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Why the vast
difference
between
animal brain and
PART II
lo the January issue, and now
in February, we analyze the
similarities and differences be–
tween the
mmtal activities
of
humans aod animals. We ask:
Does human
thought
differ
from animal
braitl
in
kind
(qualitatively) or
in
degree
(quantitatively) ?
In the March and April issues,
we will analyze the similarities
and differences betweeo the
physiolo
gical braim
of humans
and animals. We will ask: Does
the
human brain
differ from
a11Ímal brain
in
kind
(qua/–
itatively) or only in
d egree.
(quantitatively) ?
Finally,
in
May, we will cor–
relate the two - mental activi–
ties and physiological brains -
and begin to answer the ultimate
question: What is man?
by
Robert
l.
Kuhn
W
HAT
IS
MAN? What is the
human mind
?
What is the
relationship between man's
mental activity and his physical brain?
Is "mind" the same as "brain" - or
is it something more?
We began last month by asking thcse
all-important questions.
This month we continuc our investi–
gation of human beings and anima1s.
We do this on two levels:
1)
mental
activity,
and 2)
physiological brain.
In these first two articles, we focus on
the materia1ist's primary point: that the
human "mind" is
not really
different
from the output of animal brain.
In the
previotts
article, we discussed
those mental characteristics which the
materialist uses to show that humans
cannot
be differentiated from animals.
In
this
article, we show how humans
can be
differentiated from animals -
that índeed the human mind
is
une–
quivocally and irrevocably distinct fcom
animal brain. We will answer the fol–
lowing question:
What mental charac–
teristics clear/y differentiaie the ou1p111
2
•
of the human mind from the orttput of
animal brain?
And we will demonstrate
that these characteristics,
as
described
in the following sections, are uttecly
unique to human beings and are not
found in
any
animal.
We must now define and examine in
detail
each
mental characteristic. We
must demonstrate
why
the human mind
exhibits each one of them and
why
the
animal brain does
no/.
Sorne of the areas will overlap. Don't
let that bothec you. Consider each as a
distinctly individual expression of the
tmiq11eness
of the human mind. But
don't just passively agree.
Think
about
it. This is serious business.
The human mind is far superior to
animal brain.
But this will not be easy to prove.
Because all of these mental character–
istics are subject to as many inter–
pretations as there are minds to read
them. Why? Part of the difficulty is
semautics:
What do these often–
repeated and much-abused words really
mean? The other part of the problem