I Am Not an Animal: The Human Superiority Complex

So I've had this idea rolling around in my head for a bit now. People always seem to over look the fact that human beings are in fact animals. They act as though they are something better, something greater, but are they? Does the ability to reason or reflect or what ever it is that sets us apart as a species really makes us more than just animals? It's not a unique theme in many religious creation stories to have the human set as the better, the steward, the apex of creation.

I propose that this all part of a collective superiority complex. Humans as a species are ambitious. We strive and thirst for excellence. One way to do this is to place above all other animals. It's to the point that people feel guilty when they give into their base instincts. We punish ourselves and each other for doing that. We develop codes of conduct that if not followed make us no better than wild cur.

The truth is we're trapped in this way of thinking. Many of the things that we'd do if we just followed our base instincts would be violent, mean, or just plain rude if we held them up to our human standards. It goes beyond just feeling greater than other animals as well. At some point we gain this need to feel better than other humans. I admit that even now as I write this I gain a sense of superiority and it's only farther boosted by admitting that.

The problem is even though this complex keeps most of us from maiming and killing each other because 'that person stole your favourite toy', the quest for superiority makes us harm those around us in other ways. We hurt others feeling and ostracize those we find undesirable and lots of people will go out of there way to do it. Still others, often unaware, do it out of habit.

It hinders our ability to connect to each other. A person makes a single mistake that goes against our established code of conduct and suddenly they have no friends. Everyone else' morals and ethics dictates that they must eradicate this person from there life or risk appearing to approve of that person's mistake. It is this attitude that make people hide there mistakes and prevents them from fixing them.

I say morals and ethics be damned. They are great guidelines to help you avoid making your own mistakes but they shouldn't get in the way of friendships. If a person makes a mistake, violates the proper conduct, but realizes that they have and wants to fix it there is no reason to exclude them from you life, no matter how horrible the mistake is. You don't need to approve of their mistake but you should help them fix it in anyway possible even if that just showing your support of your friendship.

If more people followed this the world might just be a happier place. Things might be simpler and than again they might not. The whole concept seems difficult to grasp as it goes against many people's established code of conduct. Well maybe one day.