Humans are Animals Also...(Paper)

Most humans wouldn't classify themselves as animals but the truth is, we are all animals. We as humans believe we are in a "special" category in life which is the complete opposite of what an animal is. We believe we superior to anything else becaause this is the way we have viewed our society. From folk-tales to real life situations we have been making oursleves believe that we are another complete different species. But I feel like if we take some time to think for a second, we will realize all of the similarities we have with other animals. Humanas are also animals.

The first obstacle that has made us believe we are not animals is our daily experiences. We share 95% of our time only with our own species; humans. We dont spend our lives with other living animals. For example, from going to school or going to work to going back home and going to sleep. It's like a routine we have everyday in our lives. We never really experience anything in life as "animals" do. Any activity we do, everything is done with other humans. You can say spending some time with oyur cat or dog as a good experince in life, but treating them as objects by dressing up and talking to them as lower class is nothing compared to actually understanding them as animals. Getting to know them is one important thing. Understanding their feelings and their thoughts is a great thing also. We have similarities with other animlas and we need to come to a realization in our lives and figure out who we really are. A article from BBC News, "Zoo chimp 'planned' stone attacks" quotes, "Further, the chimp learned to recognise how and when parts of his concrete enclosure could be pulled apart to fashion further projectiles.
The findings are reported in the journal Current Biology.There has been scant evidence in previous research that can plan for future events." From this article I got an understanding that humans are just like animals. Animals have thoughts and feelings, we need to recognize this fact and take a little more knowledge in the fact that we are not that different from other living animals. We can find many similarites in dogs,chimps, cats, etc through behavior characteristics and more.

A second obstacle that prevents humans from believing they are animals is religion. According to Genesis 1:26 from the Bible, "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." As we all know God created Earth. He created all living animals and he created humans.
We have been taught through religion that humans are in charge. The lines that show this are, "Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." We have been brainwashed to think that becuase God has created us as one of the most important things in life, we were made to rule over this Earth and take over any other living animals. In my case, I dont find this correct. Humans should not be number one on a hierarchy. We are equal to all living things and we should be more understandable with all living animals. Although I am a religious person, I do believe that if people have a thought of them being more superior than others, they will never live such a good and meaningfuller life.

A third obstacle that stops us from believing we are animals is from the french philosopher Rene Descartes' theory, which is; "One of the deepest and most lasting legacies of Descartes’ philosophy is his thesis that mind and body are really distinct--a thesis now called "mind-body dualism." He reaches this conclusion by arguing that the nature of the mind (that is, a thinking, non-extended thing) is completely different from that of the body (that is, an extended, non-thinking thing), and therefore it is possible for one to exist without the other." Descartes believes that both the mind and body are two separate things. Many people think this way, which is understandable. We think with our mind, not our body. We do things with our mind and our body responds through movement. Descartes believes in dualism which states, "Descartes suggested that the body works like a machine, that it has the material properties of extension and motion, and that it follows the laws of physics. The mind (or soul), on the other hand, was described as a nonmaterial entity that lacks extension and motion, and does not follow the laws of physics. Descartes argued that only humans have minds, and that the mind interacts with the body at the pineal gland. This form of dualism or duality proposes that the mind controls the body, but that the body can also influence the otherwise rational mind, such as when people act out of passion. Most of the previous accounts of the relationship between mind and body had been uni-directional." He thinks that only humans have minds and animals don't. He believes that since animals have no minds and feelings towards life, they should be treated as objects. in this society humans are viewed as subjects, but we never really treat ourseleves as subjects unless we are trying to take control over something that is smaller than us such as animals (pets). This connects to all the other obstacles mentioned above by showing that humans feel very superior over everything in the world becuase we have been taught to treat everything smaller than us as objects.

A fourth obstacle is science. Humans are believed to be the end of evolution. While animals were evolving, we were the last ones to evolve and will be forever. If we were to make a heirarchy, we would be put all the way on top to show our power over every living animal. Humans are separate from the genus, species, and we are called Homo sapiens sapiens. We consider oursleves superior of the rest of living animals. By putting all the other living animals in different gropus separate from us is basically stating that we are better than any other species. This is pretty unfair becuase just like other naimals we breathe, eat, and sleep. Putting us in the same category as other animals will change the way we look at our selves.

Somoe benefits that will help us see oursleves as animals are; childbirth is natural,
the body matters & movement is crutial, emphasize the physical and we should use proper use of our minds.

Women should realize that childbirth is something beautiful and letting a stranger with a degree that states its fine to put different tools up your vagina to take your child out is not right. using drugs to slow down your birth is wrong also. Doing it the all natural way is the best thing a woman can do to bring a new life to the world. We can do it our ow, we just rely on others to do the work for us and delay the process and put us through more pain than we have to. We are capable of giving birth just like other animals are capable of.

Another benefit that will help us view ourselves as animals more often is emphasizing the physical. We should use our bodies more often just like animals do. Exploring like and experiencing new things should be a great thing for us. Doing more of animal-like stuff will encourage us to get to know our animal-like selves. Sitting in classrooms for hours and not enjoying it doesn't help, but simply making the best out of it and being more interested in what you learn is another great way to help you see oursleves as animals.

In conclusion, I feel like humans should see themselves as animals more often and explore the world they live in. Just as animals use everything around them to survive so should we. Experiencing new things will open our eyes to new stuff. Walking around your block and observing nature and growing relationships with other aninals can be a start. Living life like a routine will cause you to be anothe object to society and make you feel like there is no reason for you to be living.

Thoughts on a "Living Funeral"

No one faces death until they meet their own. The thought of being at your own funeral is really creepy. You're still alive and you have the ones you love present. It would be devastating to actually see your family and friends cry for you on the day of your funeral, that is why I wouldn't agree with organizing my own living funeral. I mean it would be nice to hear what people remembered you as while you were living but just watching sad faces, would really affect me.

Thinking about my own death scares me. I never really bring up the idea of dying because to me its pointless. Everyone dies eventually, so live life until it's your time. I feel if i did choose to organize my funeral I would be too curious about who I would I invite, I would most likely bring the people I have most of memories with, just because I want to be around people who will actually have something to remember of. I wouldn't want to bring my family just because I don't want to put them through sadness, just them thinking about my death as I am still alive would break their hearts. It's not that easy to think about the list of people you would invite because you don't want to see everyone you love sad and because you wouldn't know who really cares for you; therefore who you trust and you remember well.

I don't agree with the idea of letting people organize or myself organize a living funeral. It doesn't seem reasonable to have your loved ones there when you are not even dead. It would feel comfortable to around people who one day will forget about you after you are truly dead.

In the video about Morrie, he discusses this topic. It is very touching because all his ideas are important. While watching this video, I agreed with all he had to say. Spending your last days of life with people you love, distracts you from thinking about death. Not worrying about what comes next in life, is the best thing.