If anyone recalls how nature documentaries go on and on about how great the human body or mind really is, might i remind you all of how inherently unrealistic that statement is. just last month, another man in america killed another teenager and just this month alone, we've restarted the Cold War.
under the lens of science, logic and reason, we're a marvel of genetic engineering and a part of the one in a million chance in the great big universe of life occurring. and then we wage war with one another while depriving the very one in a million chance of life to other beings who share the same fate and world we live on. so, humans are brilliant on paper but a hassle to live with.
the problem is that we think we're more evolved than other animals due to our keen intellect and supposed civility. Bonobo monkeys are more evolved than us in that sense seeing as they're able to resolve most of their fights through sexual activities. do we perhaps think that animals are more compassionate than us in that aspect then? not really. they fight and cannibalize themselves as much as we do. so, we're pretty much the same then; nothing really special and still an animal.
perhaps we think our capability to build things is something that animals don't have, and that somehow puts us on a higher pedestal than them. wrong again. termite and ants build their nests and turn them into ridiculously large mounds of tunnels and nursery halls; much like our skyscrappers. birds too are able to build small, elaborate houses; the weaver bird is one such. so, that rules out construction then.
what about inventing things? this must be the key thing that separates us from the monkeys! not really, again. chimpanzees and certain other apes have been known to utilize sticks and make small tools to hunt or crush hard shelled nuts to get at their delicious insides. the slight argument is that our inventions tend to be more sophisticated instead of banging sticks and stones together. but then again, man's supposed greatest discovery was fire and that itself came from banging sticks and stones together. nice try.
we'd then imagine that ambition is the main thing that separates us from the animals. we climbed to the top of the food chain because we were more ambitious and dominated the other animals in the way to become the apex predator. mm.... yes, if only all other animals did not wish to survive. in order for animals to become successful, they must do all they can to survive first and foremost. predatory animals such as the tiger or crocodile must survive their youth, consume much meat and then grow as large as possible and reproduce multiple times in order to be successful. if ambition can be defined as such, we're really not that different. humans must survive school or in some other parts of the world, not get shot. then humans must grow up physically and mentally while making themselves strong or being very good at something like football or being an accountant. then humans must procreate as well, though usually cleverer humans, stop just before having children in order to maintain a certain level of happiness.
i'm bringing up all these points because for some unknown reason to me, humans feel the need to be the sole caretaker of the world. to be fair, nature was doing alright till we showed up on the scene. we brought in our factories, leveled the forests and decimated a number of species. all for the sake of progress or more bluntly, greed. perhaps in some way, we have to become the caretakers of nature for the simple reason that we abused it and must atone for it. not because we are able to build things. we are not much cleverer than a cat or more intimidating physically than a dog.
however, it takes a person to undo the damage we've done to this poor little planet. it takes heart, soul and dedication, not just logic, science and "progress". humans are not people anymore than we think that certain animals are. in my books, a person is a being who is able to balance logic, emotion and love. humans are by definition still an animal as i've noted above. humans are not much different from an animal by any means. humans have been shown to be as cruel as animals, perhaps more so in that aspect. with that in mind, it takes a rather special human to rise above our innate animal behavior to truly become a person.
what we need are more people who are able to discern and be dismayed by the damage we are causing to the world. we need said people to begin educating others into being proper people; quite the impossible task on it's own. more importantly though, the proper caretakers of the world should be people, not humans. and unfortunately, despite there being about 7 billion humans and counting on this world, i can quite confidently say there aren't many people on it. though, you may then pose a different question to me and ask me if i am so pretentious as to count myself as a person. the answer is no, and that is the god honest truth. humans, we've a long way to go. so, hope that our planet remains hospitable enough for us to become people.
under the lens of science, logic and reason, we're a marvel of genetic engineering and a part of the one in a million chance in the great big universe of life occurring. and then we wage war with one another while depriving the very one in a million chance of life to other beings who share the same fate and world we live on. so, humans are brilliant on paper but a hassle to live with.
the problem is that we think we're more evolved than other animals due to our keen intellect and supposed civility. Bonobo monkeys are more evolved than us in that sense seeing as they're able to resolve most of their fights through sexual activities. do we perhaps think that animals are more compassionate than us in that aspect then? not really. they fight and cannibalize themselves as much as we do. so, we're pretty much the same then; nothing really special and still an animal.
perhaps we think our capability to build things is something that animals don't have, and that somehow puts us on a higher pedestal than them. wrong again. termite and ants build their nests and turn them into ridiculously large mounds of tunnels and nursery halls; much like our skyscrappers. birds too are able to build small, elaborate houses; the weaver bird is one such. so, that rules out construction then.
what about inventing things? this must be the key thing that separates us from the monkeys! not really, again. chimpanzees and certain other apes have been known to utilize sticks and make small tools to hunt or crush hard shelled nuts to get at their delicious insides. the slight argument is that our inventions tend to be more sophisticated instead of banging sticks and stones together. but then again, man's supposed greatest discovery was fire and that itself came from banging sticks and stones together. nice try.
we'd then imagine that ambition is the main thing that separates us from the animals. we climbed to the top of the food chain because we were more ambitious and dominated the other animals in the way to become the apex predator. mm.... yes, if only all other animals did not wish to survive. in order for animals to become successful, they must do all they can to survive first and foremost. predatory animals such as the tiger or crocodile must survive their youth, consume much meat and then grow as large as possible and reproduce multiple times in order to be successful. if ambition can be defined as such, we're really not that different. humans must survive school or in some other parts of the world, not get shot. then humans must grow up physically and mentally while making themselves strong or being very good at something like football or being an accountant. then humans must procreate as well, though usually cleverer humans, stop just before having children in order to maintain a certain level of happiness.
i'm bringing up all these points because for some unknown reason to me, humans feel the need to be the sole caretaker of the world. to be fair, nature was doing alright till we showed up on the scene. we brought in our factories, leveled the forests and decimated a number of species. all for the sake of progress or more bluntly, greed. perhaps in some way, we have to become the caretakers of nature for the simple reason that we abused it and must atone for it. not because we are able to build things. we are not much cleverer than a cat or more intimidating physically than a dog.
however, it takes a person to undo the damage we've done to this poor little planet. it takes heart, soul and dedication, not just logic, science and "progress". humans are not people anymore than we think that certain animals are. in my books, a person is a being who is able to balance logic, emotion and love. humans are by definition still an animal as i've noted above. humans are not much different from an animal by any means. humans have been shown to be as cruel as animals, perhaps more so in that aspect. with that in mind, it takes a rather special human to rise above our innate animal behavior to truly become a person.
what we need are more people who are able to discern and be dismayed by the damage we are causing to the world. we need said people to begin educating others into being proper people; quite the impossible task on it's own. more importantly though, the proper caretakers of the world should be people, not humans. and unfortunately, despite there being about 7 billion humans and counting on this world, i can quite confidently say there aren't many people on it. though, you may then pose a different question to me and ask me if i am so pretentious as to count myself as a person. the answer is no, and that is the god honest truth. humans, we've a long way to go. so, hope that our planet remains hospitable enough for us to become people.
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