Degree or Kind?

Isn't nature beautiful? Step outside and feel the cold fall air. Look at the changing leaves. Admire the red sunset. It really is beautiful. Why do we appreciate its beauty? How is it that we understand when something is beautiful and when it is not? What is it that inclines us toward the pretty and not towards the simple, mundane, or just downright ugly? We appreciate intricacy and creativity. We thrive on beautiful things. But we have no way of knowing exactly why we care so much or what it is that drives us to seek beauty. Could it be our evolved sense of aesthetics? How is it that animals are not attracted to beautiful things? Aren't they evolved, too? I guess what I'm really getting at is: What makes humans different from animals? If evolutionists would have their way, they would have us believe that we are super evolved animals. We bear resemblance to animals, but we are much different. For one thing, we're much smarter than they are. We have huge buildings and we have computers. I say this not to glorify man, but to emphasize the difference between man and animals. Is it a difference of degree or kind?
By degree, we are much smarter than animals. But that isn't the only thing that makes us different.
By kind, we are not animals. We are something completely different, something with a sense of aesthetics, a sense of morals, a sense of humor, a sense of kindness, and we all have values, whether we admit it or not. Our values dictate our feelings, and how we treat other people. But what I'm trying to say is that we are not animals. We are unique. A very valuable book says that man has eternity engraved on his heart. Animals do not. You can tell that from the way they exist day to day, taking what they need, sometimes planning a little ahead, but mostly focused only on the here and now. Humans, on the other hand, pause and reflect on life and the way things are going in our lives. We wonder about our future. That's what we do in school; prepare for whatever our future may hold. I think anyone, evolutionist or not, could easily say that animals do not attend school. They prepare for their future by learning to kill things. But their parents don't worry about them when they don't do quite well enough. Their parents don't really care whether their offspring have a better life than they do. And of course, animals don't pause in front of a beautiful sunset just to watch it. Humans are special.

Humans have a different agenda in life. They want to find meaning before they die. There is no man-made meaning to life, I can tell you that right off the bat. But what is there?
I'll have to leave you hanging in suspense. I really need to get ready for bed! Until later.