Plants and animals are all different instances of the impulse of life. Plants tend toward instinct, animals intelligence. Humans are the first species to encode symbolic representations in matter. This capability is what has allowed us to 'evolve' beyond all other life forms. The ability to believe that that matrix is real ;)
> Humans are the first species to encode symbolic representations in matter.
We are probably also the species most capable of alienation and getting totally lost in the symbols we invent, taking them more seriously than what they're supposed to represent. Since that might very well be a major lubricant in our continuation of the course towards the destruction of our species and the ecosystem it depends on, in my books the jury is still out on just how advanced that is.
