Humans v Animals comparing our health and problems

I walk a lot as we have some of the best places to go walking here in Wales, and every time I see birds, squirrels, foxes, fish pretty much all of the natural wildlife you get in the UK. And whilst walking today I was sat under a tree and was watching the birds coming and going, and it dawned on me how almost perfect birds are, and as there was so many there it was obvious to see that there didnt seem to be one bird there that looked out of place, as in over weight, ugly compared to the others, suffering with any disease, instead they all looked absolutely perfect. Then I was trying to think of a time where I have actually seen in group of animals at anytime, one stand out or a group stand out from the others as being different.

Im curious to find out then why is it nature can produce mass amounts of animals, that all seem perfectly happy, perfectly formed and healthy when not 20 minutes drive away I was in my nearest town and looked at the humans, and noticed straight away the huge differences between us, and the problems human suffer with in vast numbers.

Birds, insects, fish all out number humans massivly but they seem to be able to replicate and stay uniform and healthy, and perfect for their environment.

I'm not sure I'm explaining it properly, but humans seem to have so many more problems than the rest of the animal kindgom, and ye we came from the earth through evolution.

a reply to: multichild

I had similar thoughts.

I used to think that animals were perfect.

But then I realised something troubling: there's a catch - they don't have any individuality or alternate thinking processes. All chickadees look the same, move the same way, are attracted by the same things, and chirp the exact same chirp.

They are essentially like a clockwork, locked into doing the same things over and over again. Einstein's definition of insanity.

Perhaps our issues are our price to pay for our temerity of diverging from the path the blind clock has set for us.

The animal kingdom is far from perfect.

Some get eaten and Some doing the eating.

Other than that it would get pretty boring.

Never being able to go to the stars.

Never watching a good movie, or reading a good book.

Never being able to come to places like ATS.

For all mans flaws he does quite a bit right.

Perfection is a meanless pursuit, and it is those imperfections that make life worth living.

At least IMO.

You are very wrong in this.

Please don't take offence, but I absolutely felt the same way until I lost my dogs and began to build relationships with the birds in my garden.

Species have similarities.. But individuals do have intelligence and distinct personalities.

They are pretty amazing.

a reply to: swanne

The reason we don't see the defective animals or the ones that have issues as they get older in the wild is because survival of the fittest still applies to them. It no longer really applies to humans (and to an extent domesticated animals), because we don't kill or abandon the weak when they are born anymore, and we also medically treat the injured and ill (unlike animals and older society peoples). But you can also see examples of the imperfections in animals when you look at domesticated ones such as an old dog with arthritis.

Its an environmental issue, i.e. the pernicious environment we've imposed on ourselves, and ultimately a moral problem. Moral humans live as nature intended them to, and derive the benefits to health and beauty therefrom. Immoral humans suffering from insidious environmental influences will witness the consequences to their health and quality of life.

a reply to: neo96

No your not getting how I am saying it, what Im trying to say is not that we are not perfect in our way as I say they are perfect in their way, its just that we as humans seem to suffer so many health issues, irregularities and more mental issues which are more to do with our physicality than animal groups in nature.

Id rather be a human, its just that where as I only had to travel away from the mountain to the nearest town to witness the problems humans have, where as in nature I havent yet seen an animal or a group of animals much worse off than the others.

a reply to: multichild

I read it right.

What is being missed is the animal kingdom doesn't take care of their sick and injured.

They are left to die.

originally posted by: swanne
a reply to: multichild

I had similar thoughts.

I used to think that animals were perfect.

But then I realised something troubling: there's a catch - they don't have any individuality or alternate thinking processes. All chickadees look the same, move the same way, are attracted by the same things, and chirp the exact same chirp.

They are essentially like a clockwork, locked into doing the same things over and over again. Einstein's definition of insanity.

Perhaps our issues are our price to pay for our temerity of diverging from the path the blind clock has set for us.

On the same track of thinking, there's a distinct difference in consciousness between humans and animals. Some know this as the difference between the 2nd density ( or dimension ) and 3rd.

Since humans are the only 3d beings on this planet ( who knows really?) we have the aspect of free will, which animals don't. So yes, their actions appear as clockwork because they simply don't have the self awareness to variate from that.

Therefore, humans have higher capabilities that can be manifested either negatively or positively. For example, animals don't commit suicide, torture other animals or kill for sport. These ideas wouldn't even be an option to them.

On the same token, we have the intellectual depth to perform brain surgery, travel in space, and do countless other feats that animals could not.

Higher consciousness=more potential for thoughts, words, and actions.

Can it be that intellect then and personality and freedom of choice and all the bits in between, mean that the human species has somehow ticked the box to our own downfall on this planet, as it seems that nature as a whole on Earth is meant to churn out uniform, similar and in the main healthy animals.

We are surely the odd one out on this planet, and certainly stand out for many more reasons than I first believed.

a reply to: neo96

Hamsters try to heal each other when one is a little sick. They stop screwing the sick one too, out of respect. I see this all the time in our little collection.

a reply to: neo96

right ye I see what your saying, its odd isnt it that only we became capable enough to doing that, there definatly an oddity to humans that makes us so different to everything else here.

But ye I see your point

In short. It's called Evolution.

Read up on some Dawkins and Darwin and you will get some good examples and insight into the world of the animal kingdom. It's not all sunshine and rainbows.

For one, most animals live in a sort of lottery, the odds are stacks against them right away, only the strongest of the young survive, hence why you see so many who resemble 'the same' looking.
When say, a nest of ten specific birds are born, only, and MAYBE one will survive to live a full life, or half a life, let alone even get a mate. All the driving forces behind evolution can explain it to you.

I hope that animals go to heaven, after their "rough" life here on Earth. Would be a pretty boring place without them.

a reply to: multichild

Wild animals are nearly all magnificent specimens of their kind because natural selection kills off the ugly, the runts and the cripples.

There is plenty of variation between fit individual animals, which you would perceive instantly if you were a member of that species. You can do so as a human, too, if you look a little harder.

a reply to: multichild

Hi multichild.
I enjoyed your thought provoking OP, so S&F!

I've always thought about how every creature except the human being has a natural habitat on this planet. They know what to eat and usually what not to eat. Some even know what to eat to get a drunk/euphoric feeling.
Humans are still arguing about which diet is the healthiest (ignoring the fact that all our food has basically been poisoned by now), and many of us have no idea how to 'forage' for food in the wild...not knowing what is edible or deadly.

I've had many pets that had distinct personalities, some even displayed very human affection, humour and thought. I've watched a ferret assess a situation and go at it from different angles/perspectives until finally finding a solution.

I'm fascinated by different animal breeds forming bonds and friendships, and have seen a female nurse babies that are not her own species. Certain creatures mate for life...many show grief and mourn the loss of a pack/family member.

I would believe that domestic animals who live with humans could perhaps be somehow imitating our behaviour after time, but some of the "human like" tendencies also appear in the wild. At one time I didn't think that animals tricked, used or exploited each other (like people do)...but I've seen documentaries where a bird fakes out meerkats with a warning call only to steal their food after they've hidden.

Animals are much more in sync with nature in a way that most humans can't relate to. Unfortunately with all of our natural resources being ruined (water, soil, air, chemicals on plants, etc.) the animals are starting to suffer alarming rates of cancer and other illnesses.

There are people around the world who run rescue/rehab facilities for wildlife that are sick or injured and the intent is always to heal and release. It's true that many animals are abandoned and left to die (survival of the fittest and all that) but there are also many stories of 'grief, mourning, adoption' (by their own or a different species), etc.)

The topic of differences/similarities between humans and animals (bird, fish, etc.) is something I'm always interested in.
jacy

a reply to: jacygirl

I've always thought about how every creature except the human being has a natural habitat on this planet.

We don’t? Are you sure?

[Animals] know what to eat and usually what not to eat.

They do? All the time?

all our food has basically been poisoned by now

It has? How do you know this?

I applaud your affection for and interest in animals and the natural world (which I share). However, you have an erroneous and oversentimentalized picture of animal behaviour and its motivations. Animals are just as greedy, selfish, aggressive and murderous as human beings. The natural world is full of things like viruses and parasites that seem to have been invented by some evil genius, although they evolved in the usual way. Even plants fight with each other, often to the death.

I reckon you’re still pretty young. Use your interest in animals and nature to fuel a personal quest for genuine knowledge. Who knows, you may one day become an expert in an animal-related subject — a zoologist, an animal-behaviour expert, a field conservationist. But right now your ideas are not realistic, I’m afraid. Time to wake up and smell the blood.

originally posted by: selfharmonise
You are very wrong in this.

Please don't take offence, but I absolutely felt the same way until I lost my dogs and began to build relationships with the birds in my garden.

Species have similarities.. But individuals do have intelligence and distinct personalities.

They are pretty amazing.

a reply to: swanne

I can verify this too. The birds and animals play and they seem to work as teams sometimes. The animals all seem to have consciousness, even the bugs seem to have consciousness. We just think we are way more intelligent, but really we aren't. I used to believe animals had no personality or advanced thinking up till about ten years ago. I am embarrassed to say I had believed in something that was not true for around fifty years.

I used to think it was habits or instincts. I knew that dogs could be trained. I did not realize that other animals have advanced communication and also try to communicate with us till recently. We are just to dumb to understand them. I have never been good at foreign languages.

a reply to: multichild

We are the ones that are messed up. Our cravings are messed up and we do not listen to our parents very well as a species. So we get sick. We are talked into eating foods we shouldn't eat, that goes way back to Genesis.

originally posted by: rickymouse

originally posted by: selfharmonise
You are very wrong in this.

Please don't take offence, but I absolutely felt the same way until I lost my dogs and began to build relationships with the birds in my garden.

Species have similarities.. But individuals do have intelligence and distinct personalities.

They are pretty amazing.

a reply to: swanne

I can verify this too. The birds and animals play and they seem to work as teams sometimes. The animals all seem to have consciousness, even the bugs seem to have consciousness. We just think we are way more intelligent, but really we aren't. I used to believe animals had no personality or advanced thinking up till about ten years ago. I am embarrassed to say I had believed in something that was not true for around fifty years.

I used to think it was habits or instincts. I knew that dogs could be trained. I did not realize that other animals have advanced communication and also try to communicate with us till recently. We are just to dumb to understand them. I have never been good at foreign languages.

We are on a league or our own in the animal kingdom. technically, we are still part of the animal kingdom, we share attributes, behaviors, genetics, etc, etc. But our intelligence has surpassed ANY creature on this planet.

A good example is technology. it's simply a way of manipulating the universe around us, directly. And extension of our knowledge and intelligence. And we build upon it, starting off slow, but rapidly advancing and sometimes instantly advancing in some cases.
I guess I could say, we don't see Gibbons or elephants arc welding, and reading blue prints, because they don't have the capacity of intelligence as we do.