Why did god do this?

[bernee51]

This article begins "Scientists have unveiled the genetic code of the chimpanzee, showing that humans are biologically distinct from apes thanks to a small handful of important differences in DNA."

It goes on: "Of the chimp's 3 billion base pairs, a mere 35 million of them (less than 4 per cent) are different from a human's. Yet these scant differences have a huge impact. They have given humans an outsized brain, the ability to walk upright on two feet, develop complex language skills, adapt quickly to changing environments, as well as other uniquely human features."

It also notes that "...one ape gene, caspase-12, produces an enzyme that appears to protect the animal from Alzheimer's disease but does not exist in modern humans."

My question. Why would god do this?

Why would he obviously have the hardware to protect those "made in his image" from a debilitating disease of old age yet only give it to a 'lower' animal?

[Jose]

Interesting question, Scro. The Plan is an untested, unproved assumption. But then, if we are going to believe in the other aspects of a religion, it seems like the thing to do to believe in that one, too. The problem with The Plan, in my view, is that it absolves people of responsibility for their actions. If they really understood that they are here as a result of a series of genetic and ecological contingencies, and that they have the power to introduce new ecological forces that could cause great harm to the very system that keeps us alive, I think they'd behave in a much more understanding and moral way.