ABSTRACT
A definition of man, in any terms, may be undertaken in either or both of several ways. Discrimination between man and non-man at the present time presents no difficulties if one looks at it in a superficial fashion. Only man has a “language,” but if one defines language as a means of communication, or even as symbolic communication, there is no clear-cut distinction. Tool-using and tool-making; intelligence and reasoning; social forms; culture; all the familiar points of distinction between man and non-man, break down as all-or-none distinctions when they are carefully examined. Some elements in the distinctively human adaptation have certainly changed as markedly as tool-using and toolmaking since man appeared. One of the striking aspects of man is the temporal extent of the world he lives in — that is, he not only remembers the past but he anticipates the future to a greater degree than any other animal.
