Animal rights – Which Animals should be awarded ‘Human’ status?

Posted on by Opher

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The old prevailing attitude was that human beings were not animals. That we were made by god in his image.

The DNA evidence, couple with any cursory look at our far from perfect ‘design’, shows quite clearly that this is not the case.

It used to be thought that we alone displayed intelligence. That is now known to be false. Many creatures display quite marked intelligence. We are probably not even the most intelligent creature on the planet!

It used to be believed that the animals had been put here by god for us to use or abuse as we saw fit. This is dangerous nonsense. Animals have nervous systems and experience pain and discomfort in exactly the same way that we do. There can be no excuse for inflicting pain or torment on any living creature.

So now we come to the thorny question. As many animals are conscious, sentient and intelligent – should we afford them ‘human’ status and give them similar rights to that of human beings?

I say yes.

So which creatures are ‘worthy’ of being given this status?

In my view all animals, but if we go for those animals that have been shown to have a high level of intelligence then we could form a list of suitable candidates:

Our closest primate cousins:

Chimpanzees

Gorillas

Orangutans

Gibbons

The cetaceans:

All whales

Dolphins

Porpoises

Now we know that a number of birds, monkeys and other creatures display a remarkable set of intelligences. Maybe some of them are worthy of being called human? I would be interested to hear your views.

Featured Book – Anthropocene Apocalypse – why I wrote it.

Posted on by Opher

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I have been fortunate enough to live a long life and travel the world. I have seen first hand the effect mankind has had on the planet and it greatly upsets me.

In my lifetime the human population has more than doubled. It is set to double again within my life expectancy – in one lifetime it will have more than quadrupled. It does not take a mathematical genius to know that this is unsustainable.

Common animals such as chimpanzees, tigers, elephants, rhinos, gorillas and butterflies are in danger of becoming extinct.

Everywhere I went it was the same story – deforestation, pollution, destruction, overpopulation and the slaughter of wildlife.

I wrote the Anthropocene Apocalypse to chronicle what I had seen, highlight the terrible consequences of what we were doing to nature and to suggest ways forward.

I tried to write it in an easy to read and interesting manner. I wanted it to be accessible and interesting.

It is the most important book I have written.

What I have witnessed all around the world disgusts and distresses me. We need to sort it out

We can sort it out. If we want to. It does not have to be like this. It is in our power to change it.

In Britain you can access my books on Amazon:

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Anthropocene Apocalypse:

Kindle Edition
£2.94 Read with Our Free App

In the USA:

Kindle
$3.99 Read with Our Free App

Love, Sex, Romance, Friendship, Hormones, Brain Chemistry, Biology and Evolution.

Posted on by Opher

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It was Cheryl who sparked these thoughts off.

As a Biologist I am always aware of what puppets we are to our genes, chemistry and psychology. We think we have free will but I believe it is largely a myth. We are ruled by our evolution.

As a species we are so new that our body chemistry and psychology hasn’t even begun to keep pace with our technology. We are chimps living in cities but acting like we are still in the jungle.

Friendship – such a crucial element for hunting. When you are out in the jungle with dangerous animals you have to put your trust in the friend next to you. Together, as a small hunting group, you can drive off a fearsome predator or make a kill that will feed the whole tribe. As a young hunter you had respect. Your friendship group of fellow hunters were trusted friends – you put your life in their hands; you faced danger and fear together; you bonded through terror. Your bravery and loyalty was crucial.

Now-a-days we see groups of youths in gangs on the streets in their hunting groups. Except there are no predators to ward off or beasts to kill. Yet they still crave the excitement and danger, still bond and seek the respect. They’ve lost their purpose and status.

Love – a biological phenomenon to pair bond sufficiently to have, and raise, children. An hormonal rush, endorphin saturation of the brain, and a passing phase. The female selects the highest status male she can. The aim is to find compatible genes to meld with her own in order to produce offspring who are endowed with the best in order to survive. The pair bonding is a euphoric rush of brain chemicals – no more. It induces feelings of protection and promotes crazy bouts of sex. The idea being that while the male is infatuated and the female hampered by pregnancy and an infant, he will protect and provide. But the love that will last forever soon loses its glow as after the duration necessary for the child to grow, the brain chemicals subside. A new infatuation develops with other potential partners – it is better no to put all your eggs in one basket (so to speak). A different set of genes provides more survival possibilities for a female’s offspring. Genetic variation. DNA testing in modern families show that a high proportion of children from supposedly loyal monogamous marriages have different fathers. Biologically we are programmed to be serial monogamists and some males more promiscuous (the cuckoo effect). Women are seduced by status.

Yet we also see that once the hormones and brain chemistry subsides there is the possibility of a different relationship – based on respect, affection, trust and ‘love’. It is deeper and less frenetic and brings pleasure and contentment. It is a different partnership.

Five major ‘Design’ faults with the human body!

Posted on by Opher

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Because the human body is the result of billions of years of evolution through chance mutation and selection it is far from perfect. Given the opportunity to design a human from scratch there are glaring problems that need addressing. As a biologist these are blindingly obvious. The human being is far from perfect.

Here are five major problems that could be addressed with simple design:

  1. The single opening to the lungs and its opening into the mouth/digestive tract.

Many people choke to death because of a simple ‘design’ fault. Because the lungs developed out of a sac/swimbladder of a fish as a part of the digestive tract we are saddled with one single opening into the mouth which opens right next to our oesophagus. Consequently we can easily choke and often do.

Answer: – two or more separate openings into the lungs that are completely separate to the digestive system. If one becomes blocked it would not be fatal. There would be less likelihood of food or drink going down the wrong tube.

2. The opening of the reproductive system, excretory system and egestory systems in one place.

Because the whole egestory, excretory and excretory systems are designed to open into a common cloaca of a fish living in water, where there would not have been a hygiene problem, they still open in the same area now. Except that we have evolved to live on land and this close association of the three openings together creates hygiene problems. The vagina and uterus, with its adaptations for life on land, facilitates internal fertilisation and development of the embryo. Thus allows entry of bacteria and a fertile area for them to breed. The contamination of faecal bacteria causes infections of the urinary tract and reproductive system. The genitals are contaminated with both urine and faeces. A recipe for infection. Also not brilliant for sex!

Answer: separate the three opening so that urine is not voided through the vulva and faeces are not ejected right next to the vagina.

3. the neck and brain.

Because of cephalisation the brain and senses organs are grouped at the front. With the increased size of the brain it has become more delicate and we now find it encased in protective bone on the end of a flexible neck. As we lead with our head our brain is vulnerable and the neck is extremely open to damage. We suffer concussion, brain injuries, broken necks and paraplegia.

Answer: house the brain in the centre of the chest where it would be better protected and also closer to the heart to ensure a great blood supply (oxygen and nutrients). There would be no need for a protective skull and no neck to break. The senses – sight, hearing, taste, smell, could still be congregated at the front.

4. The testes on the outside of the body.

As any man knows the most painful experience a man can have (85.6X childbirth) is to have a severely blow to the testes. It is mind-blowingly, paralysingly, agony. Yet there they are – an easy target and major weakness when fighting, hunting or participating in a domestic. They invite a good kick. The reason they are there is because sperm production is better at a temperature below body temperature.

Answer: make sperm production best at body temperature and put them where women keep there’s – inside the abdominal cavity!

5. The vertebral column

The vertebral column is the wrong shape. It has evolved for walking on all fours (as with chimps and gorillas) and has not yet evolved to suit bipedal ambulation. Consequently people are plagued with back ache and major problems caused by curvature of the spine. It cripples millions of people.

Answer: adapted the shape of the spine so that the weight bearing problems associated with bipedal locomotion do not cause the pressures, strains and structural decay we currently find.

I could go on through a list of other problems associated with our imperfect bodies – biochemically, with tissues and organs and structurally (feet, hip joints, knees, appendices, placques, deleterious genes…….). If we were made in god’s image or created then there has been a major cock-up somewhere down the line.

The human body functions but is far from perfect. A day spent in a design centre could come up with a far superior model that would not suffer with this range of problems.

Food for thought.

Boobs – what are they about?

Posted on by Opher

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I was inspired to write a blog on boobs after reading a post by Jess from Half Girl Half Teacup.

Boobs – what a strange phenomenon or is it phenomena (there are usually two of them).

Everybody is obsessed with them.

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Guys are nuts about them and can’t get enough.

Girls are worried about them all the time. They are either too big or too small. They pay billions for cosmetic implants. It’s the end of the world if they have to have a mastectomy. Young girls worry about not having any.

Boobs dominate everyone’s thoughts.

The Fugs

Boobs A Lot

Do you like boobs a lot?
(Yes, I like boobs a lot.)
Boobs a lot, boobs a lot.

(You gotta like boobs a lot.)
Really like boobs a lot.
(You gotta like boobs a lot.)
Boobs a lot, boobs a lot.
(You gotta like boobs a lot.)…

But why?

They are obviously not there for the feeding of babies. Gorillas and chimps (our very close cousins) don’t have them and they feed their babies perfectly OK. In fact only 10% of a boob is glandular. 90% is adipose tissue (fat). If girls have boobs that are too big they find it hard to breast feed – the smaller the better is the rule.

So what are they for?

They are simply a secondary sex characteristic to attract males. Males like boobs a lot.

The trouble is that they are a bloody nuisance that women have been saddled with for thousands of years. They cause nothing but trouble (oh I know that a lot of girls like to flaunt their boobs and love the effect they have on men – but that hardly compensates in my opinion). Boobs get in the way. They are not built for running. They are not built for fighting. They have a short life (they head south rapidly if unsupported). They are cumbersome (guys – trying strapping two big bags of sugar to the front of your chest and see if they slow you down and get in the way).

They probably stopped women competing on a level playing field in primitive times. They could not hunt so well.

Women athletes tend to reabsorb their breasts.

The firmness of breasts denote fertility. Young girls are fertile. Older women are less so. The more pert the breasts the more fertile the girl.

Of course with modern technology women have conspired to keep their breasts pert longer and support them so they appear more pert than they are in order to subvert male proclivities. Men are easily fooled.

So why did something so useless and detrimental evolve?

Well Desmond Morris postulates that it is all to do with our bipedal evolution.

With chimps, gorillas and early man the quadrupedal nature of ambulation meant that the male face was lower down and the main focus of male attention was on the rump of the female – hence her rounded buttocks and reddened labia. The buttocks and labia were the main attractants.

When we walked upright the buttocks were nowhere near so visible so substitutes were selected. The boobs and big red lips took on the role of the buttocks and labia.

Aaah!! What does it tell us?

Men are such fools.

A little bit of lipstick and a push-up bra will take all the blood away from their brains. All they see and think about is boobs (and lips, labia and buttocks of course).