But as far as the animals themselves, IMO they are biological machines
Maybe you need a couple of wacks with the clue-bat Ragnar, but you too are are "biological machine". Sure, you can CLAIM that our species is somehow different from the other animals on the planet. Maybe it would that we walk on two legs...opps, lots of birds are bipedal.
OK, we use tools...opps, so do Finches, Ravens and Chimps.
OK, we MAKE tools...opps, again so do some species of birds and apes.
OK, we make weapons and traps to hunt with! Opps, so do Chimpanzee's and some whales.
Hmmm...lots see, *I* know! Humans are the only ones who convey complex information to their fellows!
Opps...so do honey bees.
OH! OH! OH! I got it now! Humans are the only ones with immortal souls! YEAH! Thats it!
Not that said soul can be demostrated to exist, much less measured. You just have to trust me on this one.I have plenty of empathy. For Humans.
And some people wonder why I'm such a misanthrope.
As I see it, the only thing that truely sets our kind apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is our capacity for rationalization of the evil we do to our own kind and to the other life on the planet.