ARE HUMANS SUPERIOR TO OTHER CREATURES ? – By N.S.Venkataraman
Most of humans live life long thinking that they have some purpose in life They assume that they need to look for power, fame and prestige and earnings . In short, they aspire to be praised., treating such praise as indication of successful life. However, the ageing process dispels such notions steadily and conclusively.
At the age of 80 , with life almost spent and looking back, it is clear to me now that most of my past activities over several decades which have been marked by achievements, failures , praise or humiliation , really amount to nothing. At this stage of life, I tend to think that they should be termed as events without substance and conclude that life is essentially a time passing exercise.
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A few of those who grew up with me are no more and amongst those who still survive with me , a few of them have earned much more wealth than me and occupied high positions and enjoyed reputation in society, But they too confess that they have similar feelings that whatever they have” achieved” in life have really led them nowhere.
Pattinathar, a great Tamil philosopher and poet pointed out that the human life does not lead to anywhere . He said “ Even an eyeless needle won’t accompany you in your final journey”.
Sixth sense ! :
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Humans think that they are different from other creatures like animals , birds etc. Humans assume that they are superior to them, as humans have what is called as sixth sense, assuming that animals and other creatures do not have such sixth sense .
The fact is that while humans may have what is called as sixth sense, different animals and creatures also have extra sense which humans do not have,. Several instances of superior sense of other creatures can be readily pointed out such as sniffer dogs, also known as detection dogs, which locate specific scents and alert their handlers to their presence . Crows always gather and eat together just as a matter of routine , which humans rarely do with such spontaneity all the time.
Limited life span :
Like humans, animals and other creatures also live and die after stipulated period. Humans die at different times due to different reasons such as ageing , sickness , accidents , war and violence . Animals and other creatures also perish due to similar reasons..
The event of death is no different between humans and other creatures.
Just like humans, animals and other creatures also want to live as long as possible and event of death is feared and not desired , though death is natural and inevitable , whether one is human or animal or other creature.
Know no better :
Neither the humans nor the animals and other creatures know about the origin of life and where they would go after death with certainty. While humans have developed theories and belief about origin and end of life with various postulates regarding hell , heaven, rebirth, fate etc., animals may not have such thought process . But , this really does not make any difference , as no one really know what life is all about with any level of convincing certainty and clarity.
Over the years, technologies have been developed in spectacular manner for creating test tube babies as well as artificial animals and creatures by cloning process. Robots have been developed that can mimicry the human and animal activity. Now, artificial intelligence is threatening to substitute human mind and brain power.
However, these technology developments have not effectively challenged the concept of God , though they cause doubts and uncertainty about the historical faith and assumptions. They now threaten to uproot the postulates and assumptions about origin and end of life, that have been prevalent over the last several centuries.
Of course, humans have developed technologies and facilities to a remarkable level over several centuries. Obviously, animals cannot so this. But, still final end game of life is the same.
Just like humans grieve when someone known to them die, animals and creatures are also known to grieve when some among them die. Such scenario has been repeatedly seen by careful observers.
While animals and creatures cannot speak like humans, they always react when facing specific situations , obviously implying that they too have thought process and feelings of fear , love , physical passion and so on.
Survival of the fittest :
With regard to life process, the aspiration of humans , animals and other creatures are not different and are similar with regard to survival
.Humans compete with each other , try to outdo each other in jobs and other activities and indulge in war and conflict to overcome other humans. Many humans die during war and conflict and due to murders and violence.
In the same way, animals and other creatures too quarrel and fight with each other. Essentially the life process is survival of the fittest for all, whether humans or other creations.
Animals and creatures can be classified as passive animals termed as herbivorous and wild animals termed as carnivorous . Similarly , among humans, there are vegetarians and non vegetarians. While wild animals kill other weak animals and creatures to eat , the non vegetarian humans also kill weak animals and creatures such as chicks, goat , pig, cow , deer , fish and so on and cherish eating them. What difference between them ?
Great equaliser :
Just like animals and other creatures, humans too “ go nowhere” after inevitable death.
Ultimately, it is seen that event of death is an equaliser between humans as well as between humans , animals and others.
When humans pass away, generally “ceremonial send off” are given. However . dead animals and other creatures do not have this “privilege” of “ceremonial send off “. In any case, the dead entities get nothing out of this . In such case, what difference between animal, humans and other creatures ?
Whatever may be the memorials and statutes built for dead persons , it is only an activity that help the humans to satisfy their own ego , to provide them a sense of comfort about the significance of human life.. Do the memorials and statues have any significance for the dead persons who have gone nowhere ? Certainly not. This is nothing but activity in vacuum .
The true fact is that the end game is the same for humans, animals and other creatures.
