and God said, let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. - King James Bible: Genesis 1:26
This is an exercise in basic writing course I teach concerned by a balanced order of sentences into paragraphs giving examples and qualifiers. It goes something like this :.
a An estimated two billion people are malnourished.
b. Only man can read and write.
c. Only man can grow his own food.
d. Man is the most intelligent of animals.
e. It is estimated that 1 billion people (18% of world population) are illiterate.
There is an important sticking point: sentence of , the introductory sentence. Many people refuse to believe that Homo sapiens (man) is an animal species. have not they agreed that there are three basic choices for all subjects.
I rarely exhibits on the life and work of Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist, who laid the foundations of the modern system of binomial (two names) nomenclature (biological classification). The first part of the name identifies the kind to which the species belongs; The second part identifies the species in the genus.
For example, humans belong to the genus Homo and in this genus to species Homo sapiens , a first classification included in Linnaeus' Systema Naturae published in 1735.
Detail of the 6th edition of Systema naturae (1748) describing Anthropomorpha with a division between Homo and Simia .
I asked the students who can not accept that they are part of the animal kingdom to list some characteristics of animals, vegetables and minerals.
It is generally accepted that humans are not minerals, basement, and unlike plants, we do not have roots and get our food from the ground.
Animals have several characteristics in common; outside the corals, we have mobile and digestive systems, which involve making nutrition through the mouth and excretion of waste per anuses.
Who generally agreed, we are free to focus on the writing task, but after spending a little too much time to reach a level of acceptance of our place in the Land of Mother Nature, we may have to continue in the next lesson.
Much of our behavior is dictated by our belief systems, but these in turn are determined by our understanding, so ingrained by teachers or pretend osmosis, the language used. For example, what do you mean by the word "domination" in my above quote from the King James Bible? Or "rule" in the New American Standard Version, and "be masters' in the international standard? In a negative sense, they might variously mean to win, use or possess.
However, because we have the power, the interpretation I prefer to believe is that these words mean "to feed, care for and protect." If we have empathy with our pets, why can not we see and practice a similar trait with other species?
According to 2004 data, Indonesia is home to nearly 700 mammals, more than any other country. In addition, with only 1% of the land area of the Earth, the tropical forests of Indonesia contain 10% of plant species known in the world, 12% of mammal species and 17% - more than 1500! -. Of all known bird species
Note the use of the word "known". Recently, a new species of "walking" shark has been discovered in the waters of Halmahera (Maluku), and in the mountains of the island a new species of rodent, dogfish Boki Mekot Rat, was discovered in September .
Some critically endangered species are known to most of us; tigers, rhinos and orangutans in Sumatra, for example. But what of those you've probably never heard of?
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) maintains a threatened species Red List "assess the risk of extinction of thousands of species and subspecies." For a simpleton like me unable to calculate data extraction from the list is somewhat complex. However, this is what I have gleaned about a group of Indonesian mammals, found on the east side of the Wallace line, which few have heard talk, much less seen.
99 subspecies of marsupials are listed :. Bandicoot, cuscus, Dasyure, dorcopsis, Dingiso, pandemelon, opossum, tree kangaroos, triok, wallaby
critically endangered (CR) - species in imminent danger of extinction in the wild: 8
endangered (EN ) - species facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild: 14
vulnerable (VU) - species facing a high risk of extinction in the wild: 17
Near threatened (NT) - although not meeting all the criteria that would categorize it as risking extinction, it is likely to do so in the future: 6
data Deficient (DD) - may or may not be threatened: 3
:. 48
In other words, a little less than half of Indonesia marsupials are currently considered at risk
We all know the main causes; land clearance for logging, plantations, mining, urbanization, overexploitation and pollution. Man is the only species that Fouls his own nest
In his book Dieta Naturalis , Linnaeus wrote: "[Theologians decree] that man has a soul and that animals are mere 'aoutomata mechanica, but I think they would be better advised that animals have a soul and that the difference is of nobility . "
think about these things. We have a choice, either noble or stupid.
Here endeth the sermon.