All the Small Things

                I was watching my cat today.  It was the small one named Knight, a little black cat.  The big fat tabby named Captain was off doing whatever, probably eating, but Knight was sleeping on my computer chair while I read the first chapter of The Great Gatsby.  After a while he decided to get up and visit my window.

                That cat sat staring at the sky for almost an hour.

                That got me wondering.  What does the cat see?  How does he feel about that world he sees outside my window?  He’s so small and so primitive that he can’t possibly comprehend everything he sees.  While as humans we can look out the window and see a car and understand the basics of how it works, a cat probably thinks it’s an animal, just like a vacuum or a fan.  We see a house and know it’s a place where humans live, built with bricks and wood and metal and whatnot. 

                That brought me to a thought I’d had before.  Why us?  Why did humans end up here?  Did we just haphazardly evolve from lower creatures, or was it guided by something else, something more powerful than the human mind can comprehend (I’m referring to God)?  As a Christian, I certainly believe that, if evolution is true, then it was guided by God to result in us.  That, however, is an opinion.

                I am in the middle of conducting an experiment.  I invited four people of differing mindsets to a chat on Facebook and presented them with seven stories, and asked them what they got out of each one.  I was interested in finding out how people who are inclined to different states of mind will view different situations.  One person of the four has responded so far, and one of these stories is exactly what I am talking about now.  The story was that of evolution, with an emphasis on asking why we came to exist, and why we ended up superior to everything else around us (although I did not specify the human race in the story).

                The person who has responded, who shall remain anonymous, wondered whether this species will “…use its capabilities to take advantage of the other beings.” Are we here to oppress all the small things around us?

                Now I guess it’s time to present my opinion.  I am not a vegetarian, to put it one way, but I’m also not a ruthless killer.  I support hunting rules and punishing those who break them, because although we’ve set ourselves a world apart, we can’t destroy the world around us. 

                Like I’ve said, I’m no environmentalist.  I believe in alternative energy because it means it’ll take longer to run out of oil, not because it “helps the environment.” I believe in recycling because it means we won’t need as much raw material.  I will not support detracting from human society for the sake of Earth, but I also will not support detracting from Earth for the sake of black market money and law breaking.

P.S. I hope you all get my references to older songs in some of my titles (this one is by Blink 182).