Evolution is natural
as breathing.
Inescapable, unerasable
Results.
Repercussions.
Realizations equalling
the revolution of evolution.
Who are we?
Who are we to change it?
Today I heard that there was a bird that had made it's way over to Maine from England. Now, all of you must know that when one animal crosses over, and has no natural predators, can have consequences on that area's ecosystem. For instance, possums being introduced to New Zealand? Talk about a fiasco, they're all over the road. Rabbits in Australia? Cane toads in Australia? Every-freakin'-where.
However, this bird had made it over on its own steam apparently, somehow. It had not been introduced, accidentally or purposefully by humans. It is a natural occurence (because we humans apparently aren't natural. Just wait, I'll get into that later) of a bird getting across the Atlantic (wow). Who knows what kind of effect it'll have on the ecosystem here? Well, it didn't bring its mate, so likely very little, although it could interbreed and then who knows what would happen? Wouldn't that disturb our perfect little model of the world? Wouldn't that require some new field guide editions that just everyone would have to have? But wait, just wait a second here. Before we can even think about this, we have to shoot the damn thing down so we can ID it. Because no English twit of a flying saucer is going to invade our state without us knowing what it is! What a disaster! A breach of security! Hell, it could even be a bomb sent over by terrorists, did you think of that?
My point (at this time) is that, who are we to shoot down some bird that's probably happy he made it anywhere without kicking the bucket just so we can make sure he's really who we think he is? Is that our right? Of course we want to be knowledgeable about our world, but at this rate there won't be much left. "Oh, it WAS that bloke from the UK, what d'you know. Well, too bad, he's dead now. At least we know what the cross would have been had there been interbreeding."
Which leads me to my next point: When stuff like this happens, do we, as humans, have any right to interfere in a naturally-occuring phenomena? Evolution is happening all the time. Just because we figured it out and labelled a bunch of species doesn't mean that that freezes them like that and we have to preserve ecosystems as they are. That is not evolution. And also, to what degree are we in the same situation as the rest of the animals? What I mean is: we are obviously smart creatures, we have evolved to be some of the most intelligent beings on the planet, with our thought and our inventions and our technology. We have evolved into a truly amazing species. Are we not still evolving? Now that we are conscious of our evolution, is it truly evolution? Are we shaping it in any way, or should we be? We dominate much of this world, at the expense of other creatures. Should we continue? Since we have evolved into a species capable of manipulating our habitat and other creatures in such a way, should we feel guilty? We could say that we went through years of evolution to become what we are and to continue in the same vein would be to continue our evolution. We are, perhaps, if you believe in fate or destiny, destined to rule this planet, perhaps that is the path we are on. Or perhaps, since we have developed such capacity for thought and contemplation, it is that we should be using, to keep ourselves on a leash, to try to preserve the nature that our expansion once destroyed.
Evolution should be natural though, so therefore, should I be thinking about the evolution of humans? Are we so removed from that which we study? What I mean is: are we part of the ecosystem still? Do the rules we apply to others still apply to us?
I have the bad feeling that a lot of these thoughts assume that there is one or the other that is the "right" decision. However, once you have made the decision, there was no choice, it was the only choice, because it is what you have chosen. Since I do not believe in a higher being, then who would be grading my paper, as 'twere? Who is to say that one way is right and one is wrong? Of course, I could always be wrong in my lack of belief in a higher being and we'll go down the wrong road and, tada, we'll have another flood.
I know a lot of points are probably very muddy and such, I'm having a hard time expressing a couple things because, well, I guess I haven't quite come to any sort of specific definition for myself yet, at least, not in proper words. But, it's late and I've been thinking about this a lot...So, thoughts? Please comment.
Luv,
K