Are we part of the planet's natural ecosystem? Our knowledge and intelligence puts us above animals and other organisms, is this really fair and natural?
Yes. EVERYTHING on this earth is "natural", we were not handed the tools in which we developed technology, our brains evolved giving us the intelligence to do so. how is that any less natural than a monkey using a stick to fish ants out of an anthill? same difference. we adapted and overcame. it is natural for humans, our species, to behave in this manner, because we have evolved this way.
If we did not have our intelligence and our weapons, do you really think we would have the upper hand? Our brains have continued evolving, but our bodies and abilities haven't, we no longer track animals, we cannot scent them, we do not blend in, we cannot run particularly fast away from danger, and we don't even have claws or decent teeth to fight with. IMO, our bodies' adaptations to survive are gone, while animals have adaptations to ensure survival, such as teeth, claws, hearing, smell, ect. If we were to face off between our cavemen ancestors, they would be much more fit and adapted then us to survive in the wild.
you answered your own question there. yes, we have continued to evolve. again, there is no outside force here, handing us the tools in which we develop society or the ways of life, we just use different words for it. instead of saying we evolve, we prefer to use "advance", "learn", "develop", and things like that. we are EVOLVING to utilize new technologies. just because we don't carry huge clubs and have gargantuan gorilla muscles doesnt make us "un-evolved", it just means we've evolved in a different way. our bodies are perfectly adapted to survive, because we have developed the tools to enable us to.
Due to our intelligence, we have stopped natural selection in the human race, almost all of us survive to reproduce nowadays. Natural selection is the selection by nature of the strongest, fittest, and most adapted animals. Since we have the medical knowledge to ensure survival, natural selection no longer occurs within us (spare the few who catch uncurable diseases such as cancer or AIDS). Has this caused our race to become weak while animals continue evolving? If natural selection still existed in the human race, would there be any obese or disabled people? If natural selection still existed, the only humans who would survive to reproduce would be the strongest and fittest. However, does natural selection exist in us? The proof is the disabled/obese/sickly/prone people still survive to reproduce (and pass on their weak genes) when they wouldn't have made it past adolescence in the wild.
yes, natural selection always exists, we have just proven that (for the most part), we can defeat it. (my opinion on this is a bit lengthy, and would end up running the thread offtopic, so i'll leave it out)
The human race being a technologically advanced and "superior" (i put that in quotes because i think it's a crock of crap term) species, doesnt make us any different in the grand scheme of things, because ultimately, nobody handed us fire, or cars, or anything. we evolved, and developed these things on our own. they weren't here waiting for us to find when humans first graced this earth.
ultimately, YES. humans ARE a part of the natural ecosystem. just because we don't live in trees or out in grassy plains under lean-to shelters, doesnt mean we aren't.
