Blog 15 - Becoming Animal

David Abram raises some thought provoking points in his book, Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology. Abram believes that if we realize we too are animals and are linked directly to the earth, then we would be less likely to abuse it as we do. This is a statement that I think holds some validity upon closer inspection.

Humans, as the species Homo sapiens, have evolved from other animals over millions of years. We have developed from animals, because we are animals. I believe many people do not consciously realize this fact and many hold the notion that as “humans” we fall into a whole new category separate from animals. The ability to reason and think abstractly has made us more than mere animals. At the core though, both humans and animals have all the same basic needs: food, water, shelter, want for companionship and mates. Just because we are the most intelligent does not separate us from the other beings of this earth. Different animals are superior at varying things, but it does not make them better or worse than another; different but equal is they way things should be seen. But the feeling of superiority most people hold isolates us from all of nature. This detachment allows us not to notice the harm we are causing to wildlife, because we are “above it”.

If humans were to “become animal” or in other words reconnect with our origins and realize that we are a part of the earth just as much as our fellow animals, then we would be more aware of what is happening to the world around us. We would see the strain we place on natural resources. We would see the animals going extinct. We would see nature slowly being destroyed. And then we would realize how wrong it was and act to stop this from continuing.