What makes homo sapiens "human"?

Spend ten minutes around a cat and tell me that animals have no concept of free will or pride.In that vein, if I leave a bag of cat food on the kitchen table, my cat will jump up on the table when I'm out of the room, tear into it, and gorge herself silly. She waits until I'm not there, because she knows she's not supposed to. If I catch her, she'll try and act like she hasn't done anything.She knows she'll be punished with a spray bottle if she's caught, but she sees nothing wrong with eating food that's on the table. In other words, she has her own moral system that simply doesn't jive with mine.

---

"If I had to write ten jokes about potholders, I don't think I could do it. But I could write ten jokes about Catholicism in the next twenty minutes. I guess I'm drawn to religion because I can be provocative without harming something people really care about, like their cars."
-George Meyer, Simpsons writer

If this were the case, she would have no problem with slitting my throat while I slept, and eating me.This message has been edited by Dan Carroll, 10-08-2004 03:06 PM

---

"If I had to write ten jokes about potholders, I don't think I could do it. But I could write ten jokes about Catholicism in the next twenty minutes. I guess I'm drawn to religion because I can be provocative without harming something people really care about, like their cars."
-George Meyer, Simpsons writer

Of course they do. But they're visibly able to develop affection for other creatures, put that affection above immediate impulse.Even apart from extremes of killing me in my sleep, I'm one of about three people in the world that she'll tolerate picking her up. She hates being picked up. She flips out and scratches when most people do it. (Including my roommate, so it's not a simple harmony-with-the-group thing.)She's clearly annoyed when I do it, but she just kind of huffs and accepts it.

---

"If I had to write ten jokes about potholders, I don't think I could do it. But I could write ten jokes about Catholicism in the next twenty minutes. I guess I'm drawn to religion because I can be provocative without harming something people really care about, like their cars."
-George Meyer, Simpsons writer

Then why, exactly, does she not attempt to eat me while I sleep?I have no memory of ever having admonished her against doing so, so it's clearly not my enforcement.This message has been edited by Dan Carroll, 10-13-2004 03:08 PM

---

"If I had to write ten jokes about potholders, I don't think I could do it. But I could write ten jokes about Catholicism in the next twenty minutes. I guess I'm drawn to religion because I can be provocative without harming something people really care about, like their cars."
-George Meyer, Simpsons writer

Which, in and of itself, does not explain why when she is hungry, instead of attempting to eat me, she instead meows while standing next to her food bowl.My sleeping body is an immediate source of food. An empty food bowl is not.

---

"If I had to write ten jokes about potholders, I don't think I could do it. But I could write ten jokes about Catholicism in the next twenty minutes. I guess I'm drawn to religion because I can be provocative without harming something people really care about, like their cars."
-George Meyer, Simpsons writer