Key Differences Between Human and Animal Consciousness

What makes the human consciousness different from the animal consciousness? A primary factor is the possibility that a human being has for detaching himself from total involvement in the external life, and along with that, the opportunity for evolutionary growth.

Dr. Dalal observes: “The essential difference between an animal and a human being, states Sri Aurobindo, is that the animal ‘cannot get for one moment away from its origins… and become something greater than its present self, a more free, magnificent and noble being’, whereas the human being has the potential ability to exceed and even transform the basic instinctive nature which he shares with the animal. Therefore, whereas the animal always remains an animal, man can grow into a being who is as much above the human being as the human being is above the animal.”

“This immense difference between man and animal is due to several distinguishing features of their psychological natures. First, consciousness in the human being has developed the power of detachment, that is, of standing back and observing things as a spectator. Sri Aurobindo notes: ‘It [consciousness] is not by its nature detached from the mental and other activities. It can be detached, it can be involved. In the human consciousness it is as a rule always involved, but it has developed the power of detaching itself — a thing which the lower creation seems unable to do. As the consciousness develops, this power of detachment also develops.’ Human consciousness can detach itself and stand back not only from what lies outside in the environment but also from internal thoughts and feelings, thus dividing itself into a part that observes and a part that is observed. This power of detachment makes for a reflective intelligence which a human being is capable of exercising as distinguished from the reactive intelligence of the animal. With the power of detachment and a reflective intelligence, the human being can control, modify and overcome the force of instincts and impulses, unlike the animal which cannot act contrary to its innate nature. Secondly, though all behaviour in the animal as well as in the human being is purposive, that is, directed towards the fulfilment of some purpose or goal, the human being, as distinguished from the animal, has the potential of conceiving and pursuing higher goals — moral, intellectual, and aesthetic — beyond the basic ones related to physical and biological existence. Thirdly, the more highly developed the human being, in contrast to the animal, is discontented with what he is, and feels an urge for growth towards what he conceives to be an ideal state of being. A fourth distinguishing human characteristic — and this brins us to the subject-matter of this book — is that the human mind, unlike that of the animal, can look at something and react to it from different perspectives. In other words, the human being can adopt different attitudes to the same thing, event or circumstance. The enormous significance of this human characteristic is implicit in a statement by William James, one of the most celebrated psychologists: ‘The greatest discovery of my generation is that men can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind’. “

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Introduction by Dr. Dalal, pp. iii-iv