Are we better than animals?

My mother keeps a bowl of milk everyday for street dogs passing by. A few days ago, I witnessed something that left me pondering.

It was evening when the dog came by. He stood there outside the gate, wagging his tail and looked at my mother in anticipation. She went inside, poured the milk and some bread pieces in the bowl and kept it outside. The dog started drinking it whilst putting his tongue in the bowl and taking in little ounces of it.

Meanwhile, another dog came by. He didn’t come forward and rather stood there. He seemed really hungry but waited there from a distance with his tongue stuck out. About 10-15 minutes passed by while the first one was still trying to get his bowl empty. The other one stood there all this while. Finally when the first one was finished, he came forward.

I stood there and looked at them the whole time. Initially, I thought that they would fight over the bowl of milk but it took me by surprise. It felt strange. The dogs who are not taught any etiquette or discipline, tend to naturally know what most humans don’t.

I was inclined to relate it to the opportunist world (mostly dominated by humans) that it has become. Lets say those dogs were humans, this whole thing was some real life scenario and that bowl of milk was some desirable thing that they’d want.

What do you expect?

Wouldn’t the other one try to take that bowl of milk away from the first one. And the two of them would have ended up in quite a hassle.

There are youngsters fighting over petty little things, over some guy or girl. Or just trying to look the best, to be the richest and be on top of all. And then there are adults being entangled in family issues. They are disputing over property or money or, you know, there are many things. The desires have no end.

And sometimes its just about fulfilling self desires. We humans are driven to try grabbing the first opportunity coming to us or may be even snatching other ones’, many a times ignoring the right thing to do. Mostly, we are selfishly trapped in our greed and desires. Not just you, or me, actually all of us, in one way or the other!

We can’t be that dog who waits for the other one to let him have the whole bowl of milk. May be he will get another one after him. Even if he doesn’t, then he might look some place else. May be he’ll get something to eat better than that or may be not. But he is OK with it. We, on the other hand, aren’t!

So, are humans better than animals? I ponder.

8 thoughts on “Are we better than animals?”

Add yours

  2. If we weren’t better than animals then we have created a huge crime. For that reason alone it’s simply more pragmatic to think we are. Even our language is structured around that concept – humans as differentiated from animals.
    But objectively? The true defining point would be human altruism. It’s incredibly rare for another species to act in anothers benefit. Humans can do that. Humans can do that for people that don’t even know (donations, charity .etc)
    Will dogs go out of their way for not their masters?

    Like

    Reply

    1. That’s indeed true. But may I ask how much of us really donate? Can you think about that percentage of humans? I guess merely 4-5%. And that itself suggests that we cannot define the whole human species on the basis of that.
      Ok let me put it this way. Would you donate people if you don’t have anything with yourself? Would you give away your own share of food to someone else? Yes, people donate. But who are these people? Those who have a lot for themselves. But accept it, we can’t help others if we have to sacrifice something of our own. Those people are few, very few!
      My point here is just that, we humans who despite having all the needs and luxuries are not satisfied with that much. They want more and more. And somewhere in that greed, they forget the right things to do.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. The way we should be looking at it is through the specific scenarios wherein everyone is in the same boat together. Hurricane Katrina is probably the most relevant to this – people affected by the hurricane were frequently going out of their way to help others. They were opening up houses, sharing their food when they had little them self.
        Perhaps we’re a bit off track here, so I apologise because I’m pretty sure this wasn’t the point of your piece.
        Then again, my entire argument does rest on the word ‘donate’. I think the major issue is wilful ignorance, not greed. People would rather live in a safe and happy little world than be aware of the problems around them. I think we are all guilty of that

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment

Website Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑