Clinton Smith muses on one of the great laws affecting every living thing. And wonders why we don't consider ourselves involved.
Herbivores are eaten by carnivores. Carnivores are eaten by smaller scavengers such as jackals, rodents, vultures, eagles, crows.
And what about humans? We are animals. Part of nature. So aren’t we also subject to this law? It must be so.
We are, of course, eaten by worms and the occasional crocodile, tiger, shark or python. But, presumably by nothing else.
Curious.
So what is the natural predator of man?
Or are we an exception? We are certainly animals but also intermediate forms — live as much in our warped psychology as in our physical perceptions and existence. Like all creatures we ingest food and excrete behaviour. But ours is aberrant behaviour. Unlike other animals that respond appropriately to their needs and do nothing unnecessary, we foul our nests wherever we go.
So what eats humanity?
Psychologically, we are consumed by our reactions. Resentment, hubris, greed, pride, envy and the other lively sins stunt and diminish us daily.
Some philosophies consider that every discrete entity has life — from rocks to plants, animals to moons, planets to stars and constellations. If this theory is correct, perhaps the coarse energy produced by our abnormalities could be collected to feed higher entities?
So, if Gaia is intelligent, alive, a larger being, possibly the wasted energy of our reactions feeds her in some way. Or perhaps feeds her child, the moon which is currently regarded as a dead world. It could also be a world unborn that needs negative energy to enliven it. Speculation again.
But the question remains — what eats us, and why?
Some philosophers say that we need to eat ourselves — eat our 'I's or personality — become impersonal. More speculation.
But something eats us.
What?
You can find Clint's thrillers on Buzzword.
