janc@uofm-cv.UUCP (11/11/83)
Paul Dubuc asked in a recent article:
Where does humanity get its significance above the animals,
plants, and ooze?
Why does he assume that humanity has "significance above the animals
plants, and ooze"? In the life of a bear, are humans more significant
than other bears, than the plants he eats? When you ask what the
significance, or meaning of something is, there is a cardinal rule to
keep in mind:
>>> MEANING IS ASCRIBED, NOT INNATE. <<<
When you ask "what is the significance of a sparrow?", you are not
talking about something that is built into the sparrow, like wings,
a beak and a passion for seeds. You are talking about something that
you have attached to the concept of "sparrow" within your own mind.
So, to answer Paul's question, humanity has significance above the
animals, plants and ooze, because he ascribes such significance to
himself. This is not a criticism. Any entity that didn't consider
itself more important than other entities, would not be likely to
survive. Thus our assumption of humanity's significance makes good
sense in an evolutionary context.
To me, the understanding of my kinship to all living things does
mean that I need to behave towards mosquitos in the same way that
I behave toward my brother. Besides being a closer relative, my
brother's interests correspond more nearly to my own (anyways, he'd
probably slap me back).
Rather, recognizing my kinship with other living things helps me
in my understanding of myself and of my universe. For centuries
men have concentrated on the differences between men and animals.
This unbalanced viewpoint not only led to distortion of our view
of animals (savage, lustful, etc.), but warped our perceptions of
ourselves (fundamentally rational, etc). As a side effect, Darwin
helped us turn our attention to the much more profound similarities
between men and animals. I suspect that much of the resistance to
the idea derives from the old warped perceptions. People who spend
time in close association with animals usually get over these
illusions, and grow proud of their kinship:
"Cats are people too!"
Jan D. Wolter
University of Michigan
uofm-cv!janc