Aridarr wrote:
Every species of animal is as different from all others as humans are from other animals, and every individual of those varying species is just that; an individual...so it would be wrong of me to say that I relate well to "animals" (keeping in mind that humans are animals, too.)
I agree with this. This was the idea I had in mind when I said, "in general".
I often wonder how different humans really are from other animals. In many ways, we are the same. The differences we commonly point to are not really differences. For instance, we are not the only animals that use tools or build structures. And we cannot say for certain that other animals do not create art or have belief systems.
One fundamental difference between us and other animals is the fact that we deny that we are animals. We pretend to be gods. Violent gods.