The
dominant sentient life form* on
planet Earth. Being merely sentient is what
Gerald Edelman would call primary-order consciousness.
Alfred Korzybski jokingly called it Fido-mind, since it's more or less the overlap of
experience between us and a dog. Edelman's term for what humans (and
dolphins,
chimps and
gorillas, yes, and I'd even add
elephants) uniquely have is higher-order consciousness. Korzybski would describe this same phenomenon as the ability to perform
abstractions, pointing to
Bertrand Russell's concept of
logical type. The pinnacle of such higher-order or
rational consciousness is of course
language.
Gorillas are only just barely rational creatures. You can teach them primitive sign language, and what they then have really is rational thought, but at the level of a severely-retarded five year old at best. An enhanced vocality is what projects humans (and dolphins) from other primates by leaps and bounds. With our more complex vocalisations and gestures (even this typing being an extention of my gestures), we have evolved to become profoundly social creatures. Which is why I kind of resent the notion that noding is a dubious distinction--to node is human! Seriously, neural networks make us conscious and social networks make us human. (Off my soapbox...)
(*Thank you,
graceness, that tightens things up nicely! A wonderful example of how the
social nature of humans enhances the quality of life of each of its members!)