Since when are humans mammals?

alexxstar · #1 5th October 2003, 01:15 PM

Hi everyone.

I'm Alexx, a 26 yr old mom of two children. I spend time in chat rooms dedicated to parents and children.Recently while in one of these chat rooms, several posters stated that it's normal for women to breastfeed because every other mammal does it.

Both my husband and I were raised Christians. Me - Lutheran, my husband- Catholic. We both recall being taught that humans aren't animals and that it's modern science that would like you to believe this is so.

As a breastfeeding mother, I take great offense to being called a mammal. I am not an animal. Pure and simple.

I guess I am posting this to see if I am not alone in my thinking because I got no support at all

in the parenting chat rooms as everyone thinks it's ridiculous to argue against it because the dictionary definition includes humans as mammals.

Inspired · #2 5th October 2003, 01:21 PM

mammals aren't defined as animals, I think that might be why you are getting offended, because of your definiton of the terminology.

The classifications for being a mammal are, warm-blooded vertebrates, breast feeding their young, and skin that is more or less covered with hair.

So yes, humans are mammals according to the terminology, and so are animals, but in no way does that imply that humans are animals, or vice versa.

And welcome to CF

alexxstar · #3 5th October 2003, 02:04 PM

Definition 2B in the online Merriam Webster dictionary defines ANIMAL as: MAMMAL; broadly : VERTEBRATE

I think that people generally think mammals are animals.
I even came across a Mammal webpage that I found through a Christian website link, that specifically states: Animals are mammals. See this website here: earthlife.net/mammals/mammal.html

coastie · #4 5th October 2003, 02:34 PM

That's a strange definition for an animal.

We are mammals because of our Characteristics, not because we are animals or someone was calling you a lower life form. Believe me, it wasn't intended as an insult.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm a mammal too.

alexxstar · #5 5th October 2003, 03:15 PM

Well, I believe this will become an area of interest to me. I know there are many factors that determine what a mammal is. I think there is a HUGE psychological impact by classifying people as animals. I'm new to this concept and I feel there's something wrong with it in my gut. It's not that I think I am better than animals. I just think there is something seriously wrong with categorizing humans as animals.

lucaspa · #6 5th October 2003, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by alexxstar

Definition 2B in the online Merriam Webster dictionary defines ANIMAL as: MAMMAL; broadly : VERTEBRATE

I think that people generally think mammals are animals.
I even came across a Mammal webpage that I found through a Christian website link, that specifically states: Animals are mammals. See this website here: earthlife.net/mammals/mammal.html

That is a strange definition of "animal". Mammals are animals, but not all animals are mammals. Fish are animals. So are octupi, worms, insects, etc.

The taxonomic grouping called "mammals" was first devised by Linneaus. Linneaus was a creationist and believe similarly to what you do about humans being created separately. However, it was clear to him and everyone since that we share the characteristics of warm blood, hair, and lactation (breast feeding) with all other mammals.

Now, part of your problem seems to be what is called the "naturalistic fallacy". This is the fallacy that says what happens in nature is "good" and therefore must be done by humans. That's a value judgement that doesn't work. Yes, mammals breast feed their young, but that doesn't mean that humans also have to breast feed. Thanks to our technology, we have a choice. There are some advantages for the infant in breast feeding in most cases, but not in all. So, you get to make the choice about what is "good" for your kids and you.

lucaspa · #7 5th October 2003, 03:51 PM

Originally Posted by alexxstar

Recently while in one of these chat rooms, several posters stated that it's normal for women to breastfeed because every other mammal does it.

Yes, it is natural, for the reasons stated. But that doesn't mean you must breastfeed. It's not "natural" to build skyscrapers, but we do it.

Both my husband and I were raised Christians. Me - Lutheran, my husband- Catholic. We both recall being taught that humans aren't animals and that it's modern science that would like you to believe this is so.

As a breastfeeding mother, I take great offense to being called a mammal. I am not an animal. Pure and simple.

Naturalistic fallacy. In this case you seem to think that being an "animal" means behaving in a bestial, violent fashion. That's not true.

Here, this might help:
http://www.ncseweb.org/resources/art..._12_7_2000.asp

I guess I am posting this to see if I am not alone in my thinking because I got no support at all in the parenting chat rooms as everyone thinks it's ridiculous to argue against it because the dictionary definition includes humans as mammals.

(sad smile) I'm afraid you're not going to get any more support here. It's not the "dictionary definition", but the characteristics of humans and other animals that are classified as mammals.

Creationists won't give you any support, since all creationist organizations also say humans are mammals even when they give a separate creation of humans and other mammals.

lucaspa · #8 5th October 2003, 03:59 PM

Originally Posted by alexxstar

I think there is a HUGE psychological impact by classifying people as animals. I'm new to this concept and I feel there's something wrong with it in my gut. It's not that I think I am better than animals. I just think there is something seriously wrong with categorizing humans as animals.

Most creationist organizations and conservative Christians think that classifying people as animals means that they will behave as animals. By that they mean that no animal has moral behavior and that humans will lose all their moral behavior.

That fear has been around a long time. Adam Sedgwick and Charles Lyell, among others, voiced that opinion when Darwin first came out with his theory of evolution. It didn't happen. Humans have behaved badly all those centuries when people thought they were not animals. The Bible, after all, chronicles every kind of depravity as existing long before Linneaus' classification came out in the late 1600s.

So, I wouldn't worrry about it.

NeilUnreal · #9 5th October 2003, 05:09 PM

I think there is a HUGE psychological impact by classifying people as animals. I'm new to this concept and I feel there's something wrong with it in my gut.

Hmmmm. Interestingly enough I'm a Christian and I feel exactly the opposite: it gives me comfort to know I'm part of a great chain of life on this earth.

There are good and bad apples among my human relatives and ancestors, and good and bad apples among my non-human relatives and ancestors. Why should either fact make me feel bad about myself? I'm still me.

-Neil

wblastyn · #10 5th October 2003, 05:38 PM

You're an animal because you belong to Kingdom Animalia. What's wrong with animals?