The second of four ‘Tetley Talks’ on the theme of ‘What does it mean to be human?’
Is humanity exceptional or just another ape? Today, the belief that human beings are special is distinctly out of fashion. Almost every day we are presented with new revelations about how much we are driven by neurological and biological impulses over which we have little or no control, and at the same time about how animals are so much more like us than we ever imagined. The argument
is at its most powerful when it comes to our closest living relatives – the great apes. However, despite what first impressions might tell us, are apes really ‘just like us’? Or are the boundaries between us and other species greater than many would like to claim?
