What makes humans different than non-human animals? We clearly have much in common with the great apes; I’ll use them as a counterpoint.
There’s definitely evidence that apes can make fairly long term plans, but humans invest in 401(k)s, train years for the olympics, etc. This is a difference in degree and not kind, just like many other ape/human differences. It makes me wonder, are humans just supercharged simians? Human exceptionalism would demand a difference in kind.
There are a few “difference in kind” attributes of humans of which I’m aware: the ability to purposefully teach, to direct the development of the surrounding environment, and many more. All the examples which come to mind seem to relate to imagining a certain end and controlling variables in order to bring it about. This seems to be the key trait which the great apes lack.
So does this mean that manipulation in service of imagination (let’s call it imagulation!) is the great delineator? Do all ideas of human exceptionalism hinge on this ability?
It’s interesting to think on how this could relate to the idea of man being created in God’s image. Certainly “imagulation” is something deeply associated with God. I really am trying to give evolution a fair shake, to try and avoid bias in my exploration of naturalistic origin explanations, but these sorts of observations make it very difficult. I can easily understand an imagulating creator making imagulating beings, but environmentally-directed mutations don’t seem to be a likely imparter of such an ability. Maybe someone can explain? Help! 
UPDATE 5/25/08: I recently came across this page on the Great Ape trust website. None of the videos surprised me very much, as they all seemed like behavior I’d seen before and could easily label as behavioral conditioning. All the videos, that is, until I saw the “novel sentences” video where a bonobo, Kanzi, displays behavior that I could only describe as “imagulating”! I’m officially placing an extra tally mark in the “Evolution” column.
This actually quite surprised and delighted me; what an amazing thing to see! Philosophically however, I’m not quite sure how to group the “differences in kind” between great apes and humans anymore. If anyone out there has an idea as to what the through-line may be, I’d be excited to hear it.
May 17, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Love ya.
May 17, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Actually, a specific population of chimpanzees has recently been found to make tools to help them remove insects from the inside of trees and logs.
(Chimps like to eat certain insects.) If that did not require imagination, I don’t know what does.
I’m not Christian, but I think of it this way: Evolution is literal, and Genesis is allegorical. Evolution theory can be changed or adjusted in the face of evidence, while Genesis has only changed when undergoing translation or copying (or miscopying) by scribes.
Another very general way to think about it is: evolution is creation.
May 17, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Thanks for the comment, David. The chimp example is a good picture of a problem I see quite a bit in discussions on this topic. I can quite easily imagine that the widely reported chimp tool usage (which I did consider when I wrote this post) is an example of an inherited instinct, not unlike the mating dance of peacocks. Complexity of behavior doesn’t necessarily indicate cognition. It’s rather difficult to prove a distinction between instinct and planned action considering the limited communicative abilities of the subjects in question; we can only make gross inferences. Such inferences are particularly subject to dangerous amounts of anthropomorphic projection, especially when in service of a preconceived naturalistic philosophical framework.
I’d love to see empirical evidence for your claim that Genesis is allegorical (not that I’m decided one way or the other). Regarding changes via miscopying, I’d recommend you check out http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6068 to get information regarding this common misunderstanding of how Bible translations work.
May 23, 2008 at 6:35 pm
I would encourage you to read Frans De Waal “Our Inner Ape” for an interesting comparison of human, chimp and bonobo behavior.
There is also a great recent PBS documentary about this very topic here that you might enjoy. I don’t promise it will answer all your questions but it might make you wonder.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3830684889540805606
Super J.
May 23, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Thanks Super J, I’ll check them out!
May 25, 2008 at 9:46 pm
I’d like to place attention to the update in this post. The link mentioned is http://www.iowagreatapes.org/media/video-bonobo-kanzi.php