In the fifth century B.C.E., the Greek philosopher Protagoras pronounced, “Man is the measure of all things.” In other words, we feel entitled to ask the world, “What good are you?”
(A) Abilities said to “make us human” ― empathy, communication, grief, toolmaking, and so on ― all exist to varying degrees among other minds sharing the world with us. Animals with backbones (fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) all share the same basic skeleton, organs, nervous systems, hormones, and behaviors.
(B) We assume that we are the world’s standard, that all things should be compared to us. Such an assumption makes us overlook a lot.
(C) Just as different models of automobiles each have an engine, drive train, four wheels, doors, and seats, we differ mainly in terms of our outside contours and a few internal tweaks. But like naive car buyers, most people see only animals’ varied exteriors.
* contour: 윤곽, 외형 ** tweak: 조정, 개조