Humans... Animals? Are we, and Are we better, or worse?

"I think anyone who thinks of themself as an animal holds a low regard to their own self and is not someone who'd be my first choice of companion out there.

Yeah I know we folk have some similaraties to mammals but part of being on a higher level than animals means to better ourselves and do the right thing.

We can talk, show compassion, emotion, show ingenuity and have lasted at least ten thousand of years."

This was given to me on a Survivor thread. My response is below.

(Are you not an Animal? Wasn't aware that Plants or Minerals could show emotion, or ideas, or make decisions.

We can talk. How nice. A form of Verbal Communication. One almost all animals have. Ever hear a bird chirp, a dog bark? Compassion, eh? Killing one so it doesn't feel more pain is seen by even some humans as Compassion, alot of animals Euthenise. Ever see a dog clean her young, much like she cleans the owner that cares for her? I'd call that compassion on a base level. Ingenuity? Gorillas create simple tools to achieve goals, mice find ways through complex mazes. Certain animals hunt in packs, pretty ingenious... they must know hunting alone is more futile. Ingenuity, Check. Or maybe it's the 10,000 years that makes you so sold we aren't just animals. But then Crocodiles and Alligators and Birds were around to usher out the Dinosaurs. We weren't around for those big Animals, were we? Guess that means those fellas out date our little 10,000 years then? Opposable thumbs? Heck, we ain't even the only ones with that.

Look around you. Everything we do we do due to nature. We hunt, as animals hunt. With out it, we have less food to eat and are over run by the populations of other animals. We farm. What? Animals don't farm? Do bees no carry pollen to flowers? Do birds not drop seeds from one place to another? Believe it or not, this is the base of farming. Some are solitare, as are some animals. Some are better suited for group... and we can find animals that do this as well. Some fight, some flee, some attack some defend, some hoard for later while others ravage for only now. You can find it all by looking at ANIMALS.

While you try to ESCAPE what you think is an insult, why not try to EMBRACE what is a compliment. Because with out our basic animal instinct, none of us could survive. Face what you fear, that we are Animals. And when needed, I pray that your animal instincts kick in so you can survive the cold long winter that awaits.

Does it mean we can't be kind? No. Many animals are kind. Does it mean we can't be diplomatic? No, many animals are.

Better ourselves and do the right thing? The right thing is survive, which is what animals do. They better themselves by honing the skills that allow such survival. Seems that is exactly the same thing we attempt. Survival is easier if you enjoy the life you live, so we invent games and gadgets. Survival is easier if a ready food source is available, so we hunt, farm and build refrigerators. Survival is easier when there is another generation, so we reproduce. Some do so romantically, some do so only concerned with releasing their own urge, and some do so very stupidly... but we do, as they do.

To long humanity has tried to prove it is better than the rest of the Animal Kingdom... by building disasters. Ever see a Wolf build a Nuke? Or a Kangaroo build a Factory that pollutes the surrounding area?

My friend, face it. We are Animals. And of all the Animals, we are the only one to show a destructive effect on the whole of the world. The downfall of Earth won't be a Honey Bee, it won't be a Spider, it won't be an Elephant... it will be Man.

So much for being "Above" and "Better", eh? )

What is the opinon. Are we Animals, or more than that? Are we better, or worse?

Humans will go down as the worst known species of life in history.Why we can change we are the smartest known species....we try and most likely we never will.We can change our ways of being so violent and uncaring.I would like to see us humans change the path the earth is on being destructive to our own habitat.

reply to post by BradKell


Great post! Starred and flagged.

I agree. Human arrogance is a deadly thing. The bizzarre assumptions some make simply because our over-sized brains have put us in the driving seat...

All animals are capable of compassion and communication (some of it very sophisticated). We simply know far too little about our fellow creatures yet to make these kind of assumptions about their 'inferiority'.

Unfortunately, the fact that we have felt the need to cut ourselves off from the natural world around us is the main reason we are now the greatest threat to ourselves and this planet IMO.

Cheers,

J.