What makes us special | Phillip Adams Blog | The Australian

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What makes us special

Phillip Adams Blog | August 25, 2007 | 0 Comments Do ants believe themselves to be at the centre of the universe? Are bees convinced the apiary is the apotheosis of civilisation? Are termites persuaded they were created in the image of God? If so, these worthy and industrious insects are not alone in having a high opinion of themselves. Humans are far more hubristic. Despite the revelations of Galileo that our planet revolves around the sun, and not vice versa human beings believe everything revolves around them. Despite the harsh lessons of Darwin that were but a twig on the tree of life we see ourselves as the pinnacle of creation. Indeed, we regard ourselves as its purpose. Despite the revelations of cosmology, we see our planet as being on Broadway and ourselves as the stars among the stars in their countless billions. Remember astronomer Carl Sagans cosmic calendar? Sagan made an interesting analogy of the universe in terms of a 12-month timeline. The Big Bang was on January 1. Here we are ("we" being all the suns, planets and life forms) 365 days later, on New Years Eve as the clock chimes and we burst into Auld Lang Syne. And when did the human choristers join the party? Very late arrivals, we turned up at one second to midnight. Yes, dear reader. The planets formed in the first few months of Sagans epic year. Life was sparked a few weeks later and the dinosaurs had come and gone by November. We turn up as a happy accident as December disappears and if we follow evolutionary precedent were doomed to disappear ourselves in the not-too-distant future, if not by war or pestilence then thanks to climate change. But we seem convinced that everything is for us and about us. Forget the lessons of DNA that were just another incarnation of the insatiably energetic genetic code. Were here because God intended it. Were his favourites. We may have come last but were his first and foremost. When the great director called Let there be light, camera, action! he had us in mind. The ants, bees, termites, bacteria, elephants and fish were just the extras. The flowers, trees and so on set dressing. The same thing applies to anything extra-terrestrial. The trillions of life forms that seem statistically inevitable on the billions of other planets are also afterthoughts. We can think of them as a secondary creation, to use a term applied to the Aboriginal worlds discovered by European explorers. The worlds religions thats this worlds religions drive much of human self-importance. God help those also-ran planets where Christ wasnt crucified, or where Mohammed didnt take the dictation that gave us the Koran. If members of other terrestrial faiths are in error (and Pope Benedict has recently reminded us that theres only one True Church), heaven help the heathen in the heavens. Human lives are so important that they dont end with death. We can live forever in paradise or suffer eternal torment in hell. Or we can be recycled in other life forms via Hinduisms reincarnation (which is closer to the reality of DNA). No other living creature enjoys such privileges. Only us. Extra special, state-of-the-art humans. Oh, we might eat, defecate and fornicate like lesser animals, but as Shakespeare plagiarising the Bible reminds us, how like an angel. We know that were an opportunistic life form, granted a chance by the asteroid that murdered the denizens of the Jurassic Eden but we dont really believe it. The science goes against our instinct. Were not just special. Were it. And were mightily impressed with our efforts. With ant-like effort we spent millions of man-hours pushing rocks around to build a pyramid far smaller than a small hill and call it Great. We take a leaf from the termites and erect mounds which we arrogantly call skyscrapers although in scale theyre far less impressive than the efforts of the termites. We copy the beehive, call it a corporation, and pay its human queen bee a preposterous salary. On and on it goes: our awesome egotism, our wondrous vanities. We make funny noises and marvel at our music. We paint our faces and orate on wooden platforms and bow graciously as lesser beings slap their palms together in noisy approval. We surround our beehives with arbitrary lines, call them nations and wage brutal wars in their defence,

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27/08/2007 12:34 PM

What makes us special | Phillip Adams Blog | The Australian

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which we justify with mental illness known as patriotism. Everything we do impresses us enormously, no matter how eccentric or insane. And the fact that existence got on very well without us for 99.9 per cent of the time, and will again in the future, doesnt begin to penetrate the tiny minds we see as the greatest force in the universe with the possible exception of God. Who, after all, we created. Bees are better. They pollinate and make honey. Copyright 2007 News Limited. All times AEST (GMT +10).

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27/08/2007 12:34 PM