Mia Doreen George
Professor Meaks
ENGL 21001-R
CCNY: S-209
3/1/26

Introduction: I struggled a bit with assignment as I tried to approach it with honesty but ended up overwhelming myself with the amount of opinions I have. If I could do it over I may have picked a different topic all together that wasn’t as broad. For my portfolio I didn’t change anything for this assignment, as I’m content with it.

Op – Ed: Humans Often Forget We Too Are Animals, And It’s Hurting Us

Throughout history, as humans have gradually become more advanced, we have disconnected ourselves from the fact that we are animals of the Earth too. However, I believe that in remembering this we, as a species, will grow to be more empathetic, open-minded, and responsible for each other and planet Earth.

Humans are known to be the most advanced species on planet Earth. From our senses, to our technology, to our tools, to just about everything. However, with all of this it is so incredibly easy to forget our roots. Our shoes shield our feet from remembering the history hidden in the dirt and grass. We once kept in mind we, too, were animals; products of the Earth. We’re more alike to other animals than we realize, in terms of being wandering creatures trying to live decent lives. Then in time, we grew to believe that we were akin to Gods. We’ve now drifted so far from our humanity that we seem to have designed a new vision of film to look at the world through. A more mechanical and chilling one.

While humans are incredible in our abilities, and vast brain functions that have allowed us to build entire societies, art, tall structures, and even medicines that help us and other species live longer, we also have an assortment of valued weaknesses. We, as a whole, can be short sighted in the role we play toward our own detriment. Factories being built atop rainforests, other animals being displaced due to our actions, and water being used, by the precious gallon, by artificial intelligence we have made; without the use of AI. We often lack empathy for our brothers and sisters, as we continue to desensitize ourselves from the horrors we’ve manufactured. The womans rights crisis in Sudan, LGBTQIA+ rights and progress being decimated across the world, and, of course, the genocide of the men, women, and children in Gaza, Palestine are all examples of this. The Medium article by Antoine Alfonso titled ‘Remembering that humans are animals makes life easier to deal with.’ makes an agreeable point, stating: “We’re just animals. Accept it, and be honest with yourself about your own life. Delusional and entitled thinking is one of our most damning weaknesses.”

The YouTube video ‘Sudanese women’s bodies being turned into ‘crime scenes’ – UN | REUTERS’ describes such attacks these women, these people, face. People who have just as much a right to a good life as you, me, and especially those who have the power to help. Around the world humanitarian crisis’s built and spread, leaving many blemishes on the idea of humanity being fed to us in America. Children in our schools are taught to not be bullies, to not treat others the way you would not want to be treated, to take responsibility as their actions have consequences. However, our leaders, our billionaires, and people who make our laws world wide are failing us continuously, and our humanity is dwindling in favor of keeping the rich richer, not only because of those aforementioned causes, but also because we are drinking the poisons fed to us by these leaders.

The purposeful deterioration of our attention spans is one of these poisons. The overuse and improper use of AI as a means to take over our lives and overshadow our art and education is also a poison. The propaganda and stereotypes. In place of truths are lies and over time we will be nothing but statistics and cogs in a grander destructive machine that do not acknowledge the fact that we are being used under false pretenses. We are the convicts responsible for stealing our own joy by creating man made concepts such as racism, money, capitalism, weaponry wars, etc. We’ve damned the values in the natural orders that made humans so unique to other species like the multitude of complex ways we love, experience, care, and preserve our stories.

All of the aforementioned extreme disasters are not of circumstance, but rather our negligence of a greater good that involves everybody. Every body. Humans tend to maneuver with recklessness. Harmful recklessness of word, action, sight. If we continue barricading paradise from ourselves by not only disconnecting ourselves from our oneness with other species, and Earth itself, but also from each other as human beings – we will slowly erode any chance we have at a utopia.

In the editorial: ‘Humans are Animals’ by Ferdinando Boero, Boero states: “We have invented a series of laws for our own use, and they have been designed while disregarding that we are just animals who must obey Nature’s laws. If our laws are in conflict with the laws of Nature, there is no hope that our laws will prevail.”

In opening up to remembering our animality and unity with everything naturally around us, we open ourselves up to being more harmonized with everything. Modern society typically places humans, especially white male humans, at the center of the world, when humans as a whole do not possess the God-like authority to be rulers. We may be the most advanced, and there can be pride in that, but we weren’t meant to use this advancement to create a world that overlooks those who are “different”, or in other words “unimportant”. If we can find it in us to ground ourselves and meet others where they are, without devaluing them for their circumstances, or personhood; we can go the distance to come together and work to stitch the future into a gorgeous tapestry of difference and uniqueness. The world can be brighter if we recognize it as the life source it is, and rather than abuse it – care for it properly and watch it give back resources in return.

The imbalance in how humans care for Earth vs how Earth cares for us is apparent in the way we take from it, with humans taking food, and other countless resources, and thanking it with killing off ecosystems, plant life, and much more. Even the harmful societal views we make up are majorly meant to handicap our women, people of color, and people of different sexual orientations.

We, like animals, can live in respect to the ecosystem(s) without destroying them. We, like animals, can respect each other as human beings without being threatened by differences we may see or find out later. We, like animals, can have the humility to not want to dominate, but coexist in a way that establishes us taking and giving in equal tandem. While animals do have their own hierarchies, these hierarchies are based on natural strength, dominance, and basic survival skills rather than being a strive for baseless abusive power like most human hierarchies.

While I do understand and hold the truth of others giving up on the prospect of a utopia due to the understandable feeling of hopelessness – I implore us to uphold hope and action. I think the people are stronger than the corporate titans when put together with conviction. I think we can reach the future we want our children to be raised in. Continue to hope. Continue to build your own thoughts, research, and individuality. Continue to see those around you not just as different, but as irrevocably beautiful because of what their differences are contributing to the story of humankind. Analyze how their valuable perspectives are enriching yours. Go outside and let the life in you bubble up until it seeps out onto its surroundings.

Finally, I leave you with this. In the Medium article ‘Why ‘Colours of The Wind’ has so much meaning’ by Think Beyond they say: “(…)Then she mentions that “we are all connected to each other, in a circle, in a hoop that never ends.” This highlights that nature and humankind need each other.”

Mia Doreen George