Being Human

If you're reading this than congratulations, you're human! You're the most advanced species on earth, you're billions of years of evolution whose main occupation is staring at a glowing screen for 8 hours a day.

As cynical as this introduction sounds it's based off an earlier discussion. We as humans have given ourselves the award for being the most advanced species on Earth. Which when you say it like that makes it sound like you're giving yourself a high-five.

 

But, we're the only ones to do this. Think about it, though it may seem your cat is a pompous jerk that's just our interpretation of it. Cats as far as we know don't feel emotions, at least not as deep or complex as ours. Plus even if they did they don't give a crap about other animals. We're the only ones like "SAVE THE FORESTS MAN." We're the only ones who are greedy and feel guilt for it. We're so advanced that we feel guilt for our natural survival instincts. There aren't vegetarian lions or tree hugging termites. They eat with no remorse. They don't write things or see therapists. They don't care about the so-called atrocities they commit. That silverbacks gorilla does not care about that human it just ripped in half and it doesn't care that other people do. It has no moral code per say. Now this is all based off of what we know. We've shown, with science a lot of animals are smart enough to solve puzzles. Many works of literature show animals taking over the human race. For instance

 

A fantastic movie about humanity and monkeys and all that jazz. The worst atrocity committed in the series was this:

Like that ending didn't even make sense. How would going forward to the future change the past to all apes and the Ape-raham Lincoln?! Also he never made it back in the original he dies launching nukes or something I don't really remember in all honesty. But I digress. We're so obsessed as humans to comparing ourselves to animals. And if the animals became sentient how they'd resent us or be like us. They aren't us though. They could see and experience the world differently with their own morals and things because of the sentience. It's all a bunch of theoretical stuff anyways.

But I also want to touch upon why we're different from other animals and have earned our right to say we're the most advanced. If you're in the middle of a forest fire (This is an example stolen from my English teacher) Animals will be trying their hardest to escape. But humans will be the only ones to pause and be like:

"Woah, that's cool."

and then resume their running. Or try to put it out. Or save the trees because their in danger of being extinct. Or make movies about other animals. Or spend an hour rambling about humans and comparing them to cats and then saying you can't compare humans to cats. 

Humans care.

And they also don't care

But that lack of caring comes from a place of caring.

Cats are indifferent. I feed him therefore he sticks around. I stop feeding him that sucker is gone. But humans stick around. Through abuse, through hell and famine. Because we care. Because we're the only animals who worry about time. We only have time because we created it. Cat's aren't like:

"I better savor this Kibble cause this might be my last."

But humans are worried about not being remembered. So we create, we make messages in bottles and throw them into the abyss hoping someone will hear us. We do it in the form of art, movies, tv, books, poems, songs, graffiti, words scrawled on a dingy bathroom wall. We need to matter, even if it's just for a moment to one person. We're the only ones who care. It's why I write. It's why I act and perform. I need the attention the affirmation I matter to someone. It's why I write this now, homing someone will see it and go:

"Huh, that's neat. I'll send that to my buddy."

So, if you got this far through my rambling

Thanks, yo.

-Bailey S. Fox