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Most humans do not commonly consider themselves “animals”, neither colloquially nor ethically. Most of us understand that humans, or Homo sapiens, are of the kingdom animalia along with the other creatures of Earth, yet we insist we are more than the other beasts of this planet. Well, more how? More numerous? Definitely not – the omnipresent fog of insects aside, we are outnumbered by the likes of birds, fish, mice, and really most living things. Are we stronger? Oh my, no. It takes an exceptional bastard of a man to take out a polar bear in a fist fight. Do we contribute more to the planet? On the contrary, we’re running a losing race to undo the damage we’ve done and continue to do to the environment. So then we’re more intelligent, right? Well, yes, we are. We have the capacity, ingenuity, and reason to plan, colonize, and govern on a much larger and more sophisticated scale than any other creature known to man. We are the “smartest” creature in the known universe, according to our scale. But what justification have we for considering ourselves somehow above the rest of the animal kingdom? This can be looked at from several perspectives.

As a part of the kingdom animalia, humans live their lives in a survivalist parallel to many other mammals. They are born and cared for throughout childhood; then they mate and care for their young. As omnivores they eat other creatures as well as fruits and vegetables, and cannibalism is, among most cultures, considered wrong. They often expand aggressively and hunt in excess, but it is all for their own survival.

So then is it only our means that differentiates us from our “animal” counterparts? Even so, a means to what end? In lieu of a comprehensive purpose for existence, the general understood nature of living beings is simply to survive long enough to procreate.

Then maybe we’re making things too complicated. What if, with all our governments, religions, and creeds, we’ve made more of life than there really is? Without the widespread cultural and ideological issues these manmade abstractions spark, life becomes much more streamlined. It’s all about self-preservation. It’s all about ensuring the bloodline, whether in anticipation of some future phenomenon or as a frantic attempt to establish some form of lasting relevance in a rapidly changing world.

But human nature is always seeking. We are never satisfied with what we have, because we do not fully understand it. We’re trying to put together the world’s most intricate puzzle - we’ve got some of it done, and parts of the pattern are starting to make sense, but there are still countless loose ends, rough edges, and many pieces we don’t know what to do with yet. While this certainly complicates things, we can’t simply ignore our basic impulse to comprehend. Other animals concern themselves only with the immediate; the setting, the time, the weather, and those around. A lion does not stop just before pouncing on a zebra to wonder if, in another place and time, they could have been friends because there is no room in his mind at that point for any concerns other than pouncing on the zebra. Adversely, there is not a single thing imaginable that humans are not concerned with, including things we’re quite positive don’t exist. This driving curiosity and capacity for logic has rewarded us with a profound understanding of the world.

What does one do with that kind of understanding? Due to the inadequacies (and in some cases mere difficulty) of scientific and philosophical research, many of us turn to religion for enlightenment. Verse 26, Chapter 1 of the book of Genesis in The Holy Bible states, “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, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." According to this text, God essentially appointed us to watch over the earth. However, Chapter 2 of Genesis makes obvious God’s wish for his creations to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil lest they “become like one of us, knowing good and evil.” In Chapter 3, after Eve fed Adam fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, God discovered their transgression immediately and cast them out of Eden “lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” And so at once we fell out of favor with the Lord but gained the knowledge of good and evil, which, as clearly stated, makes us more like Him. Thus humanity, as the descendants of the enlightened Adam and Eve, can be placed on a tier above all other life forms of the planet, closer to the Divine. That’s a lot of responsibility (and as a secondary ponderance, would then eating from the tree of life have given us all the properties of God, or at least that potentiality?), though the questions, “Why were such trees planted in the Garden if their fruits were forbidden?” and, “What did He have in mind before Adam and Eve disobeyed Him?” remain unanswered.

Regardless, it would seem the only way to be certain of Humanity’s superiority is by turning to religion, which is interesting considering the critical element of religion, faith, is based on uncertainty. It seems to be the nature of religion to challenge the nature of man. Rather than promoting the study and applied interpretation of the world around us, religion – particularly Christianity – assures us that these things are ultimately irrelevant, that everything is being meticulously orchestrated by an infinite being, and that our time would be better spent attempting to appease that being. It’s a wonder the concept has survived this long. In the face of continuing advancements in physics, history, genealogy, medicine,and philosophy, faith has done nothing new since The Bible was completed. The concept has remained largely unchanged for thousands of years, minus a few archaic ideas that are ignored today in favor of logic (the story of Noah’s Ark is a tall tale at best.) For these reasons, I consider this concept of divine ordinance a sufficient conclusion for the spiritually inclined, but lacking in substance applicable to the rapidly accelerating machine that is human understanding.

Finally, the question must be asked: What is the benefit of even establishing this hierarchy? We can’t discuss it with other animals; much less convince them to abide by it (whatever that might entail); and in the end it doesn’t change a thing. In our eyes, we are the most important thing in existence and all others are secondary at best. We act and make decisions based on what benefits ourselves, just as all other living creatures do. Any impression of transcendence we may feel over beasts is quite literally all in our heads.