Perspective

Lately I've been thinking more and more about what it means for us humans to actually be just one animal species among many. As it turns out, it is one of the more challenging mental exercises to really grasp what that might mean. Despite my beliefs against speciesism, I continue to relate to Heidi and Beatrice, and any other non-human animal, as a "human" relating to an "animal". Although I have matured in my understanding of what "animal" means and what rights belong to it, I've realized that on some level I continue to exempt myself from that category. Last night, as we were sitting outside with the dogs, petting them, playing with them, coming up with excuses not to let them jump into our laps, I stepped out of myself to consider what this would look like to a "higher" life form looking down on us and observing our human-dog interactions as we might observe the behaviours of an ape and a cat. Everything that we consider makes us unique - speech, physical expression, clothing, spirituality, technology - what if these are just natural variations of the evolutionary process? Is it possible that something could study us from the same distance we study other animals and conclude that this species is particularly creative, somewhat unpredictable, prone to self-destruction, exploits other species for material gain, displays a wide range of individualism, and is notorious for hoarding - but otherwise is just another expression of biological diversity? Talk about trippy.