We tend to think of ourselves as the pinnacle of creation. This is where the idea comes that God made us and infused our being with special purpose. But from an evolutionary perspective, we are just really quite good at surviving and procreating. And so is the cockroach. What makes us so special anyway?
I can not speak for "we" so I will speak for "me"
I actually do not feel we are the "pinnacle of creation."
Despite not being the pinnacle of creation, I think you know my take on this re "purpose"
Not being the pinnacle of the universe does not necessarily mean Creation does not have purpose ascribed to it.
When compared to a cockroach, I'd say that the cockroach does not have the ability to reflect on itself.
The cockroach does not seem to be capable of altruism either.
If you find either or both of these attributes special in any way, then the answer is clear.
But, yes, I agree; many critters that inhabit the earth are special in their own unique way. I'd say they ALL are.
The relationship between the hominid species and evolution is a curious one.
The development of consciousness seems to be a radical phenomena that arose from an evolutionary context that is based strictly on a physico-biological setting that conventional Darwinian thinking assumes as fact.
Why for instance has mathematical reasoning evolved the ability to develop abstract mathematics, non-commulative algebra, and profound theorems that describe and predict, sometimes years in advance, aspects of the natural realm? Conventional Darwinism would predict developments with obvious survival advantages, such as elementary arithmetic and basic geometry. It seems absurd to view advance mathematics has fortunate spin-offs of evolutionary survival necessity.
Why is Fermat's Last Theorem, or Gödel's incompleteness theorems necessary for hominid survival?
I'd say from a conventional Darwinian contextual perspective someone like Johnson would rather have the beak than Gödel's theorem in his utility survival belt.