Joe Mikolay's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-matrix"
The Human Problem
I am a misanthrope.
It's not a fact I'm proud of but, until the human race gives me a good reason to change my perspective, it will remain my stance.
I'm not saying that I believe all people are bad but, from what I can tell, there is sadly more bad than good out there.
There's a scene in The Matrix where Agent Smith (played by Hugo Weaving) monologues to Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) regarding how the human race is like a virus. It's a pretty standard supervillain rhetoric, but it also has validity.
In fact, I'd take it even further as to say that the human race is more like a cancerous tumor. It corrupts, displaces and destroys everything unlike it in the body.
Was it not in that manner that mankind laid claim to being the dominant species on the planet?
We got better at killing and destroying than any other species. That involves the tearing down of natural habitats in order to make ourselves more comfortable at the cost of every other living being on the planet.
You can see it in these high-rises, and superhighways that we rampantly deforest in order to make room for. Every time I see roadkill I think about the metal monstrosities that we built to get around more quickly.
That chain of events created by our actions led to other creatures being flushed from their homes by the buildings, and into the streets where they're killed by something that was never meant to belong in nature.
More specific examples would be the people (who deserve very painful deaths) that engage in dog fighting rings or forced breeding. Also consider the Albany Bear Cub situation. We take away the land that these animals call home, and so they have to adapt to survive. Then, when they do adapt, we kill them.
So you can't even say it's true Darwinism. It's more like one tyrannical despot of a species ruling over all and destroying anything that threatens the lopsided status quo.
I won't even get too far into what we've done to the environment, but it's safe to say Global Warming is a thing that would not exist had our ancestors not decided that Progress and Convenience were worth more than the very world we inhabit.
I'll admit to not ever having done an in-depth study of the human soul as compared to the souls of every other living being, but I'm confident in making the claim that humans are the only beings in the world capable of evil.
Other creatures may be vicious at times, but it's only in the name of self-preservation. It was mankind who invented cruelty. And that cruelty- that evil- is prevalent every day as it is inflicted upon other species as well as our own.
The human race is clearly the worst thing that ever happened to planet Earth. Our mere existence seems to serve no other purpose but to disassemble the planet and make life more difficult for every other living being on it.
I'm not innocent in this. I drive a car, turn on the lights in my house, watch TV, and run an air condition in the summer. I'm not even a vegetarian or vegan, as my convictions are not quite as powerful as my principles. But I am trying to be a smaller part of The Human Problem.
I don't waste gas and I plan on buying a hybrid car soon. When I am on the road, I keep my eyes open and can happily say that I've never hit a living creature with my car.
I try to get my food where I have some assurances that the livestock was treated well during their lifetimes. I donate money to charities like the ASPCA and other animal shelters.
I try to only use the air conditions when I really need to, and turn off the lights in the house when I'm not in that room.
Don't take this diatribe as the grand announcement that I'm making before unleashing my Doomsday Device- as awesome as that would be.
Humans are capable of exhibiting great intelligence, and creating great beauty. Art and music and literature. Humans are also capable of great empathy and compassion and love.
I want to believe that we can use that intelligence, beauty, empathy, compassion and love to try and make the world a better place for every living being walking, crawling, swimming and flying upon (and over) it.
What I am saying is that we, as a species, need to do better. We can never undo all the harm we've already done, but we can try to do less harm in the future.
For better or worse we, the human race, won. We won a long time ago. Now we need to start showing that we actually deserved to win.
Thanks for listening to my rant, and keep reading!
It's not a fact I'm proud of but, until the human race gives me a good reason to change my perspective, it will remain my stance.
I'm not saying that I believe all people are bad but, from what I can tell, there is sadly more bad than good out there.
There's a scene in The Matrix where Agent Smith (played by Hugo Weaving) monologues to Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) regarding how the human race is like a virus. It's a pretty standard supervillain rhetoric, but it also has validity.
In fact, I'd take it even further as to say that the human race is more like a cancerous tumor. It corrupts, displaces and destroys everything unlike it in the body.
Was it not in that manner that mankind laid claim to being the dominant species on the planet?
We got better at killing and destroying than any other species. That involves the tearing down of natural habitats in order to make ourselves more comfortable at the cost of every other living being on the planet.
You can see it in these high-rises, and superhighways that we rampantly deforest in order to make room for. Every time I see roadkill I think about the metal monstrosities that we built to get around more quickly.
That chain of events created by our actions led to other creatures being flushed from their homes by the buildings, and into the streets where they're killed by something that was never meant to belong in nature.
More specific examples would be the people (who deserve very painful deaths) that engage in dog fighting rings or forced breeding. Also consider the Albany Bear Cub situation. We take away the land that these animals call home, and so they have to adapt to survive. Then, when they do adapt, we kill them.
So you can't even say it's true Darwinism. It's more like one tyrannical despot of a species ruling over all and destroying anything that threatens the lopsided status quo.
I won't even get too far into what we've done to the environment, but it's safe to say Global Warming is a thing that would not exist had our ancestors not decided that Progress and Convenience were worth more than the very world we inhabit.
I'll admit to not ever having done an in-depth study of the human soul as compared to the souls of every other living being, but I'm confident in making the claim that humans are the only beings in the world capable of evil.
Other creatures may be vicious at times, but it's only in the name of self-preservation. It was mankind who invented cruelty. And that cruelty- that evil- is prevalent every day as it is inflicted upon other species as well as our own.
The human race is clearly the worst thing that ever happened to planet Earth. Our mere existence seems to serve no other purpose but to disassemble the planet and make life more difficult for every other living being on it.
I'm not innocent in this. I drive a car, turn on the lights in my house, watch TV, and run an air condition in the summer. I'm not even a vegetarian or vegan, as my convictions are not quite as powerful as my principles. But I am trying to be a smaller part of The Human Problem.
I don't waste gas and I plan on buying a hybrid car soon. When I am on the road, I keep my eyes open and can happily say that I've never hit a living creature with my car.
I try to get my food where I have some assurances that the livestock was treated well during their lifetimes. I donate money to charities like the ASPCA and other animal shelters.
I try to only use the air conditions when I really need to, and turn off the lights in the house when I'm not in that room.
Don't take this diatribe as the grand announcement that I'm making before unleashing my Doomsday Device- as awesome as that would be.
Humans are capable of exhibiting great intelligence, and creating great beauty. Art and music and literature. Humans are also capable of great empathy and compassion and love.
I want to believe that we can use that intelligence, beauty, empathy, compassion and love to try and make the world a better place for every living being walking, crawling, swimming and flying upon (and over) it.
What I am saying is that we, as a species, need to do better. We can never undo all the harm we've already done, but we can try to do less harm in the future.
For better or worse we, the human race, won. We won a long time ago. Now we need to start showing that we actually deserved to win.
Thanks for listening to my rant, and keep reading!
