews.
Nothing is confused except the mind.
You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so. It is the ultimate shadow, the defeat of creation; this is the curse at work, the curse that feeds on all life. Everywhere in the universe.
It often happens that we blurt out things that may in some kind of way be harmful to us, but we are silent about things that may make us look ridiculous; because in this case effect follows very quickly on cause.
When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system.
The result of the voyage does not depend on the speed of the ship, but on whether or not it keeps a true course.
Capitalism has forced everyone to overoptimize in order to compete.
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