"The notion that the non-human world is largely inanimate is often represented as scientific or
rational, but it is really more like a modern superstition." - Paul Kingsnorth
Why do humans consider themselves at the top of the ecological pyramid?
Kingsnorth's quote made me think about my perceptions of the inanimate world and question what that means to me. When I think of inanimate, I think of a dry erase marker or a stapler. I do not think of nature. I find myself thinking of trees and flowers as animate, after all, they are living. Just because something isn't able to talk or "feel" something, does that determine it as inanimate?
Maybe trees have feelings, too. I'm going to go hug a tree now.
"Why do humans consider themselves at the top of the ecological pyramid?"
ReplyDeleteI think it's because we have a combination of features that makes us dominant and always subject to change on its own terms. In other words, humans have always been able to adapt to the conditions and improve upon ourselves in terms of what we believe that we lack. Think about that for a second... we weren't able to swim long distances like a fish can, so we build a boat, take a scuba dive, or build a submarine. With our naked bodies, we wouldn't stand a chance killing a tiger, but we make bows and rifles to make us a threat.
We've been able to adapt to numerous environments on the planet, and you can't say the same for most plant or animal life. I think this goes beyond just 'feeling' and being able to speak, but it's about who/what can survive. And I think that this survivability is what causes us to start thinking of us as more than anything else. We're stuck with each other. You can't say that about the dinosaurs or mammoths that walked the earth ages ago.
I mean if we were to put all life into one single platter and call it the same (humans, trees, fish, etc.), which would you say is the most versatile? I feel as though this question is posing as "Why don't we value (insert living thing)? Why is it that we're so concerned about ourselves as humans considering how we've treated all of the other life on this planet?"
I think that with our foundational differences in living functionality, there will always be a pyramid. With this pyramid, humans are definitely on top because we've dominated the planet. So many natural, untouched habitats have been destroyed because of us, animals have been poached because of us and waters overfished because of us.