A new study hypothesizes that human beings are more closely related to orangutans than to chimpanzees. From the story:
University of Pittsburgh and the Buffalo Museum of Science. Reporting in the June 18 edition of the Journal of Biogeography, the researchers reject as “problematic” the popular suggestion, based on DNA analysis, that humans are most closely related to chimpanzees, which they maintain is not supported by fossil evidence.
Jeffrey H. Schwartz, professor of anthropology in Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences and president of the World Academy of Art and Science, and John Grehan, director of science at the Buffalo Museum, conducted a detailed analysis of the physical features of living and fossil apes that suggested humans, orangutans, and early apes belong to a group separate from chimpanzees and gorillas. They then constructed a scenario for how the human-orangutan common ancestor migrated between Southeast Asia—where modern orangutans are from—and other parts of the world and evolved into now-extinct apes and early humans.
I read the whole article, and it all seems very speculative. Besides, what does it matter in the end?
While I am all for learning every scientific fact we can, assuming proper ethics, I don’t think this is very important. For some reason, human beings became the exceptional species in the known history of the universe, becoming creative, moral, and able to partially transcend nature with intentionality. We philosophize, pray, seek meaning, comprehend beauty, think abstractly, and design and manufacture machines. We are the only species with duties and the only ones with rights. Indeed, we are the only species that comprehends these concepts. However we came into being–blind evolution, design, creation, or a combination thereof–and whichever animal might be our closest evolutionary relative, human exceptionalism is the core. Distant relations may be interesting, but are not morally germane.
June 19th, 2009 | 12:42 pm
[...] chimps. Perhaps, but does it really matter–at least from a moral perspective? I say no. I explain why over at Secondhand Smoke. Comments [...]
June 19th, 2009 | 1:13 pm
But if human beings ARE the result of blind evolutionary processes, how can we adequately account for human dignity and rights? What obligates us to treat our neighbors as we would like to be treated?
June 19th, 2009 | 2:12 pm
Right turn, Clyde.
June 19th, 2009 | 3:33 pm
Apes can laugh, perform basic mathematical operations, and understand and act on concepts like justice and altruism (albeit rudimentary.) This has great significance in helping science sleuth the functions of the human brain — thus the importance of knowing our closest living relatives. To quote Marc Hauser from a piece published in Nature (2005):
“We share with chimpanzees some—but not all—mental functions, some of which are shared with other species as well. As the publication of the chimpanzee genome reveals, we also share a good deal of our DNA. Unfortunately, we are virtually in the dark when it comes to understanding how genes build minds. If comparative genomics is to enlighten our understanding of human origins, it must be accompanied by an equally rich description of animal psychology, both in terms of its underlying neural signatures and the evolutionary processes that led to convergence and divergence with other species.”
June 20th, 2009 | 12:52 am
Wesley -
“I read the whole article, and it all seems very speculative. Besides, what does it matter in the end? ”
Because it’s cool?
The best comparison I can come up with is “The Sims” series. By understanding how the computer program for “The Sims 2,” users can create their own fixes for specific bugs that are not addressed by the company (happened a lot) and create thier own custom content.
If we figure out which critter our bodies were built from, we can learn how our own computer program, DNA, changed over the years and developed our bodies so we can house ethical and moral spirits.
It’s always cool to see how we change and how we might change more in the future, depending on how our programming changes.
Besides, it’s fun and it keeps some people occupied on rainy Sunday afternoons.
Links
Blogs
Find Us
Contact