Despite our well-documented flaws, we consider ourselves to be divine. Why?
As humans, we have quite a few advantages over most other animals. Our brains have a ton of processing power, we have a high amount of manual dexterity, and we can communicate and cooperate to an extreme degree.
We also have many weaknesses. Since we gave up life in the trees, we are physically frail when compared to our chimp or gorilla cousins. To be frank, on a purely physical level, humans are a very weak group of mammals. Most human-sized animals can either K.O. us or cause serious harm. On top of that, we have little to no defense against insects or the elements — no shell, no fur, and no scales. These forms of protection go a long way in the animal kingdom.
To compensate, we became cave apes. And we still live in caves to this day; straw huts, Victorian mansions, and even a mobile trailer are all just variations of caves.
Our behavior isn’t that unique, either. Just replicated on a massive scale. Even harmful and taboo behaviors, like rape, child abuse, and infanticide can be found throughout the animal kingdom. I.E. : Orangutans are believed to use force and coercion to succeed in a majority of their sexual encounters. Humans evolved alongside our primate cousins (by that I mean on the same Earth), so their behavior is always a sobering reflection of our own animal-ness. Furthermore, there’s even reason to believe that human-specific phenomena like culture and religion have a bio-evolutionary origin.
We know that psychologists can reliably predict and understand human motivations and behaviors in the same way a primatologist can for other apes. The fact that our behavior can be so easily categorized and understood in itself shows that we are not as far removed from the animal world as most think. Our complex societies are just a different expression of animal life — not a more superior or more deserving one.
The idea of intelligent life existing outside of Earth is also unlikely. Life as we know it only exists because of a very specific set of evolutionary circumstances. If the Earth’s gravitational pull were any weaker or stronger, for example, we would not exist as we know it. That is not to say we would never come into existence, but rather that our world would be rendered completely different from even the most minor change. Even the idea of air/spacecrafts is an Earth-borne one; seeing that other animals have the ability to fly inspired us to try and take to the skies.
There is no reason to believe that such a concept would exist on another world. A hypothetical exoplanet with the ability to harbor life might not have the right conditions to specifically sustain airborne life. Thus, hypothetical intelligent life on that planet would never even develop a concept of flight. My point? Everything that we know, see, and touch is because of our experience as Earth-life. Planet-bound life seems to be a unique, self-contained experience. If life exists anywhere else in the universe, it’s probably going to keep to itself. It’s well established that human brains have evolved to be endlessly curious , which is why we feel the need to question everything. We can’t accept that things just ‘are’.
There are simply too many variables and circumstances to consider when it comes to the existence of ‘extra-terrestrial’ life. The dead planets in our own solar system should give us a clue as to what other ones may look like. We’ve been around for quite some time now, and not a shred of evidence has come up in the fruitless chase for aliens. Only hearsay, blurry photos, and the shared desire to make human life more interesting than it is. If life outside of Earth exists, the Universe is set up in such a way that it would be impossible to make any sort of meaningful contact.
I’ve noticed that people who fail to make the connection between human and animal life (hint: it’s the same thing) are the same people who are constantly shocked when life deals them a bad hand. We are not entitled to a good life any more than the pigeon on my roof simply because we’re intelligent. We’ve made ourselves miserable by convincing ourselves otherwise, because now far too many people believe that human life serves some greater purpose. People become miserable searching for that purpose, not realizing life is simply meant to be lived. That’s it.
The rules and guidelines we’ve placed over our lives are arbitrary. Our experience on this planet is whatever we make it to be, but we are still beholden to the mercy of the cosmos. No matter what we as humans think, feel, want, or believe, the Earth will still make its daily rotation.
No matter what, the world will still turn. That’s the only thing we should count on. Because when it stops, so will we. Words can hardly explain the relief and peace that accepting this fact has brought me. I don’t expect anything from life — instead I experience it, enjoy it, and accept it for what it is. My beliefs are irrelevant in the humbling grace of our miraculous planet. Human life is a miracle, but even still, we are not entitled to perfect lives.
We’re just animals. Accept it, and be honest with yourself about your own life. Delusional and entitled thinking is one of our most damning weaknesses.
