A reaction paper on the lecture,”The Life of Mammals”

Paulma, Christine L.                                                          

2013 – 44340

Mammals’ Way of Life

A reaction paper on the lecture,”The Life of Mammals”

            The society, as it has gone used to or as it has set the norms, places the human beings on top of the social order. As we are taught by the bible, man and woman are stewards of God’s creations. With this kind of thinking, we have the tendency to dominate over other living things. We have set the standards according to our actions and our perspective, our way of life. However, there are other creatures, specifically monkeys which, as observed by specialists, behave as humans do.

            There are different kinds of monkeys and their way of living varies as well. There are those who are nocturnal, those, who like us, are more active in the morning, etc. For a reason which might be unknown to us, who does not particularly study the behaviour of monkeys, this species act like humans in some instances. For one, they are mammals just like us. Their physical appearance could also be comparable to ours. In their means of survival, some feed themselves just as humans do. When there is a nut or a shell, they find ways to crack it open. They also have social hierarchy as much as we do. There is ‘someone’ in their kind who is higher than the others. Moreover, they know their place in their society and they work their way up. It was also shown that they have means to protect their own kind from predators. Alike other living things, they feed on the different things nature offers such as plants and other animals. Like humans, some of these monkeys eat only fruits and vegetables. Others, on the other hand, are carnivorous and sometimes eat their own kind.

            To be honest, I am undeniably awed by how they are able to live, how they are able to work. Being shown that they were capable of doing human things, such as rowing a boat, using a saw to cut wood among many others, my perspective towards these mammals changed. I have thought before that media showing their capabilities to act as humans were all tricks. I guess I have thought wrong. Maybe for the reason that I think as most humans do – that we are the beings on top of the social order and that we are more capable of others – I have underestimated the capabilities of those creations which I thought was “lower” in the social order.

            It is a positive thing that specialists observe and study these things and devise a way to give the awareness to the average human person through documentation and through the media. It is in this way that those who are not knowledgeable about this will be given adequate information regarding this field. Through this understanding, we will be more aware of how they behave and how, as stewards, we will be able to protect them in ways that we are capable of doing. Only then could we make sure to sustain their existence through time. It is a jungle out there for their species but with deeper awareness of their way of life, we may be able to help these beings survive this jungle.

            Through time, we may have the misconception to be ruling over other creatures, not knowing how they live. It is not entirely a bad thing though since we really are more capable of controlling the things that we do. Our actions may affect the other beings in the social order and we have to be more conscious of our actions given that we are blessed with capabilities far greater than others.