Are We Superior?

A non-vegetarian friend who was questioning my concern for animals asked me "Don’t you think you are superior to the animals?" I wasn’t sure what "superior" meant, but I told her that if I was superior to the animals, that didn’t give me the right to cause pain and suffering to them. She had no argument against that point.


If "superior" means better, how are humans better than any other species. Are we better for the planet? Actually, we're in danger of destroying our planet. Are we kinder? Not on a long shot. What other species engages in organized warfare against its own kind, or causes unspeakable pain and suffering to other creatures for all of their lives? Sure, we have developed higher technology, but has our technology helped the planet or helped our own species? Our technology may destroy us. Maybe humans can do higher math or write great novels. If the doers of higher math and the writers of great novels are superior to the animals because they can do those things, then they are superior to me because I can’t do those things. Does that give the mathematicians and writers the right to cause pain and suffering to me?


Many creatures can do things that humans cannot do. Dog’s, for example, are very good at noticing subtle changes in the environment which humans can’t detect. That’s why dogs have often alerted humans to dangers the humans did not notice. Some creatures can navigate by means of the magnetic lines of the earth. Does that make them superior to us?


I think there is no superiority, just differences. No race is superior, no gender, no religion, no culture, and no species. I believe that we all have the right to be on this planet, and we have the right to live our lives without the interference of anyone else. I think this whole idea of superiority has caused a lot of suffering in this world.


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The awful wrongs and sufferings forced upon the innocent, helpless, faithful animal race, form the blackest chapter in the whole world’s history.-Edward Augustus Freemen, History of Europe
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