“Seeing too much of ourselves in other animals might not be the problem we think it is. Under appreciating our own animal natures may be the greater limitation.”

From New York Times, 6/9/12 article by BARBARA NATTERSON-HOROWITZ and KATHRYN BOWERS

That’s from this fine article in NYT Sunday by BARBARA NATTERSON-HOROWITZ and KATHRYN BOWERS, well worth reading and considering.  The idea that we were so far distinct from the animals we share this planet with is fairly recent, 1860s or so…and feeds a lot of pretty dysfunctional thinking about our place in the Great Chain.

Imagine the impact on religion if we were to wake up to the fact that we are not so special after all.  Imagine the toll such a view would take on diet, resource consumption, sport, etc. We have a lot invested in seeing ourselves as distinct and special…and yet more and more evidence points to the fact that we are the ones who are clueless.  All of nature understands the interconnectedness of life.