Human: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{Redirect|Homo sapiens||Homo sapiens (disambiguation)|and|Sapiens}}

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{{Twodablink|"Homo sapiens" redirects here. For other uses|, see [[Homo sapiens (disambiguation)]] and [[Sapiens]]. This article is about modern humans|. For other human species|, see [[Homo]]. For other uses, see [[Human (disambiguation)]]}}

<!--[[File:Vitruvian.jpg|thumb|right|180px|''[[Vitruvian man]],'' by [[Leonardo da Vinci|da Vinci]].]]-->

[[File:Human.svg|right|thumb|180px|[[Male]] and [[female]] humans ([[Pioneer 10]] plaque).]]

The word '''human''' refers to either the ''human [[being]]'' or the biological ''human [[species]].''<ref name="Wordnet">

http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=human</ref>

In scientific terms, the ''human species'' is an [[animal]] of the genus [[homo]], with common ancestors among the [[primates]].<ref name=msw3/><ref>{{cite web|author=Nature |url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v423/n6941/full/423692a.html |title=Access : Human evolution: Out of Ethiopia |publisher=Nature |date=2003-06-12 |accessdate=2009-11-23}}</ref>

In human terms, the ''human being'' is transcendent of all [[animalia]] in the possession of a high degree of [[intellect]], a capacity for [[language]]<ref name=mc1>

''Dependent Rational Animals: Why Human Beings Need the Virtues'' By [[Alasdair MacIntyre]] pp. 60, "Those who have wanted to draw a single sharp line between human and nonhuman animals have commonly laid emphasis upon the presence or absence of language as such, the ability to use and to respond to strings of syntactically ordered and semantically significant expressions whose utterance constitutes speech acts. But this is insuficient for human rationality. What is needed in addition.."</ref><ref name="mol">

[http://www.duke.edu/~pk10/language/psych.htm Nature vs. Nurture: The Miracle of Language], by Malia Knezek. "What about the fact that other animals do not have similar language capabilities? [..] This obviously involves some innate difference between humans and other animals.. [..] ..other animals do not use any other form of language (i.e. sign language) even though they have the physiological capabilities." citing, [[Andy Clark]]. ''Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again''. The MIT Press, 1997. 208-209).</ref>,

and (unlike any known animal) higher forms of [[self-awareness]], [[rationality]], and [[sapience]].<ref name=mc2>

''Dependent Rational Animals: Why Human Beings Need the Virtues'' By [[Alasdair MacIntyre]] pp. 60, "But this [language] is insufficient for human rationality, What is needed in addition is the ability to construct sentences that contain as constituents either the sentences use to express the judgment about which the agent is reflecting, or references to those sentences."</ref><ref name=mcd>

[[John McDowell]], ''Mind and World'', 1994. p.115, Harvard University Press, (quoted in ''Dependent Rational Animals'', by Alasdair MacIntyre): "In mere animals, sentience is in the service of a mode of life that is structured exclusively by immediate biological imperitives" [..] "merely animal life is shaped by goals whose control of the animal's behavior at a given moment is an immediate outcome of biological forces"</ref><ref name="flanagan">

''The Really Hard Problem:Meaning in a Material World'', [[Owen Flanagan]], MIT Press </ref>

In the colloquial distinction of [[higher and lower organisms]], human beings are the highest among known living organisms.<ref name="higher">

{{cite web|url=http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_animal_species_has_the_highest_IQ_next_to_humans|title=What animal species has the highest IQ next to humans |publisher=WikiAnswers,com |date=none |accessdate=2010-08-30}}

[: "According to [[Edward O. Wilson]] [..] the ten most intelligent animals next to humans are the following: 1. Chimpanzee (two species) 2. Gorilla 3. Orangutan 4. Baboon (seven species..).."</ref>

According to scientific explanation, [[human origins]] are attributable to [[evolution]] —in qualitative conjectures, all human aspects are credited to evolutionary development.<ref name="evol">

[http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/sci;308/5724/921g Out of Africa Revisited]</ref>

Most human beings however hold religious belief <ref name=adherents>[http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents] ~84% religious.

~77% of the world belong to one of four largest religions, cf. "[[list of religious populations]]" article</ref>

in which context the credit for human origins and human capacity is given to a [[creator being]], whom it is believed endowed humans with a [[spirit]]ual nature that transcends scientific understanding.<ref name="soul">cf. [[soul]], "[[Willam of Aubergene]] combines [[Aristotelian]] and [[Augustinian]] themes [..] he expressly adopts the Aristotelian definition of the soul as ''perfectio corporis physici organici potentia vitam habentis''". "It [the soul] is created and infused by God alone, neither generated by the parents nor educated from the potentiality of matter, and it is, morever, immortal." [[Aristotle]] quoted and condensed in ''A History of philosophy: medieval philosophy'', by Frederick Copleston p. 223</ref>

== Scientific overview ==

{{Taxobox

| name = Human<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Groves | pages = | id = 12100795}}</ref>

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| trinomial_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758

}}

'''Humans''',In knownscientific [[taxonomy|taxonomically]], humans are known as '''''Homo sapiens''''' ([[Latin]]: "wise man" or "knowing man"),<ref>{{cite journal |author=Goodman M, Tagle D, Fitch D, Bailey W, Czelusniak J, Koop B, Benson P, Slightom J |title=Primate evolution at the DNA level and a classification of hominoids |journal=J Mol Evol |volume = 30 |issue=3 |pages=260–266 |year=1990 |pmid=2109087 |doi=10.1007/BF02099995}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hominidae Classification |work=Animal Diversity Web @ UMich |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/classification/Hominidae.html |accessdate=2006-09-25}}</ref> and are the only [[Extant taxon|extant]] species in the ''[[Homo]]'' genus of [[bipedalism|bipedal]] [[primate]]s in [[Hominidae]], the [[great ape]] family. However, in some cases "human" is used to refer to any member of the genus ''Homo''.▼

▲'''Humans''', known [[taxonomy|taxonomically]] as '''''Homo sapiens''''' ([[Latin]]: "wise man" or "knowing man"),<ref>{{cite journal |author=Goodman M, Tagle D, Fitch D, Bailey W, Czelusniak J, Koop B, Benson P, Slightom J |title=Primate evolution at the DNA level and a classification of hominoids |journal=J Mol Evol |volume = 30 |issue=3 |pages=260–266 |year=1990 |pmid=2109087 |doi=10.1007/BF02099995}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hominidae Classification |work=Animal Diversity Web @ UMich |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/classification/Hominidae.html |accessdate=2006-09-25}}</ref> are the only [[Extant taxon|extant]] species in the ''[[Homo]]'' genus of [[bipedalism|bipedal]] [[primate]]s in [[Hominidae]], the [[great ape]] family. However, in some cases "human" is used to refer to any member of the genus ''Homo''.

Humans have a [[encephalization|highly developed]] [[human brain|brain]], capable of abstract [[reasoning]], [[language]], [[introspection]], and [[problem solving]]. This mental capability, combined with an erect body carriage that frees the hands for manipulating objects, has allowed humans to make far greater use of [[tool]]s than any other species on Earth. [[Mitochondrial DNA]] and fossil evidence indicates that [[anatomically modern humans|modern humans]] [[Recent African origin of modern humans|originated in Africa]] about 200,000 years ago.<ref>[http://www.mnh.si.edu/anthro/humanorigins/ha/sap.htm The Smithsonian Institution, Human Origins Program]</ref> With individuals widespread in every continent except [[Antarctica]], humans are a [[cosmopolitan distribution|cosmopolitan]] species. {{asof|2010|8}}, the [[world population|population]] of humans was estimated to be about 6.8 billion.<ref name="popclock">{{cite web