Why do some still operate from the idea of human exceptionalism, that we somehow are separate from and inherently different from the rest of life?
ALWAYS CHANGING LIVING SYSTEM
Why do some ask whether we are still evolving or not when all life – the living system we are all part of – is always changing and adapting?
We are part of a self-regulating living system so how can we not?
WHY ASSUME UNIQUENESS?
Why do some still assume that cognition is uniquely human, as the guy about two minutes into this video does? Why do some seem to default to the assumption that if we know something about ourselves from our own experience, that’s unique to us rather than universal among many, most, or all beings?
In this case, why assume that we are the only ones using mental representations and maps to help us navigate and function in the world?
Why make that assumption… When we are closely related to so many other species and so similar to them in every other way? When observation shows us that a great deal of other species, and maybe all of them in their own way, use cognition for the same purpose? When it clearly has an important survival function, so it’s likely to be almost universally present? When cognition can take many different forms, not just as the cognition we are familiar with that reflects about itself?
We scientifically justify using other species to learn about ourselves because they are so similar to us, while we ethically justify those same (often cruel) experiments by saying they are so different from us. Why do we willingly go into that, frankly absurd, mental gymnastics?
Why is the default to assume uniqueness instead of assuming shared traits? Of course, a part of it is to not make assumptions about the presence of something when we can’t know for certain, which is sensible. And yet, assuming the absence of something is also an assumption, and an equally potentially misguided and harmful one.
ASSUMPTIONS OF SEPARATION AND HUMAN SUPERIORITY
The answer to these questions lies in our deep cultural assumptions of separation and superiority.
We assume we somehow – magically, against all we know and see and experience – are separate from the rest of life and this planet. That’s why we may have the idea that evolution is somehow “out there” and also not “in here”.
We also assume that humans somehow – magically and contrary to what we can plainly observe – are superior to the rest of this web of life we are part of. We think while others do not. We feel while others do not. We suffer while others do not. We “have” consciousness while others do not. And so on.
These ideas have been used to justify using the rest of the web of life for our own purposes, without considering the effects on this web of life and the beings that are part of it.
That’s inherently self-destructive, as we are seeing more and more clearly in the world today.
A CHANGE
This is all changing. More and more people seem to realize this.
I can’t help wondering if not the age of the scientist in the video above is a factor in his assumptions of human exceptionalism. Are younger people and scientists more inclined to question those assumptions and see it differently? I don’t know, but I hope so.
THE COST OF THESE ASSUMPTIONS
The assumptions of separation and exceptionalism have some upsides. They have allowed us to go far in science, technology, extracting resources to maintain (a hugely inefficient) civilization, and so on.
They also have a great cost.
We make ourselves feel disconnected and alone by those fantasies. We mentally disconnect ourselves from the web of life we are part of and depend on for our life and (physical and psychological) well-being.
We also give ourselves permission to destroy the web of life we are part of through those fantasies. It’s inherently ecocidal and suicidal.
THE ROOTS OF THESE ASSUMPTIONS
These assumptions are central to our domination culture.
And this domination culture has its roots in the agricultural revolution 10-12 thousand years ago.
When we started domesticating land, vegetation, and animals, and when some of us amassed wealth while others did not, we needed to justify it. And we justified it through developing fantasies of separation, superiority, divine order, and so on. We collectively developed and bought into the assumptions of domination culture, which has taken many forms over time and across cultures.
Today, these assumptions are inherently ecocidal and suicidal. We collectively did OK for several centuries since we were not that many and our technology wasn’t particularly efficient. These days, with 8-9 billions of people and far more advanced technology, the ecocidal and suicidal nature of these assumptions is unavoidable.
Note: The video above is Are Humans Still Evolving? from the American Museum of Natural History, which includes an interview with Ian Tattersall.