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Comment by krapp | Hacker News Reader

>I really don't understand this feeling that humans need to be modest or that describing ourselves as special is wrong. We are special.

To simply state that humans are best adapted at certain traits is true, but humans have tended to think of themselves as "special" in that "we're not even animals, but beings made in the image of God and given divine right to conquer Nature and do with it what we will." That anthropocentric bias has led to a multitude of evils and scientific falsehoods, and that's what needs to be corrected. It's got nothing to do with misanthropy.

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But the opposite view could just as easily be used as a justification: I.e. "We're just animals, no different from any other. So anything we do is a part of nature, and we shouldn't second guess it, any more than any other animal would second guess its instincts."

I think we need to recognise that we are, at least, unique. And that we have a unique ability to affect the world, for good or ill, that sets us apart from other animals. That shouldn't be an excuse for hubris, but it should be reflected in how we view ourselves as a species.

I mostly agree with you, but I would frame things differently.

We are animals, and everything we do is part of nature.

Nature isn't either inherently good or evil, and natural processes can be self-destructive.

And while we probably don't have qualitatively unique features we distinguish ourselves quantitatively on many axes, especially when it comes to storing and transmitting information and therefore influencing the rest of the world.

We may be more powerful than other species, but I'm afraid that on the knowledge/wisdom scale, we're only good enough to be dangerous. Seeing ourselves as a part of nature is necessary to limit the damage we do.

This argument is frequently deployed in numerous political contexts.

But the opposite view could just as easily be used as a justification

Agreed. Human animals will always find pseudo-rational reasons to do nefarious things.

...and to define things as nefarious.

That's the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, isn't it?

> That anthropocentric bias has led to a multitude of evils

How about we're the only species which we hold to a moral standard? Unless you're going to hold other species to that standard, you have to admit that we're special.

Different != Special

If you don't consider humans special. What is your definition of special?

“Special” is a human concept which may not exist objectively, empirically. Distinct, unique, etc... are probably more honest, assuming that we don’t exist in a multiverse.

isn't every concept you could name right now a human concept which may not exist objectively?

No, but then, I like physics so I’d start rattling off fundamentals like the hyperfine transitions of Hydrogen, the speed of light in vacuum, and the mass of the proton.

Still can't prove those absolutely objective. They just work out with our human conceived models of the "physical" universe.

That's a fair point. Recognizing it as true shouldn't prevent us from recognizing how special we are, but you're right that we need to take a conscious approach to act as stewards of the world with our great power over it.

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