man vs. nature?

man is nature.

finally. this guy says it better than i've ever been able to. we are not separate from "nature." powerful stuff.

for years now, i've struggled to express this sentiment. it's the reason i hesitate to fully commit to "save the environment" movements. no offense - and i really mean that - but i largely view those efforts as attempts to hold on to the past. life is not static. preservation has value, but in the end it's impossible without adaptation. when i spend time outdoors, i see life teeming all around me, and it fills me with wonder and curiosity. there is much to learn. but the reality is, my time in those areas still lightly-touched by humankind is not very different from time spent in a museum. it's a glimpse into the way things have been for the millions of years before human dominance's inevitable intrusion. if it pleases you, you'd better get out there and enjoy it while it lasts.

do i think it's cruel to eat other living creatures? no. i'm largely vegetarian, but i love a juicy steak as much as the next carnivore. i believe that eating a carrot is different from eating a rabbit only in degree, not in principal. they're both living. to the best of our current awareness, the carrot doesn't feel pain or emotional duress, so i operate out of that reality until we learn otherwise.

do i believe in treating other life with respect? yes. this may be the only thing that separates us from other animals. the possibility that, as individuals, we can "decide" to act purely on moral or ethical motives (even this is debatable). animals who treat each other with "respect" are most likely doing this for some self-serving function, however unclear to us. dogs transfer a pack mentality (survival instincts?) to us, dolphins rescue humans in danger perhaps due to their deep mammalian protective instincts - after all, humans are slow, weak, and awkward in the water. much like a baby dolphin might be (propagation of the species instinct?).

extremes are necessary and vital to moving our species forward as a whole. just like in politics. we need those opposites to find the most successful middle ground. some humans feel different aspects of our evolution more strongly and it will be expressed as their "passion." and they'll spend their lives fighting to move our collective consciousness slightly more in that direction. if it proves successful, they're heralded as geniuses, visionaries, great leaders. if not, they become convenient scapegoats, jokes, and cautionary tales. both are equally important.

life is change.