COMPARISON OF THE MENTAL POWERS OF MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

From The Descent of Man (1871)

• In his masterpiece The Origin of Species he declared that human beings had developed from monkeys through a long gradual process of evolution.
• The Descent of Man shows many points of similarity between the mental powers of man and lower animals.
• Due to man's extraordinary mental power, he differs from animals.
• There is a vast difference between the two members of the same species of humans. One may be savage and the other kind and civilised.
• Like humans, animals also express feelings of pain, pleasure, and misery.
• Like human beings; some animals too have a good memory.
• Man is supposed to be the crown of whole creation because of the power of reasoning.
• Many naturalists believe that some animals also show a certain amount of reason.
• This essay claims that there is no fundamental difference between man and the higher mammals in their mental faculties.

Summary:

The text Comparison of the Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals was written to present invaluable information obtained over the years by the writer. Two questions: Did man evolve (develop) from other lower forms (animals/apes)? Do animals also possess equal mental power to that of humans? The two questions intrigued the scientist to find answers. He spent several years in a study collecting evidence. The years of study provided him with knowledge. So he let himself write books to share his knowledge. He wrote two books The Origin of Species and The Decent of Man. The present discussion is a small discourse on the comparison of mental power between humans and animals. This discussion implies several other questions.

The text interests us because it raises the fundamental question and seeks to give the answer. It is surprising to know that human beings and other species started the journey of evolution with some kind of modification in their looks, size and character simultaneously. It is really a matter of surprise to see how come humans have certain looks and characteristics in contrast with those of animals. Our surprise surpasses even further and we see humans speak a language that can express their needs and feelings but animals are dumb without the similarity to the expressive quality of humans. Several questions take birth in our mind: Do animals also feel and experience emotion? Do they also feel happy and sad? How do they recall and respond to sorrow and joy? Do they love their young ones? Do they share food or eat alone? These questions swarm in our minds.

By now it is clear that human beings and other species started the journey of evolution more or less at the same time. Through the years of evolution process modification appeared in their looks and size. Human beings developed their mental faculties more than other species. They think, reason, argue, imagine and play with their mind for advanced thinking. Humans developed language and they use it to express their feelings desires and emotions. In comparison to the rate of development of the mental faculty of human beings animals remained far behind in the race. It is really a surprise how come the companions, who started the process of change, growth and development, humans reached far ahead and other species remained far behind. If we look at the process of evolution closely we are made by surprise. It is so because we find many examples and evidence that falsify the notion (feelings) that animals are mindless and they are too weak in their mental faculties. The writer has collected a couple of infallible (true) evidence.

Just as we feel happy and express our joy, kittens and puppies play together to express happiness just like human beings animals also have a sense of joy. Just as human beings gather and share food in the family, many animals share food among themselves. Just as human parents love their young ones, animals also love, care for, nurture and train their babies. It is not only human beings who do have a sense of revenge and challenge; animals practice it too. The writer has said that at one time an army officer flogged (beat severely with a whip or rod) a monkey which sat blocking the way. The monkey felt angry, insulted and stored a sense of revenge in a corner of his mind, and waited for an opportunity to settle the account. The monkey one day saw that his opponent was going on his way. The monkey thought that no other opportunity would be as good as the present moment to take revenge on the man. In haste (hurriedly) the monkey put some water in a puddle and made a lot of mud. The monkey climbed up the tree and watched the man go. The man stepped into the puddle, fell down and splashed mud on his well-washed and ironed dress. The monkey in the tree rejoiced at the man’s plight. This example proves that animals are not less than humans in any respect.

Let us cite another example of a kind and generous mother monkey who adopted an orphan baby monkey. Even a human would not be so kind as to adopt other’s babies in the name of social service. One day the mother monkey knowingly or unknowingly fed her own babies first, but the adopted baby felt very bad at this disparity and discrimination. The adopted baby cried and scratched his own body at being discriminated against. There is yet another example of the sense of love and concern of a dog for his master or mistress. If the master or mistress falls sick the dog will never ever leave him/her until he/she recovers. The dog stays with the master and licks his feet and caresses him. This shows the extreme love, duty, concern and responsibility of a true friend. Even a husband or a wife or a child or a mother would not show much care to his/her kin.

There is a burning example of how monkeys display a sense of fear and fright. In a geological park as an experiment, someone placed a coiled-up snake in the living place of the monkeys. On seeing the snake the monkeys let out cries of fright. The monkeys stood at a safer distance and examine the snake they looked frightened and frantic. They alarmed other monkeys not to go too close.

In brief, we can say for sure that animals also grow their mental powers. Just like humans they can sense joy, sorrow, sympathy, danger and need of help. The examples cited above make it crystal clear that along with human beings the mental faculty of animals is also growing.

Works Cited

Darwin, C. (2008). Comparision of the Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals. In S. Lohani, K. C. Sharma, A. Gupto, & A. Sharma, Essays on Western Intellectual Tradition (pp. 107-125). Kathmandu, Nepal: M.K. Publishers and Distributors.