The grand evolutionary procession:
striding elephants,
lumbering rhinoceri,
stalking lions,
gliding giraffes…
We walk tall next to them, leading our children, hand in hand.
Most of the ones on display are better adapted than us,
a lot are bigger,
a lot are stronger,
a lot are faster,
a lot are more vicious,
but none are as dangerous.
What is it that separates us from the rest?
Some of them use tools
some of them have complex language,
some of them sacrifice themselves for others
some of them murder the members of their own tribe…
Each specific characteristic is shared.
But in no other species do all these traits combine
to form our unique capacity
for self-serving
self-indulgent
self-destroying
self-delusion.
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