What Are We…Just a Bunch of Animals?

I was taught in school that everything comprising our world is divided into three basic categories.

• Animals
• Plants
• Minerals

We bi-pedal types like to think, however, that we are somehow special.

That we belong to a special category.

That we are the chosen ones.

Some of us believe that, as human beings (rather than animals), perhaps the rules of nature and the universe don’t necessarily apply to us!

But they do!

And we are really animals, who behave in some ways like other animals…when push comes to shove!

After all, we aren’t plants…are we?

And we certainly aren’t minerals…although we have some minerals within our make-up.

There are several problems with thinking of ourselves as “not really animals” like other animals.

• We separate ourselves from nature, and operate sometimes as if we are not an integral part of nature.
• This feeling of being “separate from” can serve to reduce our sense of compassion and connectedness to other parts of nature and to the feeling of being a part of the natural order of things.
• If we aren’t a part of it, we may feel we don’t have to follow the rules that govern the rest of nature.
• We may get to feeling superior to, or better than, other parts of nature. This may result in a lack of respect for the rights of the rest of the world. This may reduce our general respect for the world and all things in it.

So why are we so reticent to being called animals?

Why is it we seem to feel it’s an insult to be called an “animal”?

The way we perceive the concept of being an animal is not the most flattering.

We tend to see animals as wild and untamed, as base and uncivilized, as lacking in intelligence and low in stature in the order of things.

Why is that? How did being an animal sink to such a low place?

However it happened, I am in strong disagreement with that view, and believe we would do well to get back to seeing animals as something we can be proud to be.

It almost seems like we’re referring to humans when we talk about being wild and untamed, base and uncivilized, and lacking intelligence!

A recent online discussion of how wonderful our canine pals are, and what a wonderful role they play in our lives, brought this concept home to me even more powerfully.

We think nothing but good things about the remarkable dogs we call our “best friends”, and, in fact, a few comments even hinted at the superiority of dogs to humans!

And yet…dogs are animals, and we seem to not think less of them as a result of that accident of birth! How can that be…?

Could we think of them in such glowing terms if we, in fact, thought they were inferior to us humans…the chosen ones?

Were dogs (& cats) “chosen”, like us?

If not…why not, if they’re so wonderful, and so capable of unconditional love, and the ability to forgive and move on in their relationships with us…

How do they manage that, when even we “chosen ones” don’t seem to be able to pull that off!

Perhaps it’s us humans who have the problem…?

Perhaps in forgetting how great it is to be animals, and in forgetting to behave like animals, we have forgotten how to behave.

Study your pet’s behavior. Experiment with modeling your behavior after your pet’s responses and their apparent “attitudes” in various situations, and see if your life and your relationships improve.

Get back to me on that, ok?

I’d love to hear the results of what you discover!

I have a a sneaky suspicion you may find that being an “animal” ain’t so bad after all!

We were, perhaps, just drawing on, and strengthening, the wrong animal traits and were therefore just not being very highly evolved in being the best animals we can be!

I’m not sure it makes much sense to get too uppity about the whole thing!