Nature Journal 9


Humans as Animals
            All humans fall under the category of mammal. That means we are warm-blooded, produce milk, and have live births. It also means that humans, despite the tendency towards separation, are animals. However, humans have for centuries tried to separate themselves from the animal kingdom, trying to rise above it and thus conquer this world. They attempt this by trying to demonstrate how humans are different than humans such as the development of language or the human expression and deployment of emotions. Humans claim to have the superior intellect and point to the great technological advances or artworks that they have produced. However, it might just all be compensation, because humans happen to be terrible humans. When it comes to living in the wilderness or battling the elements of nature, humans are quite ill prepared for the challenge. To start with, weather presents us with an immediate difficulty. Humans, as they are born, are terrible at dealing with the everchanging weather of this world. Our skin is relatively thin, and our lack of hair makes us prone to harshness of the cold. We are also terrible in the heat, becoming dehydrated quickly, becoming tired and sluggish, not exactly the top of the animal hierarchy. Humans are also susceptible to smaller changes in the weather, just go to any concert or assembly of people and watch how many times you see sweaters coming on and off. Humans are also quite bad at naturally defending themselves against any predators. Humans are by no means the fastest creatures and lack any sort of common defense mechanisms such as claws or fangs or venom. Humans also have interesting dietary needs, having to cook our food when most other animals simply eat their prey. Overall, humans make for some terrible animals; maybe that is why so many people try to separate the two.

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