Group 1

• We have mobile shoulder joints well suited to throwing and hunting.
• We blush when we’re embarrassed.
• We know that we will die, and we are able to think about our own mortality. 
• We have forethought. We can imagine the future, plan, forecast, and make decisions with a view to long-term consequences.
• We use language to communicate.
• We engage in politics: we organise, govern, negotiate, argue, lobby, advocate and exercise power.
• We bury our dead and adorn their graves.
• We use tools.
• We are capable of caring for each other.

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Group 2

• We have opposable thumbs and other features of the hand and fingers that enable fine motor control. These features enable us to use technology and engage in detailed precision work.
• We are made of flesh and blood, and we go through developmental stages.
• We have a conscience and we have moral intuitions about what’s right and wrong.
• We have self-control: We can change our behaviour to fit with other people’s expectations or laws.
• We can think and reason logically.
• We have social systems like economic trade, division of labour and specialisation.
• We make war.
• We have a long childhood.
• We use medicine.

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Group 3

• We have mostly naked (hairless) skin.
• We have a big brain.
• We have self-awareness. We are conscious of our own individuality and separateness from the environment and other individuals. 
• We can do philosophy. For instance, we can contemplate what makes humans unique among other animal species.
• We have a physiology that enables us to speak due to the location of the larynx and the shape of our mouth, tongue and vocal tract.
• We have free will and moral agency.
• We have a complex and cooperative social life. 
• We make art.
• We have advanced technologies.

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Group 4

• We are bipedal (we stand and walk upright). This enables us to use our hands for holding, carrying, picking up and touching. It also enables us to see from a higher vantage point than if we walked on all fours.
• We live in a moral community that understands moral concepts and rules.
• We are sentient: we can experience pain, comfort, joy and suffering.
• We are intelligent.
• We have the FOXP2 gene (a gene we share with Neanderthals and chimpanzees), which is critical for the development of speech and language.
• We understand that other people have mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions etc) that may be different to our own. We can use this understanding to navigate complex social situations.
• We have culture. We transmit knowledge from generation to generation.
• We wear clothes.
• We shape our environment. We cultivate land, build cities, exploit natural resources, change ecosystems, influence biodiversity, and cause climate change.

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The Philosophy Club works with schools and communities to develop a culture of thinking through collaborative inquiry and dialogue.