[justintrtle]

How does the claim that animals are sentient make the word meaningless?

[thriftwy]

Then there's nobody who is not sentient, and we need a separate word for those who can, like, talk and use tools.

[NateEag]

I have seen the word "sapient" used to delineate the ways in which humans seem to differ from most animals.

[thriftwy]

I expected that, but it's highly likely that Neanderthals and/or Habilis would also qualify as sentient (old definition), whereas it would be confusing to say that they are both "sapient".