We are Just Talking Apes

It seems we sometimes forget we animals that are part of the whole system. As Jane Benyus puts it, our actions should be such that it makes life more livable. For more information about her work and information about how to learn what we need to know, I recommend her book and website – Biomimicry. Previous related posts include this and this post.

In a related presentation, Carl Safina gave a fantastic TED talk, “What are animals thinking and feeling?“. In his presentation he connected all life on planet Earth. He confirmed that other creatures have emotions: fish have personalities, eels have intelligence, whales have empathy, and sharks are rational. These cognitive faculties that some humans insist make us distinct from the animal kingdom are actually shared by all other creatures.

He explains how this is so because the first neurons showed up in jellyfish and how we share the same brains as all over living things. With this information he asks, why should it be un-scientific to “anthropomorphize” conscious life to any animal except  humans?

To bring our similarity all other creatures, he explains how compassion, love are emotions we share with all living things. He ends by explaining how we have the power to make a difference. I encourage you to listen:

While he emphasizes the difference it makes for wildlife, we must remember, how other life lives effects how we live. For these reasons I encourage all to Practice Paneugenesis  by causing all good through the generation of comprehensive improvements by making pervasive, reciprocal, selfish, selfless, synergistic interactions so everyone and everything benefits.