Animal Paper

"Your an animal". Even though I have never tried this, I'm willing to bet that if you say this to someone, they will get upset, and take it as an insult. Being called an animal has a become a derogatory term in our culture. On the other hand, if you walk up to someone and say "Your a human", they might give you a strange look, but they would not be offended or insulted in any way. This is just one example of how many humans see themselves as better than animals. This idea is not inborn knowledge; it is a learned belief. Many factors in our culture lead us to believe that not only are we separate from animals, but that we are superior. 

The six main reasons for this (as discussed in class) are : the book of Genesis, evolution,classifications, school, soul vs. body separation, and the amount of time we spend with human animals vs. non human animals. 

The book of Genesis states that humans are made in "God's image" and that we are to rule over animals. This shows us that humans (or at least religious humans) believe that God has a preferance to us over animals; like we are His masterpeice. So much so that after He created us, he decided he could finally relax.

This is similar to the idea presented by evolution (even though by principle evolution and creationism are at odds). The theory of evolution has become a creation myth: it is often presented as if everything evolved in order to lead up to us. As if Homo Sapiens Sapiens are the final product of millions of years of life on earth. This is one theory that we as logical people know cannot be true. If it were, evolution would have stopped as soon as we appeared. It did not. 

However, even people who are not religious, and can logically figure out that evolution is a creation myth, still are given other reasons why humans are different from animals. For example, classification. This is a way of ranking animals. In this chart, we have our own section reserved only for humans. This is interesting, as it is a human that created this list. One has to wonder if chimps were creating this list, would they also place themselves in a category separate from all the rest? Probably. This shows us that it's all based on perspective, and the need to feel special or higher up in ranking (of any kind). 

School also trains kids to act "civilized", and therefore, the idea of being an animal seems impossible from a young age. This is also the place that encourages seperation of body and mind (even if seems subtle to the students). 

It seems that most people in our society believe that humans have a soul, while animals do not. This believe is first and foremost unfounded (we don't have any proof). I'm not sure what this shows more of: people's lack of concern about other animals, or a deeper supiriority complex that many seem to have. 

Perhaps this is because humans don't spend that much time coexisting with animals. The only time humans spend time with animals is when they have them as pets. People who own pets typically have a higher opinion of animals then people who don't, and many believe that their pets have souls and personalities. This to me is an indicator that humans isolate themselves too much from animals. Maybe if everyone had a pet, the view on animals would be different. 

In my opinion, people have much to learn about themselves through the examination of animals. I do believe that humans are animals, but I also understand why people don't want to admit it to themselves. It is difficult to accept something that you believed to be lesser than you. 

This made me think about the "good and meaningful life". 

Maybe we need to be more humble and realize that we are not so special. We are part of the food chain, as both predetors and prey. Like every living thing, we do our best to survive, we love, and we have kids. There is nothing that makes us better or worse.

Every life is the same: birth, life, death. We all fade into and out of existence, leading the lives that (except for minor and insignificant details) are pre-planned by nature. In the end, love, hate, good, and evil are one and the same. Entirely irrelevant illusions. 

Yet, we all hope with such intensity against the very nature of our existence, we wish to be something more, to amount to something greater. We build these lives, and love as much as we can, laugh as much as we can, help as much as we can, and most of all hope as much as we can. Hope to survive. To make the temporary last just a bit longer. Day by day to forever. 

And we fail every time. 

When survival is the struggle, and death is the sole outcome, how can we ever succeed? When we leave our kids behind to do the same, how can we ever progress? How can we ever make anything matter when the cycle of birth, life, and death cannot be broken?