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To: js1138
I don't think free will is exclusive to humans

Absolutely, as anyone with a dog or cat knows.

What makes humans special is ... the ability to "predict" the future

I'd put it differently - we're just a lot smarter. Even without language we'd be top of the heap.

a faculty that is greatly enhanced by language

Not so sure about that. I think language is more of an output. I'm sure most if not all of our thinking is unconscious.

However at a species level, and maybe this is what you meant, our much greater capacity for culture, in which language plays a central role, puts us far beyond our fellows.

866 posted on 02/23/2003 8:15:11 PM PST by edsheppa
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To: edsheppa
I'm sure most if not all of our thinking is unconscious.

I tend to agree, but I don't want to assign percentages. There are lots of verbally challenged folks out there who make it through life OK.

Perhaps I should say that people have the ability to imagine doing things, physical as well as verbal, and to sequence these imagined behaviors, rehersing them and anticipating their consequences. I have seen cats and dogs do this, but they have a very limited ability to see beyond the immediate situation.

871 posted on 02/23/2003 9:03:41 PM PST by js1138
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