Of all of the nature documentaries David Attenborough has voiced over, there’s one species that we’ve yet to hear him discuss. So today we’ll be taking a deep dive into the weird world of Homo sapiens.
This post may includeaffiliate links.
To learn more about what makes human beings such a unique species, we reached out to clinical psychologistLeon F. Seltzer, PhD, who was kind enough to have a chat withBored Panda.“Non-human mammals have only an incipient notion of morality, relating to protecting, specifically, members of their own family and, more generally, their species, against other species,” Dr. Seltzer explained.He also recommended checking out the work ofLoretta Breuning, who has written many books on this topic.
To learn more about what makes human beings such a unique species, we reached out to clinical psychologistLeon F. Seltzer, PhD, who was kind enough to have a chat withBored Panda.
“Non-human mammals have only an incipient notion of morality, relating to protecting, specifically, members of their own family and, more generally, their species, against other species,” Dr. Seltzer explained.
He also recommended checking out the work ofLoretta Breuning, who has written many books on this topic.
We were also curious if Dr. Seltzer was aware of any human behaviors that we consider normal but are actually quite bizarre if we think about them.“I’d agree thataltruismas correctly defined (often it isn’t) is a human phenomenon that benefits the self-sacrificer only in satisfying their personal moral dictates,” the expert shared. “That is, there’s no survival in their actions.”
We were also curious if Dr. Seltzer was aware of any human behaviors that we consider normal but are actually quite bizarre if we think about them.
“I’d agree thataltruismas correctly defined (often it isn’t) is a human phenomenon that benefits the self-sacrificer only in satisfying their personal moral dictates,” the expert shared. “That is, there’s no survival in their actions.”
We also asked Dr. Seltzer if human beings are constantly coming up with new things to do or if we’re getting to a point where it’s all been done before. “It all relates to brain chemistry. What invokes our so-called ‘happy chemicals’ (Breuning yet again) is doing something not routine but novel where the reward of such behavior isn’t yet assured,” he explained.“Once something becomes habitual, it’s no longer able to lift our spirits, to improve our mood or state of mind, so we look for something new. This explains why polygamy, for example, is so common— cross-culturally and historically,” Dr. Seltzer continued.
We also asked Dr. Seltzer if human beings are constantly coming up with new things to do or if we’re getting to a point where it’s all been done before. “It all relates to brain chemistry. What invokes our so-called ‘happy chemicals’ (Breuning yet again) is doing something not routine but novel where the reward of such behavior isn’t yet assured,” he explained.
“Once something becomes habitual, it’s no longer able to lift our spirits, to improve our mood or state of mind, so we look for something new. This explains why polygamy, for example, is so common— cross-culturally and historically,” Dr. Seltzer continued.
“Humans can act immorally or amorally in ways that animals with far less intelligence couldn’t even contemplate doing,” Dr. Seltzer added. “So, ethically speaking, humans can be better and much worse than animals.”
From people wearing bikinis in the snow to getting hairstyles that look incredibly similar to pineapples, there is truly no limit to what human beings can do. And apparently, we have the creativity to keep innovating and coming up with even more bizarre and hilarious behavior to exhibit.
Now, we’re not the only species that does comically odd things. I’ve seen my cat make countless hilarious faces and sounds, and his behavior is not always predictable. But we humans are unique in the way that we have free will and an extremely complex communication system. As long as the technology exists, anything that we can imagine, we can turn into a reality.Robert Roy Britt wrote a piece forLive Sciencediscussing why human beings are arguably the strangest species, and he brings attention to a variety of the bizarre things we tend to do. We lie, cheat, fall in love, kiss, and blush. We also have odd features such as fingernails, an appendix, an Adam’s apple and curly pubic hair. Many of us even part our hair, crack our knuckles, get goose bumps and shiver when we’re cold.
Now, we’re not the only species that does comically odd things. I’ve seen my cat make countless hilarious faces and sounds, and his behavior is not always predictable. But we humans are unique in the way that we have free will and an extremely complex communication system. As long as the technology exists, anything that we can imagine, we can turn into a reality.
Robert Roy Britt wrote a piece forLive Sciencediscussing why human beings are arguably the strangest species, and he brings attention to a variety of the bizarre things we tend to do. We lie, cheat, fall in love, kiss, and blush. We also have odd features such as fingernails, an appendix, an Adam’s apple and curly pubic hair. Many of us even part our hair, crack our knuckles, get goose bumps and shiver when we’re cold.
Humans can be tickled, but we can’t tickle ourselves. We can do gross things like burp, fart, itch and smell terrible, and we often struggle to find a lover or life partner. We love telling stories, spreading urban legends and discussing conspiracy theories. But we don’t completely understand our own consciousness. We yawn, sleep, get hiccups, dream, snore, laugh, cry and procrastinate. And we often get drowsy after eating but then can’t fall asleep at night when we actually want to. We grind our teeth, experience stress and anxiety, choose to be monogamous in relationships and work hard at our jobs, even if we aren’t being compensated well.
We’re a brilliant species who have created countless pieces of technology and can perform open-heart surgery to save lives, yet we often forget where we’ve set our keys down and can easily be sucked down the rabbit hole of social media for hours. We experience déjà vu, and although we enjoy exercise and being active, many of us also have a hard time eating healthy and stopping when we’re full.
We love playing games, but we hate losing. We love the rush of gambling even though we know there’s a huge risk involved. We enjoy fear when we’ve consented to seeing a scary movie or visiting a haunted house, and we can feel the pain of others. We have belly buttons, acne and food cravings. And we often know what the right thing to do is, but we don’t always choose the most moral actions. We hurt people we love, and we fear being open and honest about our feelings. We are an extremely complex species.
The advent of the internet has certainly made it easier to realize just how bizarre of a species we truly are. We can snap photos and record videos anywhere, and we can share them online in seconds for others to view and respond to. We likely weren’t as tuned into how weird other humans were before we had the opportunity to share on pages like Humans Doing Human Things. But the absurdity of our species is one of the most beautiful things about it as well. We’re unpredictable, and we’re always looking for something new to do.
See Also on Bored Panda
Aspiring Bloghas also published a piece discussing weird things humans do, and they note that one unique trait we have is the fact that we blame one another for things. If we don’t want to accept guilt and take responsibility for our own actions, we can point to someone else and absolve ourselves from needing any self-reflection. “Well, that wasn’t my fault, so I don’t need to learn from my mistakes!”
Humans are also odd in the way that we often don’t actually practice what we preach. A person might say that they love animals and that animal cruelty is wrong, but they’ll eat sausage for breakfast, chicken for lunch and a steak for dinner. Someone may judge another person for getting a divorce because their religion tells them that it’s wrong but then cheat on their partner when they feel dissatisfied in their relationship. And while it’s easy to say that all human beings deserve equal treatment, if you don’t respect women and people of color as much as you respect men, you don’t really believe that.
Are you enjoying scrolling through these fascinating photos of human beings, pandas? Or are you feeling secondhand embarrassment due to how strange your own people are? Either way, we hope you’re entertained! Keep upvoting the pics you find particularly odd, and then if you’re interested in seeing even more photos from Humans Doing Human Things, check outthis Bored Panda articlenext!
Modal closeAdd New ImageModal closeAdd Your Photo To This ListPlease use high-res photos without watermarksOoops! Your image is too large, maximum file size is 8 MB.Not your original work?Add sourcePublish
Modal close
Add New ImageModal closeAdd Your Photo To This ListPlease use high-res photos without watermarksOoops! Your image is too large, maximum file size is 8 MB.Not your original work?Add sourcePublish
Modal closeAdd Your Photo To This ListPlease use high-res photos without watermarksOoops! Your image is too large, maximum file size is 8 MB.Not your original work?Add sourcePublish
Add Your Photo To This ListPlease use high-res photos without watermarksOoops! Your image is too large, maximum file size is 8 MB.
Add Your Photo To This List
Please use high-res photos without watermarks
Ooops! Your image is too large, maximum file size is 8 MB.
Not your original work?Add source
Modal closeModal closeOoops! Your image is too large, maximum file size is 8 MB.UploadUploadError occurred when generating embed. Please check link and try again.TwitterRender conversationUse html versionGenerate not embedded versionAdd watermarkInstagramShow Image OnlyHide CaptionCropAdd watermarkFacebookShow Image OnlyAdd watermarkChangeSourceTitleUpdateAdd Image
Modal closeOoops! Your image is too large, maximum file size is 8 MB.UploadUploadError occurred when generating embed. Please check link and try again.TwitterRender conversationUse html versionGenerate not embedded versionAdd watermarkInstagramShow Image OnlyHide CaptionCropAdd watermarkFacebookShow Image OnlyAdd watermarkChangeSourceTitleUpdateAdd Image
Upload
UploadError occurred when generating embed. Please check link and try again.TwitterRender conversationUse html versionGenerate not embedded versionAdd watermarkInstagramShow Image OnlyHide CaptionCropAdd watermarkFacebookShow Image OnlyAdd watermark
Error occurred when generating embed. Please check link and try again.
TwitterRender conversationUse html versionGenerate not embedded versionAdd watermark
InstagramShow Image OnlyHide CaptionCropAdd watermark
FacebookShow Image OnlyAdd watermark
ChangeSourceTitle
You May Like50 Funny Memes That Men Might Find Funny, Shared By The “Men’s Humor” IG Account (New Pics)Greta Jaruševičiūtė50 Strange And Funny Photos From The Internet, As Shared On This Peculiar GroupViktorija Ošikaitė40 Images So Weird They Need Jesus, As Shared By The “Weird Images Worth Seeing” Online GroupMantas Kačerauskas
Greta Jaruševičiūtė
Viktorija Ošikaitė
Mantas Kačerauskas
Funny
