We are all monkeys.

Tim Schaefer · **We are all monkeys. -** 05-09-2007, 09:09 AM

Saw this video posted on another forum... reminds me of Carlton's take on human nature and how we're not even one full step out of the jungle.

What we are Video - FileCabi.net

Eric Engel · **Re: We are all monkeys. -** 05-09-2007, 10:08 AM

Oh crap...another endless argument from the folks who can't stand the fact that Man has significance...

Quote:

"Man is always something worse or something better than an animal; and a mere argument from animal perfection never touches him at all. Thus, in sex no animal is either chivalrous or obscene. And thus no animal invented anything so bad as drunkeness - or so good as drink." - "Wine when it is red" All Things Considered - GK Chesterton

Mr. Subtle · **Re: We are all monkeys. -** 05-09-2007, 05:31 PM

The premise of the video is what bugged me. We are NOT monkeys. We are members of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates known as "great apes." Every time the video said "monkey" it made me shake my head and I couldn't pay attention to whatever came after that.

Michel Fortin · **Re: We are all monkeys. -** 05-09-2007, 05:45 PM

To me, the video is a great social commentary. It has more to do with how we act (and hurt each other) as humans than it is about us being "monkeys."

The term "monkey" is simply used just to make a point... such as about the fact that life is precious and that we can hurt and kill each other because of the idea that we think we're "special".

If you don't like the word "monkey", then just use the song by Kansas.

"All we are is dust in the wind."

Mr. Subtle · **Re: We are all monkeys. -** 05-09-2007, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michel Fortin

If you don't like the word "monkey", then just use the song by Kansas.

"All we are is dust in the wind."

Yep. After I'm cremated I told my wife to do this with a pound of my "dust"...

Dust to Diamonds

10.09.05 | 9:50 AM
Leave it to a U.S. firm to find a way to turn cremated remains into jewelry. LifeGem needs just eight ounces of those precious ashes to transform a loved one into a diamond. Actually, enough carbon is present to make quite a few gems -- maybe 20 -- with several pounds of ashes left over to scatter to the winds. Extremely hot ovens turn ashes into graphite, which is pressed into blue and yellow diamonds that retail for $2,700 to $20,000. Those who immortalize their loved ones thus get something out of it besides baubles, according to a company VP: "We have people that approach us who have just experienced a tragedy and they say I can't wait, I'm so excited about this," he said. Maybe you can't take it with you, but you could be a stone around your family's neck for a long, long time.

Michel Fortin · **Re: We are all monkeys. -** 05-09-2007, 06:16 PM

My wife actually asked me to the same, too.

Andy Catsimanes · **Re: We are all monkeys. -** 05-09-2007, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Subtle

The premise of the video is what bugged me. We are NOT monkeys. We are members of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates known as "great apes." Every time the video said "monkey" it made me shake my head and I couldn't pay attention to whatever came after that.

Yeah, I appreciated the sentiment behind the video, but it came off a little preachy. Sounded like a really earnest high schooler's efforts to me.

Besides, whatever else you may want to say about our animal nature, the fact is that the cognitive separation between us and our nearest relatives (chimpanzees) is several orders of magnitude greater than the difference between chimps and any other of the great apes.

For one thing, apes can't swim.

A.