I agree with most of your post except for your belief that non human forms of life lack the "divine spark" of humans, or as you have said, lack the ability to deny one's impulses, etc. I think as time goes on, more rigorous scientific study will prove that animals possess many of these characteristics that were previously applied to humans only. i wait for the day that scientific equipment is sensitive enough to measure someone's chi, q, vital life spark, or "divine spark". EEG's, brainwaves, or pulse are currently a brute force and gross way of oversimplifying that picture. That day might be a ways off. Probably about the time that quantum physics theory becomes more than a theory. until then, we only have compelling stories such as these, such as this story explaining that chickens practice self control http://www.goveg.com/f-hiddenliveschickens.asp or that cockroaches colllobarate, previously reported here on slashdot http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/0 4/1532235&from=rss