The Human Animal

                                           I make friends with people.And I wear
                                            a derby on my head as others do. I say:
                                            they are strangely stinking animals.
                                            And I say: no matter, I am too.              
                              
                                                                                       -- bertolt brecht (Concerning Poor B.B.)

Brecht wrote much of his poetry during the nineteen thirties, aware that a monstrous regime was in power in his native germany, disillusioned by politics, and human nature. And, under the circumstances, who wouldn't be?

Indeed, who wouldn't be? Who isn't a bit disillusioned? During the twentieth century, at least one hundred million people were killed in wars, most of them civilians. We're off and running in the twenty first century - will we do any better?

Jared Diamond, an anthropologist at UCLA, and the author of several seminal works on human development, wrote a book entitled "The Third Chimpanzee". In it he asserts that there are three types of chimpanzees; regular chimpanzees, pygmy chimpanzees, and human beings.
 And then he proceeds to prove it.

Chimps are genetically more closely related to humans than they are to gorillas, by a considerable margin. We humans have slightly more efficient thumbs, vocal chords, and more back problems.

Albert Einstein once received a letter in which a student inquired as to whether humans beings are animals. Einstein answered that it might be easier to ask: "what do animlas do"?

He mentioned that animals consume food and drink, they sleep, reproduce, sometimes they associate peacefully with each other, and sometimes they fight. He then invited the questioner to form a conclusion based on these facts.

The truth may not always be attractive to us, but aren't we ultimately better off if we accept it, whatever it is? Because if we can come to terms with our animal nature, we can go about the business of improving on that nature, knowing how badly we need to do so. Wish us luck.