On: Are Those Spidery Black Things On Mars Dangerous?

[jlgreco]

I'd say we are proof that they can be. ;)

Saying that humans are pattern matching engines seems equivalent to saying VW Bugs are internal combustion engines to me though.

[JonnieCache → jlgreco]

I meant the "essence" of humanity, as in "what separates us from the animals."

That is what it means to be uniquely human: to match patterns, overzealously.

[technolem → JonnieCache]

Most animals are pattern matchers. Overzealous ones at that. Our specialty is abstraction and formal logic.