Scince the beginnming of time we have been trying to define what seperates us from the animals. We have tried to classify this higher awareness since we first observed the differences between animals and humans. Since then we have come up with many definitions for this higher intelligence: feelings, wisdom, and knowledge have all been incorporated into this definition, and today it has become known by a single term, sentience. However there is still something missing. I believe that it is not intelligence, fellings, wisdom, or knowledge that give a creature this awareness, but something that has been overlooked and that is often associated with human nature. It is human nature to dream, it is not intelligence (or any of the others, at leadt not alone) but dreams that give a species it's true sentience. It is the creative drive to become something greater.

Sentience us not intelligence, although it may help. Many dogs, from the moment they are able, are disciplined and taught tricks and other such things by us. Is this not a form of intelligence? A knowledge of how something works? Another example of this is something that most Americans have in their homes, the computer, or on a larger scale the Internet. Large computer networks can store vast amounts of information, many more times than the human brain. But computers cannot think for themselves, they can only execute commands that have been stored in their hardware and software. When one thinks about it they are little more than slaves of humanity. Therefore, intelligence by itself is not sentience.

Sentience is not feelings. There are many feelings some very basic, others very complex. Happiness, Sadness, and Love ar but a few of these emotions. Emotions are not what separates man from beast, for do not animals feel joy at the sight of food after little nutrition. If they could feel joy, then couldn't they also feel love, sadness, or hurt over the loss of a friend? Feelings do not contribute to sentience because we have this in common with animals, it is not a difference.

Sentience is not wisdom. At it's most basic level wisdom is the ability to choose between right and wrong, good from evil. It could also be called common sense. Wisdom is not what gives us sentience because a dog or a cat can use common sense. If a dog is hurt or threatened with a certain object they will shy away from it when it is produced, that is common sense. More common sense includes avoiding predators, eating and drinking. Wisdom is little more than instinct, a gut feelings telling a creature if something is right or not. Wisdom is not what separates man from beast because it is an attribute we both have in common.

I believe that sentient beings have the ability to dream of something greater than they already have, and becuase of that, push themselves towards that drea. Dreaming could be seen as the cause of tools. In essence it is a mans tools that separates him from animals, without a gun few people could survive in a cage with a hungry tiger. This creative drive pushed us from little more than monkeys to people with spears, and eventually to the people we are now. Today we as humans rely heavily on tools, from a fork and spoon, to a computer and keyboard, they are all tools that we have created and use. And we are still creating these tools, in some cases at an increadible rate. A computer fresh off the assembly line goes obsolete nearly immediately. That is how fast we are innovating, inventing, and dreaming. Where would we be without dreamers? Alexander G. Bell invented the telephone, Henry Ford invented a usable and cheap car, Thomas Edison: the lightbulb, Einstein unlocked atomic energy. All of the are dreamers and have pushed us forward. Sentience is not intelligence, wisdom, feelings, or any of the others. It is the ability to aspire to be something greater, to see something and then want to achieve it. To Dream.