Reaction Paper: Social Climbers and Food for Thought

SALAC, Carlo P.

2012-29291

STS X2

           

For as far as I remember, I believe in the close connection of humans to the monkeys and apes. I always believe that the monkeys are our ancestors and there are numerous and reliable evidences supporting this claim. It is actually believable because of the remarkable intelligence of these animals and the closeness of some of their actions to our own. However, I did not imagine them to be actually so related to us that it left me fascinated.

            These similarities occurred to me when we watched the “The Life of Mammals” featuring “The Social Climbers” and “Food for Thought.” It was shown how monkeys and humans are very much alike such as their ability to learn from experience and their ability to imitate human movements and pass it to everyone in the group. Even their ability to use certain plants as insect repellent would leave anyone amazed.  Also, their ability to work with other species to create an effective network to keep everyone safe from aerial and terrestrial predators is very hard to believe for me, because I did not know that the intelligence of some animals will actually make them capable of using sound to effectively perform that task. I've always thought that only humans possess this degree of intelligence. I was wrong.  Another evident similarity of humans and monkeys is the presence of social hierarchy. I find this quite disturbing because this strict hierarchy sometimes led to death of other members. Although there are some advantages on this system, I still find it in a negative way, probably because of the impact of our own social system to me.

            Aside from informing the viewers about monkeys and their wonders, this documentary also has a message to impart: instead of controlling the environment for the survival of the population, we should start to control the population for the survival of the environment. I fully support this message because I believe that the human race has gone way too far. Yes, we are the superior race but we are not the only race in this planet. On our struggle to keep our growing population survive, we in turn sacrificed the survival of other organisms. We must stop this and change the course of the events while we still can. Yes, we may still have hope if we can manage to cultivate life on other planets such as Mars, but I find this idea ridiculous. I can’t stand the idea that we would thrive on another planet while we watch the rest of the world die because of our own doing. I would rather choose that the human race should face the consequences of our actions alongside the rest.