Ulterior Motives

How goals, both seen and unseen, drive behavior.

by Art Markman, Ph.D.

Kids Think Humans Are Special

By Art Markman, Ph.D. on November 14, 2011 in Ulterior Motives

There is no doubt that humans are special among all of the animals on Earth. Although, we are special, we are also members of the animal kingdom. Yet, language distorts the relationship between humans and the rest of the animals. Read More

Kids think humans are special.

Submitted by Jack on November 15, 2011 - 11:43am.

Hello, I am studying developmental psychology right now, and I found this article very interesting. Actually, I found it rather humorous, how are we to explain to our kids that while we classify ourselves with these animals, we also eat them on a daily basis?

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to be sarcastic, but there is a firm line between animals and humans. Human psychology is infinitely more complex and unpredictable than that of animal. Comparing ourselves to animals seems a little counterproductive to this end.

I understand that we want our kids to be more conservation minded, to protect the things on the plannet, but this just seems like a bit of a stretch. Wouldn't it be better to teach them that we are caretakers responsible for those who are not able to fight the progress of land industry? In other words, we protect those weaker than us.

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Clearly, there are lots of

Submitted by Art Markman, Ph.D. on November 15, 2011 - 11:54am.

Clearly, there are lots of different positions on the ethics of the relationship between humans and animals. But, it does seem to me that any position that we take on this can still be done with a recognition that humans are still animals. There is ample precedent in the animal kingdom for one animal to eat another. Predator-prey relationships are everywhere.

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I agree

Submitted by Jack on November 15, 2011 - 1:35pm.

I agree there are many positions on the ethical aspect of our relationship with animals Mr. Markman, many of them I am sure are right. I don't for a moment believe I have the only correct view. My only concern would be that children would grow up justifying inappropriate behavior if we tried to categorize ourselves that closely with animals. Children take things so literally.

By the way, thank you very much for responding to my comment Mr. Markman!