Tuesday, September 09, 2003
Big word of the day: anthropomorphism...
It means: an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics.
And I mention it why? This article.
Birds do not get divorced. They do not get married, so how can they get divorced? Marriage, and divorce are human concepts, they are human ideas. They are legal concepts, and for those of us who are religious they are theological concepts as well. Birds do not "think", not on the level that humans do, so for them to even consider the concept of marriage, let alone divorce is pointless.
So why do it? It is further errosion of the family unit. You see, if we can see these behaviors mimic'd in the animal kingdom, man can say "See? It's ok for me to get divorced because some bird (that probably has a lifespan of no longer than five years) can do it too!" When we see things in the wild that differ from our behavior as civilized human beings, and it appears to be a behavior that we would find favorable and appealing to our baser instincts, we latch onto it, try to rationalize it and humanize it.
There is a difference though. Animals don't have a conscience, humans do. We are not birds, we are not cats nor are we dogs. We are humans, we act and think differently than every other creature in existance on this planet. Why then do people wish to bring us down to a lower level?
It means: an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics.
And I mention it why? This article.
Birds do not get divorced. They do not get married, so how can they get divorced? Marriage, and divorce are human concepts, they are human ideas. They are legal concepts, and for those of us who are religious they are theological concepts as well. Birds do not "think", not on the level that humans do, so for them to even consider the concept of marriage, let alone divorce is pointless.
So why do it? It is further errosion of the family unit. You see, if we can see these behaviors mimic'd in the animal kingdom, man can say "See? It's ok for me to get divorced because some bird (that probably has a lifespan of no longer than five years) can do it too!" When we see things in the wild that differ from our behavior as civilized human beings, and it appears to be a behavior that we would find favorable and appealing to our baser instincts, we latch onto it, try to rationalize it and humanize it.
There is a difference though. Animals don't have a conscience, humans do. We are not birds, we are not cats nor are we dogs. We are humans, we act and think differently than every other creature in existance on this planet. Why then do people wish to bring us down to a lower level?
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