[__ Science __ ] Mankind: An Invasive Ape?

[AIG.com]

What is man? How you answer that question immediately exposes your worldview and the foundation on which that worldview rests.

Continue reading...

 

[Barbarian]

A very particular type of ape, yes. But it’s true that when we look at the great primates today and the relationship they have with each other in terms of closeness and common ancestors — though not in appearance — we realize that man is closer to the chimpanzee than the chimpanzee is to the orangutan. Scientifically, it doesn’t make much sense to put orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees or bonobos in one group of great apes and humans in another, because man is very close to them. We could say that humans are very particular great apes, who’ve acquired original characteristics. It’s also important to remember that kinship shouldn’t be confused with similarity in appearance.

So his argument goes: even though we don’t look as much like a great ape as the great apes do, we really are “very particular great apes,” closer to chimpanzees than even a chimp is to an orangutan.

Sort of like pug dogs and wolves, yeah. "Looks like" means much less than genetics. Genetically, humans and chimps are closer to each other than either is to any other ape. Like wolves and pug dogs are closer to each other than either is to any other canid. Because genes show that they share a common ancestor after that ancestor diverged from all other canids.
One worldview is summed up by Mark Twain: "Faith is believing what you know ain't so."
The other from St. Paul:
Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.