Sad, and true

"squeamishness and shallow anthropomorphism have led far too many people to think of animals as having human-like emotions and deserving to be protected from supposed "exploitation" by humans. This attitude represents something close to a betrayal of humanity, because it refuses to give proper recognition to the uniqueness of human consciousness. Compared to humans, animals are basically machines made of meat. We should do what we want with them".

I can't even remember where I found this comment, but you get the idea. This I will agree with. This, I do not.


I would like to point out that our own consciousness as humans prevents us from understanding how unique the consciousness is of other species. Our god-like superiority is assumed, without thought for the fact that they can forecast weather. We spend billions of dollars, and still don't get rain. We need a GPS. They know where they're going. We cannot believe they may be "better" than us, in ways we're still trying to figure out, because they aren't human. I won't label that speciesism. I label that stubborn. Life isn't a competition to see who ends up first. Bugs are going to do that. Have we figured them out yet? Heck, no. How does a bee fly? Anybody?

Have we figured out how to stop on a dime, with the force of 10 G's? No. Can we dive into the ocean depths, or survive for thousands of years as a spore? We are outnumbered, 10 to 1, by bacterial cells, in our own bodies. We finally figured that out, and now we're starting to worry about the willy-nillyness of antibiotics and diseases that we've inadvertently created by cramming a whole shit-ton of critters in one spot. jmo.

We need to start looking at things differently, perhaps with more empathy, perhaps not.  I will never look at an animal as if it were a machine. I haven't seen any science yet that can make a machine from flesh.

Maybe I'm missing something.

I just wish I could figure out what it was.