Sort of a follow up on the previous thread I guess ... I'm very much interested in all this stuff but I never really studied it or anything. The following is just my uneducated opinion, feel free to correct/add upon/comment on it.

Part A:

Clearly humans have developed well beyond the capabilities of any other animal. So the big question is: Why?

I'd say that our brain has developed into being able to form far more complex connections, in a brain that's physically much larger than it should be viewed against the general proportions of our body.

So what is required to develop a more sofisticated brain:

1. A strong curiosity. If you want to know what something is, you're thinking about it, which trains your brain. Curiosity is something pretty much all animals have, I guess. But I think pretty much only primates have it so strongly that it may actually overcome fear.

2. The right physiology to interact with your habitat. It helps to have hands. Yes, dolphins and other whale species are likely very smart, but they don't have the physical means to, for instance, create tools. With our hands we can make fine and controlled gestures, which helps us create delicate and precise tools to aid us in life.

3. Development of abstract thought. If you want to create a tool, you first need to think about what you need, what problem it is you're trying to overcome and what the right tool to solve it might be.

4. A long term memory. If you forget what you've discovered last week, how are you going to improve upon it?

5. Social encouragement. I guess in a way this is about competition, the desire to 'outsmart'. The need to come up with something even cooler than what that other guy had made.

6. ...

Now the strange thing is, we're part of the primate group, which means we are very similar on a genetical level. Chimps create tools, but these are a gazillion times more primitive than the peak of what we have created so far. So why are they so behind? They're not that different from us.

Another interesting thing is animals like the whale species group and elephants. It's obvious they are intelligent and have a good memory. But, they lack the proper physiology. They don't have hands. Do you think they think on a much higher level, compared to the vast majority of animal live, but are unable to actually achieve their ideas because of physical limitations?

Part B

Do you think the human mind is free, or is this an illusion?

Are we still bound by our instincts or have we really risen above them. At any rate, our body still has control over us. We can't decide to just stop breathing, for instance. It's literally simply impossible.

There are many examples of a genetic heritage. For instance, if you let a young boy walk around, he'll sooner or later pick up a stick or something and start hitting things with it. Any boy in a toy store will want something 'tough'. If you give them carte blanch, you can bet they'll come back with some sort of weapon or a cool car or heavy duty gear like a truck or something. Girls will automatically want something like dolls or a kitchen set, whatever.

I don't think you can raise a child to act against his genetic heritage. Ofcourse you could force him to use something else, by not buying what he wants, but instead buy what you want him to have. But that way you'll end up with a disfunctional kid, I'm sure.

Outside the human mind, there's also hormones. They are the triggers that start up processes of change in our bodies and alter/control the way we think. If your level of these hormones is outside of the normal required amount, you can bet you're generally going to end up being 'disfunctional' to a certain degree. Anyone with a really low hormone level would be found a-sexual. A person with mixed up hormone levels, like a hermaphrodyte, will show mixed up behavioural patterns.

- That's all I can think of (have time for) right now, I might add to it as I think of things to add.

"What is mind, don't matter. What is matter, nevermind!" - Homer J. Simpson.