Man, that is humanity, man and woman, are normally seen as apart from nature. Words like, “nature thrives in the absence of man”, “man destroys nature in his greed” et cetera, et cetera, are thrown about. But is man really something outside nature?
Human beings are animals, albeit one with a higher form of intelligence and consciousness, but still fundamentally animal. Our base instincts follow the rule; persist and thrive. Offsprings to ensure longevity, work the earth to flourish. These same characteristics, or instincts if you will, are present in animals. Only less ambitious. But ambition is a product of the complexity of our brains. You see, for the antelope, buffalo and springbok, a day spent with a belly full, not eaten by a predator and possibly, seed passed to a female, is a day fulfilled. There is no other higher calling that this. Likewise for the predators. A prey caught in their case though.
For humans, it gets a little complex. During the old ages, way back in the BCs and in the (early) ADs too, depending on which community you stumbled across, life wasn’t much different from the previously stated. Eat, sleep and bear offspring. Like the migration of animals in seasons to keep up with the changing environment, man moved. That’s until it became obvious that some places have all they need. Why move at all if this land has a fertile soil and game for hunting? During this period, man’s thinking also improved and ambitions rose. They developed easier ways for comfort, expanding their influence, multiplying descendants and conquering neighbours. The latter being an echo of displaced pride and pack leaders. Not a pretty thought, but instincts instincts instincts.
Without a higher form of intelligence present to disrupt its process, nature balances itself. Prey seem more plentify than predator (exceptions exist). Invasive species normally don’t have access to areas of destruction, except in special cases. Either way, every animal, and even insect, live as they want. They take what they desire as long as they can. Do they consider the plight of the current inhabitants? No. The locust doesn’t care for your reserves when it ravages your farms. They are hungry. They see well grown plants. They feed. The lion doesn’t care that this calf, is the only surviving child of the mother. It chases down the herd, sees the slowest antelope and feeds. Nature is indifferent (that is not quite right, because the nature of the universe is not so indifferent when you consider past and looming extinction events, but thats a whole other topic). These effects do not trouble it because the cycle of life keeps everything in relative balance.
Isn’t man the same? We dig the earth, cut down trees, develop technology and kill prey because we can. We expand and displace, subjecting lesser creatures to our disturbances, because those very disturbances ensure our survival and prosperity. As higher creatures, our emotion curtail our actions, stopping us from wiping species of the surface of the earth (after we’ve done a number on a lot of them). We consider our effects on the earth and try to balance our actions, only because our brains allow us. For others, this is not so. For example; invasive species do not care about the consequences of their presence. All they see is an excellent supply of food with the right conditions to feed, reproduce and thrive.
Our effects on this world doesn’t make us separate from nature. We still are nature. The only problem is, we sometimes break the natural cycle due to our advancement, and therefore scar the earth in the process. Still, a beaver building a dam for its offspring does not consider the fish on its way to new waters. Man can be seen as similar, but aware. There are still advantages to the beaver’s dam, just as there are advantages to our constructs. The difference between us and animals, is that we can bend environment our wills. Standing at the apex, no other creature presents a challenge if we wish it so.
This post isn’t really about exploring the moralities behind our activites but rather pointing out similarities that led me to the conclusion; We are nature.
