Humans and Orangatuns

     Below is an essay I received a score of 8 for.  To be honest, I still feel like it should have been higher.  I regard this as the best essay I've ever written, and I don't really understand why I got an 8 out of 12.  I'm probably just being immature, but I can't help myself.  Technically, the graders aren't supposed to judge you if you creatively BS-ed everything but your intro (I did).  

    Prompt: Do people need other people to understand themselves? Support you answer with examples yada yada yada...

    When I was still in preschool, I made friends with a tree, whose wit I treasured very much.  My peers couldn't understand why anyone would want to spend time with something as incapable of reciprocation as a tree, so they teased me for it.  They called me things like "weirdo" and "tree beard".  I later realized that it is human nature to put down or ridicule things we cannot comprehend.  So I would say that yes, humans need other humans in order to understand themselves because one human is merely a part of the bigger whole that is the homo sapiens species. 
     My good friend and celebrated biologist, Dr. Annae Blythe explained to me once, how organisms need to be a part of a society made up of those same organisms in order to achieve an understanding of themselves (naturally this only applies to creatures that are capable of meta-cognition).  Humans are no different.  Humans also do not possess any predilection for self-study.  It is only through social interactions that we can develop an understanding of human nature and the workings of the human mind.  As we mature, so does our comprehension of humanity and because everyone is ultimately a member of humanity, that leads to a greater understanding of ourselves.
     Some twenty years ago, Annae conducted a study with our close relative, the orangatan.  She found that when isolated, they did not develop the social skills necessary to pick up on the emotional cues of their companions.  In addition, they had a harder time figuring out a means to respond to certain signals their own bodies sent them: hunger, pain, discomfort.  In contrast, however, the second group consisting of several orangutan that spent time in each others company did rather better at all these things.  Annae concluded that therefore, organisms such as orangutan and humans can achieve  greater self-awareness and understanding when able to observe those around them.  Our compatriots bring out our own quintessentially human qualities and observation of theirs allows for a greater understanding of our own.
    Yes, there are those special individuals that do consciously contemplate their own personalities and character, but the rest of us achieve that same understanding at the subconscious level.  Because of this, we learn by unconsciously observing others of our species and are better able to consciously analyze our own feelings when they are brought to the surface by certain events or interactions.  As Anne Sheppard said :" As human beings we all have things in common".