Basic HTML Version
February 1972
Man has intelligence, like other
animals, which permüs him to use
thought processes for the auainment
of immediate, practica! aims; but man
has another mental quality whích the
animal lacks. He
is
aware of hímself,
of bis past and of bis future, which
is death; of bis smallness and power–
lessness; he is aware of others as
others - as friends, enemies, or as
strangers. Man transcends all other
life because he is, for the first time,
lífe aware of irself. Man is in naturc,
subject to its díctates and accidents,
yet he transcends nature because he
lacks the unawareness which makes
the animal a part of nature - as one
with it.
The self-conscious hwnan mind con–
stantly monitors itself
in
action - and
at any moment, for any reason ( even
for "no" reason), it can stop or alter
the action which would have been pre–
determined by the animal brain in the
same exact circumstances. Perhaps the
closest way to approximate how an ani–
mal "feels" when carrying out its
thoughts and actions is the way a sleep–
deprived, drugged or hypnotized hwnan
would feel when carrying out sorne
simple physical task at the command of
another person.
We continue with Theodosius Dob–
zhansky, a famous biologist:
Seli-awareness, or conscíous aware–
ness, or mind, is by far the most
important of the characteristícs which
make man human, and yet it also is
by far the most difficult one to study
scíentífically. The anthropologist D.
Bidney (1953) gave tbe best state·
ment known to me of what this
characteristíc is all about, and
it
is
best to quote bim di.rectly: "Man is
a self-reflecting animal in that he
alone has rhe ability to objectify him–
self, ro stand apart from himself, as
it were, and to consider the kind of
being he is and what it is that he
wants to do and to become. Other
animals may be conscious of their
affects and the objects perceived;
man
alone is rapable of reflertion of ulf·
romcious~uss,
of, thinking of himself
as an ob,ect....
The majority view is, however,
that "mind" is a four-letter word
which should not be uttered among
well-bred scientists. This is, however,
too easy a solution, which fails to
solve problems too obtrusive to be
ignored. No matter how eloquently
somebody may argue that my self–
awareness is just an ilJusion, I know,
with an assurance greater than I bave
about anythiog else in the world, that
my self-awareness is the most com–
pelling of
all
realities.
Awareness of Death
Man knows that he is going to die.
You know it. And I know it. That's
rather remarkable all by itself.
The
PLAIN
TRUTH
Death seems illogical and absurd to a
rational, vibrant human being. Yet
every man knows, as sure as he knows
anything, that his scant few decades of
self-conscious life will be followed by a
cessation of that life.
Death ! This stark reality is what a
man realizes throughout his life -
while animals remain blissfully igno–
rant. The difference is fundamental.
For Dobzhansky this distinction is
made manifest by the way in which
animals cace for their dead: They don't!
Bu.rial of the dead is a cultural
universal in mankind. The bu.rial
rituals vary widely, from interment to
cremation or exposure to predators
or birds of prey. No known human
group does, however, simply throw
out its dead without any ritual or
43
ceremony.
lt1
slarla conlrasl, no ani·
mal practices burial of dead indi–
viduals of its oum species.
Ants throw
the dead out of their nests together
with other rubbish. Female monkeys
may stubbornly carry their dead and
eveo decomposed infants. Sorne ani–
mals practice cannibalism and necro–
phagia. None of these forms of be–
havior suggest burials .... The con–
trast between the human concern for
the dead, and the unconcern shown by
animals, is, however,
so glaring
that
an explanation is called for. The ex·
planation that suggests itself is that
man, and man alone, knows that dearh
is inevitable....
Thinking in Time
As he is climbing a tree, a chimp
probably "knows" that he will soon
pick a banana, and that immediately
theceafter he will peel it, bite it, chew
it, swallow it and satisfy
his
bunger.
Hondrl<bon - Amlxurodor
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