We live among a multitude of wonderfully bizarre and beautiful animals. Physically, we humans are rather sophisticated organisms, but still posses markedly mammalian features. Clearly, however, there is something that seperates us from all other animals. Collectively, we have risen to become the most powerful and dangerous life form on Earth, despite us being far from the largest, or most indestructible species alive.
Physiologically speaking, our brain is probably the most distinguishing characteristic, compared to other animals. I once read that the neurons of one worm could be exactly mapped to the neurons of another worm, which is certainly not possible with humans. There are still many animals (with a higher complexity than worms) which are extremely clever, and possess remarkable talents for problem solving, tool-wielding, pattern recognition, and other such things, possibly even including some level of emotional intelligence. However, humans possess a deeper level of understanding, awareness, and intuition, which is simply not to be found in other life forms.
The emotional advancement in humans is another trait which makes us unique. Currently, it appears that we have 27 different emotions, all of which we experience on a complex level. The great suffering that we humans can experience attest to this remarkable emotional intelligence. Other animals certainly can and do undergo stress and suffering as well, and such suffering in innocent creatures is one of the most heartbreaking things to watch. However, due to our profound capacity for simply understanding life, we are able to analyze the situations that cause us pain and know why we are suffering. We can recognize when a situation is unjust, hopeless, or cruel. We have a conscience and dignity. We also have the faculty of empathizing with each other - putting ourselves in other people's shoes, experiencing their suffering, and commiserating with them.
This ability to empathize goes hand in hand with our prodigious imagination, another facet of people that differentiates us from other animals. In the same way we can look at things from other people's perspectives, we can picture a myriad of situations, other than those of reality. We spend a good deal of time daydreaming and can conjure up bizarre and surreal images in an instant. We are also able to invision better circumstances than the ones we find ourselves in, not only for us, but for others as well. We have dreams, goals, and ambitions, and strive for a brighter future.
Last on this list, and possibly what most of all sets us apart and gives us so much power, is our capacity for the most wonderful good, and the vilest of evils. Animals can can do things that have a positive impact, such make us very happy, or even save lives. They are also capable of brutally killing people. But either way, they still do not know that what they are doing is right or wrong, or positively or negatively affecting others. They possess no conscience. They have no conception of good or evil, and lack the ability to reflect on the morality of their actions. Instead, they merely experience things in the present, or possibly anticipate some simple pleasure in the near future. I doubt that they ever recollect the past. In a way, this lack of knowledge of good or evil is what makes animals so endearing, and lends them their innocence. A dog does not please its owner or save a drowning child out of a sense of pride because they know it is right and will therefore receive recognition for its moral rectictude. They do so because they love their owner, and the sight of a struggling child is distressing.
We, however, do posses a conscience. We are met with a myriad of various conflicting motivations that influence each decision. For example, we often have thoughts that sound something like this: "It would be the right thing to do . . . but I'm too tired to help . . . but it would look good to my boss, so maybe I will". Since we know when an action is virtuous, we can fall into the trap of committing a good act out of wrong motives, such as pride. We can twist our own thoughts so as to morally justify ourselves and literally convince ourselves what we did was right, even if it was wrong. This certainly suggests that our ability to recognize good can be dangerous, and many horrifying deeds have been done out of a disillusioned sense of right. Possibly more disturbing, however, is when people recognize evil and commit an act knowing that it is evil. This is what enables cruelty, sadism, brutality, and inhumanity, all of which are purely human traits, not to be found in other animals.
Thankfully though, this understanding of good and evil that we have, and capacity to commit good and evil acts, does not result in soley negative thoughts and actions. When we act out selfless motives, it is a genuinely good thing, internally and outwardly. Out of selflessness stems compassion and self-sacrifice. While it is certainly not easy, there are moments where humans do achieve selflessness. These altruistic moments are made great because it was not the intent to be great. Only when we forget about ourselves can what we do for others be unfeigned good.
While these are only some of the features which differentiate us, as humans, from other animals, our mental complexity, emotiantional intellegence, imagination, and capacity for good and evil are truly amazing. While we are capable of terrible destruction, we still are remarkable creatures, capable of remarkable things.