It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much -- the wheel, New York, wars and so on -- whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man -- for precisely the same reasons.
-Douglas Adams, "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
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That humans are supposedly "superior" to animals is a common bland moral argument for the exploitation of animals. However the idea of "superiority" is a vague and subjectively biased term. What does it mean to be a superior species if we are such to animals?
Brain size?
A popular myth of neurobiology is that the size of the brain of a species correlates with the intelligence of the species. This myth can easily be brought to criticism by the fact our neanderthal ancestors and elephants have much larger brains than we. In fact, see the table below to understand just how diverse brain sizes can be among supposedly "inferior" animals. The reason for brain size differences is due more to the proportion of the species itself or encephalization. This is due to non-thinking functions such as motor innervations. So a smaller animal will have a smaller brain generally speaking. What is more important to determining the complexity of an organism has more to do with the development of certain areas.
| Species | Brain mass (g) |
| Adult human | 1,300 - 1,400 |
| Sperm whale | 7,800 |
| Elephant | 4,783 |
| Bottlenosed dolphin | 1,500 - 1,600 |
| Bowhead Whale | 2,738 |
| Goldfish | 0.097 |
Superiority
As I will begin to explain, the idea of superiority is a subjective one. Of course we humans like to think we are important but many of us believe we are the most important. Would it really be so bad if we were to find out this weren't the case?
If by "superiority" we mean there are more humans than any other single species, this is easily debunked by examining the underside of a rock where a small city of a single species can be found. If superiority means the species is more widely dispersed geographically, take a look at the distribution of species like the horsefly who appears on nearly every continent and country.
If superiority were argued to mean our ability to dominate and control other animals, consider the HIV virus or epidemic bacteria. What is left is moral arguments for a certain spiritual knighting of the human race over other animals; such as one given by religion (and I'm not going there.)
Just how different are we?
This video shows one of many of the hidden abilities in the animal kingdom of artisitic creativity and transitive pictographic replication (a.k.a. drawing stuff)
The specialized brain
There is indeed something unique about humans, for better or worse. So what is it? Of course, there are uniquenesses to numerous species. While I can derive a quadratic equation, a termite can digest the cellulose of wood. So let's narrow down the search to a morphological difference in thinking ability.
The best answer I can give you is corticalization. That is, most mammals have a cerebral cortex, but ours is quite large in proportion to the rest of our brain. The cerebral cortex, especially the most recently-evolved neocortex is the cause for the human specialization for creativity, language, and deduction.
Ethical implications
Despite all this neurobiology, we're still left with the ethical implications of these differences and how it relates to our exploitation of nonhuman animals. Conversely, we should look at the ways in which we are not different from the animals we exploit. The glaringly obvious similarity is sentience the ability to sense pain and the environment in the central nervous system (as opposed to the peripheral nervous system.)
So while a human can brag about their neocortex, the pain centers of our brain are no evolutionary feat. Cows, chickens, pigs, turkeys, and even the bees we use for honey are all just as sentient as we are. While there is variation, there is no signficant difference in the functioning of nociceptors or the areas of the brain itself like the limbic and somatosensory regions which lie separate from the neocortex.
The point is that a egotistical complex of "superiority" does not make for a sufficient moral argument against the imperative to free animals from exploitation. The consumption of animals and animal products is not necessary for survival, and, as opposed to popular belief, did not account for a significant proportion of calories in our hominid ancestors. Some ancient civilizations actually lived for centuries on incidentally vegan diets. Imagine the difficulty of harvesting animals in a preagrarian society versus today. Only in some settlements but not other could this be efficient.
Beyond that, because we are able does not mean something is right. Nor does our legal ability to perform an act make for a just law. Because you have the "right to do" does not make it "right to do". When animals like dairy cows are made into an economic commodity, they feel the pain of losing their young to a veal farm. They feel the physical pain of knives, blades, and prods. An animal feels the loneliness of slavery and the violation of losing their life--whether it follow a free-range, cage-free, or factory farmed life.
No matter how superior you may believe animals are to humans, no animal suffers more intelligently than another. For this reason, the humble conclusion must begin with a transition to a vegan diet--for the animals, human beings, and the Earth.
Comments
Excellent. Go vegan!
Thank you Adam!
Awesome, an article I don't feel the need to add to. :)
Excellent , because it`s true .Thank You Adam .
Excellent, because it`s true .
... great article, thanks Adam
"Superior," I will grant, is a subjective term. But, we as a species, have distinctly greater intelligence. Why focus on the ability to feel (or experience) pain? Obviously, because it serves two purposes: 1. It is an area of similarity between cute, fuzzy baby animals and humans; 2. Humans have culturally adapted to have empathy for others who experience pain. But, are those reasons to base our entire approach to other species on the basis of pain experience? Not really. The problem is that all the rules, indeed logic itself, is a construct of the human species. Form a legal perspective, along with "rights" come responsibilities. Yet, only humans have the ability to undertake both rights and responsibilities. The only humans asserting animal rights are those with well developed empathy, but little understanding of the true nature of "rights" and "animals," . . . and those who seek to take advantage of their numbers and their pocketbooks. Eat what you like. Leave the rest of us alone.
Adam, thank you for writing this article.
I wish Richard M would leave animals alone ;-p
Great Article Adam, thank you. I would, however like to throw my two cents. Personally, I don't see one species superior to another due to the fact that each species is superior by nature to another anyway. To name a few as examples. A dog has superior hearing and smell to say humans and some other species, a Cheetah is superior in running than any other species, humans believe they are the most intelligent of the species. But are humans the most intelligent? In actuality we really don't know if humans are more intelligent as we really don't have the ability to compare because we cannot fully communicate with other species to find out. If we takes dogs e.g. they seem to understand more what we are saying to them than we are understanding what they are trying to say to us. Dogs like all other animals do communicate in their own way but we the supposedly more intelligent have trouble understanding them. I don't see superiority there are just differences and yet similarities.
E, you seem to agree with my views. I basically think that the sentence "x is superior to y" is like saying "x is more than y," when we're talking about beings, I have to ask "more what?" and "superior how?" Superiorities and inferiorities have to relate specific qualities. Saying that one animal is superior to another animal just doesn't make sense semantically. It reminds me of how children fight with each other by saying "My toy is BETTER."
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Great points! However, I feel they could be developed quite a bit more. This article only skims the surface.
Sheesh, I take a nap and you r3tards are even stupider than when I left to take a nap. I am now going to flood the entire earth and then melt it so you f@ggots never exist anymore.
And f**k all the others, too.
Vegan? Seriously? I did like your article up until that very last point then I threw it out the window. Animals may have the ability to feel pain but we need to eat and humans are MADE TO EAT MEAT! Deal with it! I think that humans are 'inferior' to animals because of our stupidity! What other animal out there that is an omnivore or carnivore or even herbivore that refuses to eat what they are supposed to? ONLY humans. Sure, everyone has the freedom to do what they want, but purposefully depriving yourself of the vitamins and minerals that your body needs just because you heard one news article that mcdonalds does horrible things to their cattle? Honestly, that's ridiculous. Not everyone out there who keeps animals for meat is a derranged, ax-welding freak who stuffs their animals into tiny crates only to horribly slaughter them. And now look. I've gone into a frantic rant about something completely different to what your article is about because of one comment at the end.
The animals is inferior because they are stupid, intellect is superiority it is power it is why we rule this planet and are able to build a society and constantly improve upon it. We do not need super hearing or super smell our ability to create will give us whatever we need through technology and such things. Id like to see what the stupid dolphins have to say about that.
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