The Animal Within
We are all human, but not all of us are human beings.
This is not mere wordplay—it’s a distinction that has shaped the course of history. There is a human state, where we are governed by instinct, survival, and primal needs—a state in which we are closer to the animal kingdom than we like to admit.
And then, there is the higher human state, Human being, where we process logic, ethics, and emotion, where we rise beyond survival and create civilizations, care for the weak, and choose something greater than mere existence.
But history has shown us that the line between the two is thin.
We like to compare ourselves to animals when it suits us—justifying violence and cruelty with phrases like “survival of the fittest.”
Yet, no lion justifies slaughter in the name of philosophy. No wolf exterminates another pack based on ideology. The atrocities of history did not happen because we were too much like animals—they happened because we misused our uniquely human abilities.
The Survival Instinct: When Humans Become the Beasts They Fear
In the wild, nature operates by survival and instinct—the strong thrive, the weak perish. It is an unthinking process, free of moral weight.
But humans are different. We do not act merely out of necessity; we rationalize our actions. We have consciously used the idea of “survival of the fittest” as justification for genocide, war, and oppression.
📖 Historical Examples:
- The Eugenics Movement (19th & 20th century): The pseudoscientific idea that certain groups were “superior” led to forced sterilizations and justification for ethnic cleansing.
- Colonialism & Imperialism: The subjugation of entire nations was justified under the belief that the “stronger” or “more advanced” had the right to dominate.
- The Rwandan Genocide (1994): A brutal ethnic massacre that lasted only 100 days but claimed nearly one million lives—not a gradual evolutionary process, but a conscious, mechanical act of destruction.
💡 Key Takeaway: No animal justifies slaughter with philosophy. Only humans attempt to intellectualize their cruelty.
The Flick of a Switch: How Humans Destroy in Seconds
In nature, death is often gradual—an ecosystem shifts, a predator hunts, a species adapts over generations. But humans destroy in seconds.
Entire cities, communities, and cultures have been erased at the flick of a switch, button, or command.
📖 Historical Examples:
- The Atomic Bomb (1945): In an instant, Hiroshima and Nagasaki ceased to exist—human survival weaponized against itself.
- The Holocaust (1940s): Unlike natural selection, this was not a matter of the strong overcoming the weak—it was a systematic, industrialized genocide, executed with chilling precision.
- The Transatlantic Slave Trade (16th-19th century): Humans weren’t just conquered—they were bought, sold, and bred like livestock, as if humanity itself could be reduced to a transaction.
💡 Key Takeaway: Unlike nature, where change takes time, humans have mastered instant destruction. The question is, will we master instant creation?
What Truly Makes Us Human?
If we insist on comparing ourselves to animals, let’s compare honestly.
Animals do not have the capacity to:
- Nurse their sick and disabled.
- Care for their elderly.
- Choose compassion over survival.
We do.
A lion does not hold back from attacking a wounded member of another pride. A wolf does not keep the weakest of the pack alive out of kindness. But we—we build hospitals, we protect the vulnerable, we sacrifice for those who may never return the favor.
And that is what makes us human.
📖 Historical Examples of Rising Above Instinct:
- Nelson Mandela (Post-Apartheid South Africa): Instead of seeking revenge, he chose reconciliation—choosing humanity over instinct.
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): A global agreement that all people—regardless of race, religion, or nationality—deserved dignity, something no species but ours has ever attempted to declare.
💡 Key Takeaway: Our true power is not in our ability to conquer, but in our ability to care.
The Danger of Overusing Animal Comparisons
When we compare ourselves too much to animals, we risk becoming them.
If we believe that we are just another species acting out natural instincts, we strip ourselves of accountability. We give ourselves permission to say, “This is just human nature”, when in reality, human nature is what we choose it to be.
📖 Examples of This Misuse Today:
- Economic Darwinism: Where the poor are left to struggle because “only the strong survive.”
- War Justifications: Where entire regions are bombed under the excuse that “it’s them or us.”
- Environmental Destruction: Where corporations destroy ecosystems, dismissing responsibility by saying, “It’s just business.”
💡 Key Takeaway: We are not just animals. If we forget that, we risk proving otherwise.
The Conscious Choice That Defines Us
So, what does it mean to be a human being, rather than just a human?
It means recognizing that we are capable of destruction, but we are equally capable of building.
It means understanding that we have instincts, but we also have choices.
It means accepting that our power is not in our ability to dominate, but in our willingness to care.
📖 Final Thought:
History proves that humans are capable of both destruction and creation. The question is—who do we choose to be?
