Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Human and Non-Human Animals ..
In my opinion, there are many aspects that distinguish us as humans from non-human animals. We as humans have the need to be successful in mostly everything we do from the biggest of things to smallest. Humans desire their children to be successful in life as well and sometimes live vicariously through their offspring. Unlike humans, non-human animals are more concerned with surviving; making it through the harsh winters, trying not to get eaten, and sometimes even trying not to get run over by a car. Although, humans also have a sense of survival, that sense is not as great as the survival intuition of a grizzly bear. Humans have a more complex brain than that of other animals. Yet, humans and non-human animals also have much in common, such as babies are very dependent on their mothers, and require nurturing and care from them. Humans and non-human animals both are living and coexisting in the world, and we have not had a problem yet.
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I must disagree with this author's notion that humans can maintain the concept of "desire" while non-human animals' sole focus is on survival. As Frederike Kaldewaij states: "Animals do not only have desires like eating when they are hungry, desires to alleviate frustration. They actually like eating, grooming, rolling in the mud, playing, etc," (61). Non-human animals are capable of desires unrelated to survival, just as humans are.
I would disagree with the statement, "humans need to be successful in mostly everything we do..." I find this generalization overly broad and made up of unstable assumptions. Although it may be true for some, it is impossible to claim that all human beings carry this attitude. Many humans fight for survival and are focused on making it through the harsh winters just as some animals, and in contrast many animals (such as show dogs) compete to be the best and work hard for a reward not essential to survival. Lastly, I would also like to state my conflict with the last sentence. Coexistence may be true for some but not all, the extinction of some non-human animals caused by humans challenges this statement.
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