The street in which my house is located is also home to four dogs, and since last month their count has increased to 10 with the addition of 6 newborn puppies. Due to the presence of a big hearted old lady, who feeds the dogs diligently twice a day, a meal comprising of lovingly cooked meat, eggs and rice, neatly wrapped in plastic bags, so that each of the them can feed peacefully without fighting each other, these canines have no worry whatsoever in their lives. So to pass time they carry these plastic bags and place it in every corner of the street, and if they get too bored with this activity they decide to try their hands in playing with the children of the street, sending the poor kids scurrying back to the safe confines of their compounds from where they start their counter attack by throwing whatever stones they can lay their hands on.
The friendly neighborhood dog catcher arrives regularly twice a month and surprisingly whenever he arrives, the dogs are nowhere to be found. Either he has a peculiar odor which the dogs can smell from quite a distance or they always manage to get the inside information, the result of which is that none of the four dogs have undergone any birth control operation since they were born. The magnitude of the problem has resulted in worried discussions in all the homes of the street, off course except that of the gentle hearted old lady.
Ruminating over the problem, I suddenly started to think in an altogether different direction, We as humans take our place as the supreme life form completely granted. But what if there is a species somewhere in the universe which has more intelligence than that of man and the ratio of its intelligence to that of man's is exactly the same as that of Humans to dogs, what if this intelligent species attacks earth and colonize it. Also let us assume that this superior species is also as heartless as we humans are, then what may be the situation?
Almost all of what man has built may give way to completely different structures which cannot be comprehended by us, We maybe reduced to the posh streets of superior beings, some of them might keep a few of us as pets for their entertainment( Here we may have to fight for the spot with the dogs), most of them might find our flesh very palatable and some may hit upon the idea of human farms, wherein, the way we do with poultry, humans will be bred for large scale consumption. Some of us humans, who value their freedom very much may go back to jungle life, But the superior species may occasionally hunt them down for sport, etc etc, this list can be an endless one, because the sufferings that we are piling on nature is unfathomable.
So does it mean that as supreme beings of earth we have a right to do whatever we like? Certainly in the above discussed situation, life can be very bleak and that is exactly what we have inflicted on the lesser animals. Being supreme doesn't mean a right to exploit, but it stands for a sense of responsibility towards the lesser creatures, We have the capacity of wisdom, let us use it to leave everyone in peace.
The friendly neighborhood dog catcher arrives regularly twice a month and surprisingly whenever he arrives, the dogs are nowhere to be found. Either he has a peculiar odor which the dogs can smell from quite a distance or they always manage to get the inside information, the result of which is that none of the four dogs have undergone any birth control operation since they were born. The magnitude of the problem has resulted in worried discussions in all the homes of the street, off course except that of the gentle hearted old lady.
Ruminating over the problem, I suddenly started to think in an altogether different direction, We as humans take our place as the supreme life form completely granted. But what if there is a species somewhere in the universe which has more intelligence than that of man and the ratio of its intelligence to that of man's is exactly the same as that of Humans to dogs, what if this intelligent species attacks earth and colonize it. Also let us assume that this superior species is also as heartless as we humans are, then what may be the situation?
Almost all of what man has built may give way to completely different structures which cannot be comprehended by us, We maybe reduced to the posh streets of superior beings, some of them might keep a few of us as pets for their entertainment( Here we may have to fight for the spot with the dogs), most of them might find our flesh very palatable and some may hit upon the idea of human farms, wherein, the way we do with poultry, humans will be bred for large scale consumption. Some of us humans, who value their freedom very much may go back to jungle life, But the superior species may occasionally hunt them down for sport, etc etc, this list can be an endless one, because the sufferings that we are piling on nature is unfathomable.
So does it mean that as supreme beings of earth we have a right to do whatever we like? Certainly in the above discussed situation, life can be very bleak and that is exactly what we have inflicted on the lesser animals. Being supreme doesn't mean a right to exploit, but it stands for a sense of responsibility towards the lesser creatures, We have the capacity of wisdom, let us use it to leave everyone in peace.
