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is preconceived ideas: What is the partic–
ular bias of the individual evaluator?
We are interested in
tr11th.
And, in
truth,
manis NOTan animal.
But
prove
it.
1. AESTHETICS
Expression of Humor
Laughter is uniquely human. Comedy
has no equivalent in the animal king–
dom. This is openly admitted by many
evolutionary psychologists. Darwin rea–
soned that the smile had evolved from
the animal
snarl,
ignoring the opposing
meanings.
What is humor? How can it be
defined? It is difficult to put into words.
Yet nothing is more easily understood
by every human being.
Humor necessitates the comprehen–
sion of an odd or
incongrttous
sit–
uation. When we laugh, we are
comparíng what
did
happen with what
normally
11/ould have
happened under
similar circumstances. To impute the
sense of
incongr11ity
to such an occur–
rence, we must be sufficiently detached
from the situation. Animals often react
to unexpected events - such as a cat
playing with a hall of string - and
although that may be funny to the
human observer, it is surely not funny
to the animal. (The kitten is actually
practicing catching prey.
It
sharpens its
reflexes and perfects its skill for the
unexpected twists and darts of the
mouse it will later catch. )
Animal brain does not become
detached enough to reflect upon any
unexpected event as incongruous, and
tbe.refore
ca.nnot
appreciate
humor. (The
laughing hyena is
not
real!y laughing.)
Appreciation of Beauty
Beauty, to be beauty, must be
appraised on its own merits - not for
any possible relationship to a future
reward. A beautiful sunset, woman,
painting or sonata may well be associ–
ltreb
'\Vfth
"S't!ffSWÚ
"S':tCtfr'llttmh -
i:>t.it
that association is not necessary. Beauty
can exist irrespective of any functional
value.
Beauty cannot be beauty in íts true
human sense if there is sorne other
"payoff" which is making it "beau–
tiful." The animal considers only the
potential fulfillment of its basic d1 :ves
\
Wide
World
THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY-
Two beauty contestants here reflect
two all-too-human reactions: the pain of defeat and the exhilaration of
victory.
and needs - food for its hunger, water
for its thirst, etc. "Beauty" in an object
or goal contributes nothing to the
appeal.
The appreciation of beauty requires
quiet, perceptive contemplation. Aes–
thetic pleasure
more
than supersedes
sensory stimulation, it demands the
i11hibition
of sucb extraneous stimuli.
Could any animal ever ignore drive–
satisfying stimuli- food, water, sex
- to focus on a beautiful sunset?
Beauty
is
a whole, more than the sum
of its parts - an organic unity derived
from underlying order and harmony. It
is an abstract integration whicb is pri–
vately perceived and subconsciously
blended within the individual psyche.
Beauty is recognized only by man.
Feeling of Ecstasy
Is the ecstasy experienced from Jis–
tening to the last movement of Mahler's
Second or Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
just the evolutionary advancement of
the basic animal desire to satisfy the
self, or to be a bit more tecbnical, "tbe
sophisticated enhancement of animal
drive reduction"? This is what sorne
'!~Kepca:s
'triak
What about the ecstatic reaction
experienced by millions when the New
York Mets won the 1969 World Series?
Was that simply the "enjoyment" of
gratifying a physical urge? Hardly.
The most "ecstasy-!ike" reaction in
an animal occurs when a male gets
excited as he senses a female
in
heat.
But any comparíson to human ecstasy is
absurd. Ecstasy, by definition, must
transcend
specific sensations and satis–
factions. It is, rather, the instantaneous
emotion of supreme exultation.
2. SELF-AWARENESS
Self-Consciousness
The
self-comciotiSneSJ
of man may
not at fust seem to be very different
from the
comciousness
of animals. But
the difference between the
se/f-con–
sciousness of man and the consciousness
of animals is perhaps
the most crucial
distinction between the human mind
and animal brain.
We all know what consciousness
involves - thought, planning, deci–
sion, action, reaction, feedback, new
thought, etc. - and indeed
animals are
conscioiiS.
But se/f-consciousness is one
extra step - the critica! jump.
Self-consciotJsness is the conscious
awareness of the process of being
conscious.
It demands the innate ability to
observe our own minds in action. It
requires the awareness of
" l."
'Wrro 'oúr ·man can
'Step
'oa6<
-ana
become a spectator, an inquisitor, a
critic or an admirer of his own thought
patterns? Who but man can watch the
spectacle of his
own self
go though the
machinations and manipulations of
mental deliberation?
The noted psychiatrist, Erich Fromm,
put it this way: