HPIA
Hofstra Papers in Anthropology
Volume 3, Article #1, 2008
Knowing We Are Evolved: The Key to Being Evolved
by Melissa Kroll
Perhaps the greatest obstacle for humankind is the fact that we stick to what we know. We associate ourselves with the familiar: people who are like us, situations we have experienced before, and anything that gives us a sense of comfort. It is possible that all of the answers to our questions exist within other cultures and unfamiliar faces, but we are not willing to cross these boundaries to find out. Being who we are and having a self identity puts a filter on our brains, only processing things that we can understand and applying them how we wish. We manipulate the world around us so that it is most comfortable rather than practical.
The life of the modern human is seclusive. Throughout time as we have expanded around the globe and formed societies and cultures, we have ignored those who are different from us. The narrative of our primitive past no longer connects us at the same level it used to because we do not hold that connection with reverence. Every Homo sapiens understands that other Homo sapiens are in fact human, but there is no under lying bond between us because individualism and culture have choked us of our connections. Hypothetically speaking, if four random people with four entirely different backgrounds, convictions, values, and ideas were to meet up, they would be apprehensive and ignorant of each other. Despite all of the commonalities that tie them together as human beings, their concepts of society and community have handicapped them to only see things how they were raised to see them.
For argument’s sake, these four people are Ron Luce, Ingrid Newkirk, John H. McDonald, and Michael Moore. Granted, these people would never meet up in regular circumstances, but they all managed to find the fourth dimensional time exempt bazaar that I am holding in another universe with all of my favorite historical figures. It is in a dark lounge with soft music, a bar, and Van Gogh originals on the wall. Abe Lincoln is debating with Sophocles the morality of Oedipus the King while lounging in the corner by the jazz band. At the bar, Ron Luce is drinking a bottle of Poland Spring water and explaining the newest steps in his campaign, Battle Cry. Ingrid Newkirk, drawn by the talk of religion, joins him at the bar.
Luce is talking to Joyce Meyer on his right. “See, it’s not about what is right and what is wrong. It’s about the youth. These youth today actually want a change for America. They themselves are coming to this campaign pleading for a change in our society that is feasibly drowning them out with terrorism, scandals, abortion, rape, murder, crime, and all sorts of heathen attacks. They can’t survive in society. They want to see God within their politics.”
Newkirk, being the international president of PETA (1) and a declared atheist, is put off from this comment. “I would tend to differ, Mr. Luce. With the increase in crime rates, gang affiliation, and school drop outs, I would say America’s youth are at a loss.”
Luce, turning to face his new opponent, replies, “It’s not about what the media represents about our youth. That’s what Battle Cry (2) is all about. It’s letting America know that there is a large amount of Christian youth who want to see a change.”
Newkirk, again offended, rebuts, “I don’t care what these Christian youth want to see, they are violating my rights as a human being. I have the right to believe what I want to believe and not be governed by Christian authorities.”
“And who gave you that right?” Luce cocks his head, slightly agitated.
“The founding forefathers of this nation…”
“… who were Christian.” Luce concludes confidently and turns back to Joyce.
“Oh no, this discussion is not over yet,” Newkirk grabs the attention of her opponent once more. “You can’t just go around inspiring the next generations to unravel what this great nation has worked towards. You can’t condone or even promote their disdain for society’s acceptance of other people. That’s not ethical.”
“Why not?” Luce, ready for an argument, replies, “There are no ethics in today’s society. We have laws that govern us to an extent, but there is honestly no one stopping me from killing you. My personal convictions and morals are what stop me from actually going through the act of murdering a human. Ethics are nothing more than a pagan’s means of having morals.”
Newkirk, officially upset, puts down her glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. “I’m going to assume that by saying ‘the act of murdering a human’ you imply that you only consider the killing of humans as murder. If that stands true, then I don’t know if we can ever see eye to eye considering you yourself are a hypocrite. You claim God created the Earth and all of its beings and that he is sacred, yet you willingly go around chopping up and eating those very beings he made for you. I, being a vegan and the international president of PETA, obviously disagree with you there. I also disagree with the fact that you conclude I have no morals and simply because I am atheist, or ‘pagan’, I use ethics as my excuse.”
Michael Moore (3), who is known for loving controversy, can hear this conversation half way across the room and decides to join in. “Well put, Ingrid. I would have to agree with Luce on that point, however. Ethics are a non-Christian way of having morals without associating yourself with religion. But what’s the harm in being associated with religion anyway?”
“The harm,” taking a sip from her glass, she replies, “is in the fact that I have personally decided there is no God and I will not be ruled by him or any other made up being. I do not believe he created the earth and I certainly do not believe that he continues to govern it.”
“Then you are an atheist and an evolutionist?” Moore probes.
“Precisely.” Newkirk smiles, glad to finally be understood.
Ron Luce lets out a sigh of frustration, knowing full well that this conversation is taking a sour turn for his side. “Look, I’m not condemning you for what you believe in and I’m not here to judge. It was you who started the conversation with me and I’m simply stating that today’s society is run by media more than politics and that media is in no way religious. I am sorry that we cannot see eye to eye on animals or religion. I am, however, not a hypocrite because even though I believe God made all the beings of the earth as they are today, I also believe that He made them for our use.”
Newkirk scoffs at this remark. “As if we are better than them?”
“Of course we are,” Moore chimes in. “Don’t you know how the evolutionary process works? I’m actually working on a film currently talking about the evolution of ancient man into the modern day Homo sapiens. For goodness sake, Ingrid, we are different from other species. We have consciousness, we have societies, we have culture, we have language: we are simply evolved.”
“It’s true,” Luce nods toward Moore. “We are distinct from the animal kingdom. We are the species that has the most knowledge. You cannot deny that. Whether or not you believe that we evolved from them or that we were created above them; we are a better species.”
Dr John H. McDonald (4), an associate professor at the University of Delaware, finally makes his way over to the bar after trying to avoid the conversation. “I am reluctant to join this conversation, but I couldn’t help overhearing what you have been talking about. I would like to point out that we are not necessarily a better species, but rather a better adapted species. It has come to the point where natural selection hardly affects our species anymore because we have adapted our world to our needs. We essentially have cheated evolution using our superior intelligence as a tool.”
“I refuse to believe that.” Ingrid shifts her weight on the stool. “There is no reason why we should be higher up than them and controlling their environments. We came from them. We once were them and it is our duty now that we have more knowledge that we continue to help this earth. Killing them does no one justice. We are on their playing field, we just believe as a society and population that we have higher ranks.”
“As much as I do not support animal abuse or torture, I can’t entirely agree with you.” Moore finally sits down next to Newkirk. “I understand that we evolved from them, but as I said before, we evolved. We are not ‘on their playing field’ and having societies, populations, and cultures are what make us better. We have a consciousness, a sense of self, and we have the ability to distinguish the present from the past and the future at any given moment.”
The obvious objections from each character are direct results of their beliefs. Ron Luce is a Christian and therefore sees everything in the world through a religious filter. He equates all life with God and all actions with God’s will. Michael Moore was raised religious and is currently somewhat agnostic. He could be quoted as saying there may or may not be a God, but scientifically, God is impossible. His view on everything is seen through a possibly religious and possibly societal filter. Ingrid Newkirk is atheist and an animal rights activist. She sees everything for face value and all of her views on society are seen through a secular filter dictated by the media. Finally, John McDonald is a biologist who teaches at the University of Delaware. His view on life in general is obviously viewed through a filter of science and logic. He cannot conceive anything that is not methodologically natural.
Moving on to a more important point: what makes us evolved? Ron Luce would obviously argue that we are not evolved, but that we were created this way. The creationist argument is well supported throughout the world and especially in the United States. It is usually closed minded due to the religious filter that dictates their view on life. The most common creationist view is Intelligent Design (5) which does not claim anything particularly outrageous except that God must have created the world because certain parts of life are too irreducibly complex to have come into existence through the evolutionary processes and chance.
But that in itself is evolution; the fact that Ron Luce has the ability to conceive the idea that a higher being created him. Whether or not it is true is not the issue. No other animal on earth can conceptualize a god or any form of supernatural activity. Supernaturalism takes conceptual thought and a deep level of consciousness. You need to have the ability to think of something that does not physically exist in the here and now while still having yourself existing in the present.
Of course, Ingrid Newkirk would rebut that God does not exist and that we are evolved due to the evolutionary process that has taken millions of years. She would argue that speciesism (6) is not a just way of living. There are distinct differences between humans and animals but that does not give us a right to discriminate or look down on them. We should in fact embrace their existence and help them survive. We evolved from animals and the stance of animal rights activists is to turn around and show our compassion to those who are still of lesser intelligence.
That too is proof of our evolved status; the fact that Ingrid Newkirk is part of a species that has evolved from animals and uses their brain as their strongest weapon but still cares for beings outsides of their species. In the wild, animals of various species still use their instinct as their intelligence and do not typically show compassion or care for other species. A cheetah would not comfort a gazelle, he would eat it. Thus, humans have the ability to look at animals as two things: food and fellow beings. We have the ability to separate food from friend. If we are starving, we would not resort to eating our best friend and if we are taking a walk we would not go chasing after birds for food.
John H. McDonald would agree with Newkirk that God does not exist because it cannot be proven scientifically and also that we have evolved from animals through natural selection over millions of years. He would not agree with her stance on animal rights because he sees the scientific side that we as a species have evolved past the animal kingdom. Although biologically we are still animals, our intelligence and self awareness separate us from all of the animal kingdom, including our relatives.
This scientific stance is proof that we have evolved because we have used our intelligence to discover other species. We have used science to not only help our species fight diseases and find better ways of keeping ourselves warm or cool, but we have used our intelligence and science to study the behavior of other animals to the point that we now know which animals pose threats to us and which do not. We also use that science to fully asses our affect on the environment and what that means for our survival. A prime example of this is the hole in the ozone layer (7) and our discoveries on radiation. We have used our intelligence to find the root causes of the destruction of the ozone layer and the importance of ozone in the first place. We furthered our knowledge by discovering how harmful direct UV rays from the sun are and why destroying the ozone layer was such a horrible feat that should never have taken place. All of this science is one prime example of how we are an evolved species who does not just adapt our environment to us, but has found means of explaining our environment. We use our consciousness and intelligence to answer the “why” and “how” questions.
And then there is Michael Moore who is hypothetically trying to produce a movie on Neanderthals. From his statement, “We have consciousness, we have societies, we have culture, we have language; we are simply evolved,” we can derive that he also believes that we are more intelligent and more sophisticated than even Neanderthals. He is suggesting that consciousness is more than an acquired adaptive trait of an evolutionary process, but it is the defining line between human and non human.
His view on Neanderthals is most likely the same view that the majority of Hollywood producers have. Neanderthals are always viewed as ignorant in society for two reasons: they are less intelligent than us, and they did not survive as a species. Hollywood depictions in movies reflect just this. One of the most common features that makes them “dumb” is the fact that they do not have a language. They grunt and make awkward gestures towards things because their brain is not developed enough to speak like a “civilized” person. One of the most common examples of this is Tarzan (8). He has the build of a human, because his mother was human, but he was raised by apes, thus he is primitive and dresses like a Neanderthal. When James Parker finds him in the wild, he is afraid of him because while he looks human, he cannot speak. Tarzan can only grunt to express himself like his ape family. This is a true example of what it means to humans to be evolved. Even though Tarzan had the body of a human, he was still not viewed as human by James Parker initially because he could not speak and he had no “intelligence”.
The deeper meaning to all of this is: what does evolution have to tell us? Simplistically, it tells us that we are connected. Four seemingly random people with different backgrounds, different geographic locations, different values, and extremely different views on life can easily communicate and approach each other. How is this so? Two groups of chimpanzees living in different areas of central Africa cannot simply meet up and get along. They are intimidated and afraid of each other. They can be extremely territorial as well (9). Like humans, chimpanzees form cultures such as different groups of chimps using different tools and passing those tools on to their young. But why is it that humans can have different cultures and still be able to live together?
I think the main difference is not that we are evolved, but that we believe we are evolved. Being evolved is not enough to set us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. The fact that we believe we are evolved and consider ourselves more intelligent than animals is why we hold ourselves to greater standards. Common phrases such as “don’t be such a pig” or “stop it, you’re acting like an animal” are clear representations that we do not want to be animals. We have not simply evolved, but have taking it upon ourselves to differentiate “us” from the animal kingdom.
Our consciousness scientifically sets us apart from animals and plants. It draws a clear line between human and non human. There is an obvious limit to the cranial capacity of animals and their awareness of themselves and their past. This distinction we have taken to be more than a fine line; we have used it to define ourselves. We have used this distinction, for better or worse, to make ourselves a superior species in comparison to every other species on the planet. We do not hold any other animal to the same moral or ethical standards that we hold ourselves to because we do not believe them to be on our level. We have used our evolutionary past as an excuse to get farther- to be evolved.
(1) Newkirk, Ingrid. “Ingrid Newkirk.” 2007. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 06 Dec 2007 http://www.ingridnewkirk.com/
(2) Luce, Ron. “Letter from Ron Luce.” Battle Cry. 2007. Teen Mania Ministries. 05 Dec 2007 http://battlecry.com/pages/letterfromron.php
(3) “Biography for Michael Moore.” The Internet Movie Database. 2007. Internet Movie Database Inc. 06 Dec 2007 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0601619/bio
(4) Department of Biological Sciences, “Dr. John H. McDonald.” UD Biological Sciences. 2007. University of Delaware. 07 Dec 2007 http://www.udel.edu/bio/people/faculty/jmcdonald.html
(5) Isaak, Mark. “What is Creationism?” Talk Origins. 30 May 2000. The Talk Origins Archive. 07 Dec 2007 http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/wic.html#continuum
(6) Ryder, Dr. Richard. “All beings that feel pain deserve human rights.” Guardian Unlimited. 06 Aug 2005. Guardian news and Media Limited. 10 Oct 2006 http://www.guardian.co.uk/animalrights/story/0,11917,1543799,00.html
(7) Nash, Eric. “Ozone Hole Watch.” NASA Ozone Hole Watch. 04 Dec 2007. NASA. 08 Dec 2007 http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/
(8) “Tarzan the Ape Man.” The Internet Movie Database. 2007. Internet Movie Database Inc. 09 Dec 2007 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023551/
(9) Bailey, Laura. “More male chimps means more territorial patrols.” The University Record. 2005. The University of Michigan. 06 Dec 2007 http://www.ur.umich.edu/0506/Oct24_05/22.shtmlWorks Cited
Bailey, Laura. “More male chimps means more territorial patrols.” The University Record. 2005. The University of Michigan. 06 Dec 2007 http://www.ur.umich.edu/0506/Oct24_05/22.shtml
“Biography for Michael Moore.” The Internet Movie Database. 2007. Internet Movie Databse Inc. 06 Dec 2007 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0601619/bio
Department of Biological Sciences, “Dr. John H. McDonald.” UD Biological Sciences. 2007. University of Delaware. 07 Dec 2007 http://www.udel.edu/bio/people/faculty/jmcdonald.html
Isaak, Mark. “What is Creationism?” Talk Origins. 30 May 2000. The Talk Origins Archive. 07 Dec 2007 http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/wic.html#continuum
Luce, Ron. “Letter from Ron Luce.” Battle Cry. 2007. Teen Mania Ministries. 05 Dec 2007 http://battlecry.com/pages/lettefromron.php
Nash, Eric. “Ozone Hole Watch.” NASA Ozone Hole Watch. 04 Dec 2007. NASA. 08 Dec 2007 http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Newkirk, Ingrid. “Ingrid Newkirk.” 2007. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 06 Dec 2007 http://www.ingridnewkirk.com/
Ryder, Dr. Richard. “All beings that feel pain deserve animal rights.” Guardian Unlimited. 06 Aug 2005. Guardian News and Media Limited. 10 Oct 2005 http://www.guardian.co.uk/animalrights/story/0,11917,1543799,00.html
“Tarzan the Ape Man.” The Internet Movie Database. 2007. Internet Movie Database. 09 Dec 2007 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023551/
Newkirk, Ingrid. “Ingrid Newkirk.” 2007. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. 06 Dec 2007 http://www.ingridnewkirk.com/
Luce, Ron. “Letter from Ron Luce.” Battle Cry. 2007. Teen Mania Ministries. 05 Dec 2007 http://battlecry.com/pages/letterfromron.php
“Biography for Michael Moore.” The Internet Movie Database. 2007. Internet Movie Database. 06 Dec 2007 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0601619/bio
Department of Biological Sciences, “Dr. John H. McDonald.” UD Biological Sciences. 2007. University of Delaware. 07 Dec 2007 http://www.udel.edu/bio/people/faculty/jmcdonald.html
Isaak, Mark. “What is Creationism?” Talk Origins. 30 May 2000. The Talk Origins Archive. 07 Dec 2007 http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/wic.html#continuum
Ryder, Dr. Richard. “All beings that feel pain deserve human rights.” Guardian Unlimited. 06 Aug 2005. Guardian news and Media Limited. 10 Oct 2006 http://www.guardian.co.uk/animalrights/story/0,11917,1543799,00.html
Nash, Eric. “Ozone Hole Watch.” NASA Ozone Hole Watch. 04 Dec 2007. NASA. 08 Dec 2007 http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/
“Tarzan the Ape Man.” The Internet Movie Database. 2007. Internet Movie Database. 09 Dec 2007 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023551/
Bailey, Laura. “More male chimps means more territorial patrols.” The University Record. 2005. The University of Michigan. 06 Dec 2007 http://www.ur.umich.edu/0506/Oct24_05/22.shtml