In complete truthfullness, this is quite the topic for discussion. The question in itself is a question that when asked by a young adult or child, shows the intuitive and imaginative thought processes racing through their beautiful minds. We as humans are now starting to realize even more our role in the world. More specifically, our role in nature. In the past we have thought of ourselves as the superior species in the world. And we treated our entire environment as such. Instead of taking care of the animals and the earth, we neglected them, not realizing all along that the very products of nature that we were neglecting were the very resources we were destroying. At first though, we didn't notice it because we were like little children. We didn't know any better. Our understanding of the effects of our misuse of resources was very narrowminded. The Industrial Revolution was the start of something great for us as humans, however, it was the beginning of destruction for everything in nature. Because we as humans have produced more pollution than any other species we have to reconsider the belief that we're superior. I know it may be hard to believe that we're not the superior species, but the fact is there are other species that have existed millions of years longer than we have without polluting the environment. Besides the environmental effects are other reasons why we as humans will have to start looking to nature and animals as our resource for improving ourselves and the world. There are certain characteristics that make each and every species unique. For instance, did you know that a spider can produce a waterproof silk that not only beats the pants off Kevlar for toughness and elasticity, it is also ounce for ounce, five times stronger than steel! This very discovery alone shows how much more valuable nature is to the advancement of technology especially when in the sustainability and renewable resource department, specifically the fiber industry. Spiders have been in existance for some 380 million years! But this is nothing. Read the book called Biomimicry. You'll find more truth there. It's a revolutionary new science that deals with mimicing the best nature has to offer. The Biomimicry Revolution is taking over. It's one revolution that is sure to be a success, without doing harm to our environment. See, animals are smarter than humans. More accurately though, animals are more adaptive and unique in ways that we're not.
THE CONSPIRACY TWIST IS THIS: We are taught that we're the superior species. Of course we would think of ourselves as superior because of the many things we have accomplished as human beings. But here's a list of accomplishments that other species have achieved in spite of ours:

Survivability--Microalgae such as Spirulina and Chlorella have existed for billions of years

Adaptability--The Chameleon has traits that allows it to adapt to any environment.

Sustainability--There are thousands of species that contribute to the sustainability and balance of the earth.

Simplicity--Other species live a simplistic lifestyle. They don't question life, get depressed or commit suicide like humans.

Birds--They can fly and all we can do is try with our invention of the airplanes, helicopter, and sky diving equipment

Bats--They have the ability to see in pure darkness while we use night vision goggles

Sea Animals--Some can stay underwater almost indefinitely because they have built in air pockets that allow them to breathe underwater. We can only stay underwater for a limited amount of time.

Plants--They create their own food through photosynthesis

There are counless other animals that display characteristics of survivability, adaptability, sustainability, and simplicity that I haven't mentioned. The biggest difference between animals and humans is this: humans are the biggest consumers and the biggest wasters. We consume more of our natural environment than any other animal in history. We create more waste than any other animal in history. We pollute the environment worst than any other animal in history.

So, you tell me who the better species is.

This is Knowledge signing off.

[edit on 7/5/2005 by Mr Knowledge]

The test of time will determine if we are superior.

No plant or animal has ever invented a complex tool. Rather they die off or by pure chance have a natural body type or behavior to save them.

Also take into account that human have invented medicine and identified healthy habits to change our life span from 20 years to 80.

Also we can out survive other species. Not only have we identified the polution problem, but are starting to take measures to correct it. In addition to that we have started scanning the skies for astronomical threats, something no other species ever did.

With luck, we will also eventually spread to other planets, a HUGE leap in evolution.

We also have the most in depth and complex cumulative knowledge of all the species. We have our dark ages, but for the most part retain most past inventions.

In the end, the ability to contemplate dangers and problems, and act intelligently about them, makes us a very good species. Even in the face of ourselves (nuclear war) we have developed protection (shelters).

Time will tell, but for now, i'd rather be human than a bug that gets along with nature... until the next asteroid stike or human war.

In a nutshell... we as humans don't live in balance. The Earth and nature does.

That should answer the question.

Sean

I think sentience alone trumps any other natural ability.

Would anyone else like to reply to this thread? Please feel free to do so. Let everyone know how YOU really feel about plants, animals, and nature.

while agreeing that humans DO need to be better in regaurds to the enviroment, i do not agree that humans need to go. that web site that was provided was an interesting read. though i have to shake my head in wonderment at the people who would submit to such a thing. volintary extinction wow that is just so stuipid. seriousely humans were put upon this earth to spread out and multiply.

there is no population cap that we are over. we are just doing a rather crappy job at management. it is more than possible for example to grow and raise enough food to feed us all, it is greed of a few that is the problem. farmers that end up with more than their quota end up haveing to destroy it. this was rather evident when my realitives opperated a dairy far (now they raise beef). any milk that went over their quota had to be dumped down athe sewer. that's right they were FORCED to basicaly throw it away. according to laws even the farmer is not alowed to use any milk before it is pasterized. how ridiculas is that? talk about wasteing resources and it is the industry/goverment that makes it so. the same things are in place for every farmer though generaly it is not so strict when it comes to vegitables. a farmer may at least still sell some of them privately. but litteraly tons are still left to rot or be destroyed when over quota. then on top of that there is a "land bank" as well that is land that the government pays to stay fallow. so perfectly good farmland is not utilized to grow food that could easily help people that do not have enough. as you can see this does nothing to help feed these people who need it

as for animals and plants. sure they are important to humans. they are both good for food for the most part as well as doing usefull things like plants produceing the oxygen that we need to live. but hey there is no way that they are more important than humanity. in fact they were given to us as food sources. and to use to our benifit, this however does not mean that we should not try to be more concervitive where wildlife is concerned.sure humans hav4e done a lot to harm the earth but all that means is that we need to do better. just remember that the freaken earth is not a sentiant being on it's own all it is is the habitat that we live in. it is only alive as much as the life that it supports upon it.

i'll give you the fact that some animals were made with some prety unique and cool abilities but none so powerfull and advantagious as the humans ability to create and to use tools. humans are far superior to every other life form that we are aware of because of that.

Hmmm... Plants and animals better than humans...

Well to be honest, and i have thought about this before, I could handle it if humans destroyed themselves... as long as there was something left behind, Yeah crazy i know. It would just seem such a waste if we turned this planet into a floating dustbin.

But i think what makes us different from animals and plants is our problem solving skills. What would take nature millions of years to achieve (so the scientists claim) we can do in a few years. Like your comment on birds...

Birds--They can fly and all we can do is try with our invention of the airplanes, helicopter, and sky diving equipment

Which is fair enough... But if a bird wanted to, say... goto space, it couldn’t. Simple as that. But we have the ability to adapt and overcome the problem.


Hmmm... I guess it depends on how we are talking, Animals tend to be better at moral things... because they have no morals (WOW im confusing myself now) so if you see a tiger kill another tiger to get to its food, it’s just a case of survival. But if a human kills another human for the same reason it’s a crime... something that disgusts us. Therefore it is easy for us to see the tiger as some magnificent wonderful creature and the human as a murdering evil monster. Now don’t get me wrong... i am certainly not suggesting we start taking Tigers to court for murder HeHe
But its just my way of explaining how we can often look at animal behaviour as beautiful until we see that same behaviour in a human... then it disgusts us.

The one thing that humans seem to have done is tip the balance. Animals do live in harmony with the environment, although this is not through some great moral choice, its just the way it is. But we have started to live beyond needs and exploit our surroundings causing an imbalance.


Now, if you are talking about survivability... Then i guess the cockroach would be king of the world.

Yes, those animals are great... But fish for instance can't live without water... We can if you get my point... (not living in it)... Cheetas can run a lot faster than us, a tiger can kill nearly anything using only it's body... these are things we can't do... They are much better thatn us PHYSICALLY... But when it comes to the MENTAL level... Humans are invinsible...

Originally posted by Figher Master FIN
Yes, those animals are great... But fish for instance can't live without water... We can if you get my point... (not living in it)... Cheetas can run a lot faster than us, a tiger can kill nearly anything using only it's body... these are things we can't do... They are much better thatn us PHYSICALLY... But when it comes to the MENTAL level... Humans are invinsible...

Good point Fighter Master Fin. Very simplistic, direct and to the point. I don't believe anyone could have responded to my comment more accurately. Even still, we are completely inefficient. We have smart people along with dumb people. Rich and poor. Giving and greedy. Beautiful and ugly. Humanists and Terrorists. Environmentalists and Industrialists. To sum it up, we have an inefficient balance of beings that are on pace to destroying the only planet thus far as we know it capable of sustaining life. We say that our planet can only sustain so much life but we'll never know because we're not living efficiently enough to give it a chance to do so. Nevertheless, I still believe many of the people who responded to my post totally missed my point which is we as humans need to start recognizing how important it is to improve our chances of survival on this planet by listening to nature and finding a way to develop our technology in HARMONY with the environment. And if we can't then all of our "brain" power will be a total waste because we'll eventually end up destroying ourselves and then what will be left? If anything does survive it will be all of the other species that have already adapted themselves to extreme environments and have been in existence for billions of years. The very organisms we overlook because of their size. The microorganisms.