The Instinct of Survival

If you are a student of nature, as I am, you may have watched ants building their nests on the ground. They scurry to and fro, always seeming to have a clear purpose of a goal. that of building a place of survival and gathering food. Insects are equipped with defenses of survival such as the coloration of their bodies just as many small and large creatures, or the mammals do, as well. The colors match their surroundings, whether it may be green or brown, or as in the sea, blues and greens of many shades that aquatic creatures may have. Birds feathers may be of a color that will blend in with their surroundings, or hide them so that they may launch an attack on their prey, making it harder for the source of their food to see them coming. The hawks, eagles, and owls are well adapted for this by nature. Sharks, whales, and other mammals and fish in the oceans are well adapted for survival and capture their prey using the blending in as a better means to acquire needed food to eat.

Some animals use their keen sense of vision such as the hawks, in spotting their food sources from great distances. Others, such as sharks and other predatory fish, have senses that allow them to pick up heart beats and movement and a strong sense of smell, in the water surrounding them. They can actually sense increases in the hearts of their prey and know with their natural instincts to pursue that source of food. If we observe nature and wild creatures instinct for survival, we see that they are motivated basically, by security of their homes and seeking food for nourishment. Each creature is equipped by nature for survival of its species. WE as human beings are also equipped for our own survival and motivated by the same basic instincts. We seek to find some form of shelter, protect our young just as most species do, provide a food source and secure ourselves, so that we are safe from predatory animals or even those who may do us harm, of our own species.

What separates us from animals, birds, and fish, and insects with their millions of species, is that we, as human beings are able to think and reason about our protection, food sources and shelter in a greater and more complex degree. We use thought, reasoning and experience in making decisions about all of our needs to survive. Protection and preservation is an inborn instinct in all creatures. Mankind is able to use these instincts to a greater and more refined degree and it all has to do with the development of our brains. Surprisingly enough, we have found through research that whales, porpoises and other marine life have much greater development of their brains than we may have thought earlier. Spindle cells in the brains of creatures have a marked effect on the intelligence as discovered by scientists. Comparison of a particular animals intelligence has been done and the Encephalization Quotient or (E.Q.) is used to measure intelligence of them. Humans have a quotient of 7.44, Orca or Killer whales have a 2.57,dolphins 4.4 and chimpanzees have a rating of 2.49.Some creatures, such as birds and sea creatures, have biological devices with which they are equipped that nature has provided, in helping them to navigate.This inborn G.P.S. or global positioning system, has been mimicked by our science and allows us to track and locate all around the earth.This has been observed when birds are able to find their way home or to secure locations and sea creatures can find their way to locations hundreds of miles away which seem to be determined by seasonal changes or sometimes influenced by bad weather, such as hurricanes. It appears to be some sort of homing device. Although we, as humans, may have what we think is higher brain power, do we have a homing device or some of the seemingly complex abilities that other creatures have the capabilities of using? Some creatures have the unusual ability to remain under water longer than humans and several other mammals have this ability. Sea creatures have adapted to their environment and been enabled to do these feats. WE have been, as human beings,wise and done well to mimic other species on this planet in adapting to our surroundings and using such things as camouflage in warfare, design of our flying machines and those we need to give us transportation and submarines used to move through the waters under the sea. We have developed radar which mimics the common bat and its ability to home in on an object, though its visual ability is very limited. We have learned to use stealth that has been borrowed from insects and birds in the air. We have used our higher degree of brain power in order to adapt to our surroundings better using reasoning abilities.

My belief is that we were created and that our creator, however long it may have taken to get us to the point we have now become, wanted us to have the ability to not only adapt to our world, but to make it a more enjoyable place in which to live and survive. The development of all that is created may have taken millions of years, just as mankind has assumed. The estimated four billion plus, years that our planet has been in existence, proposed by scientist,and the 7.3 billion years to which our universe has evolved, has given mankind plenty of time in which to be well equipped for survival. Our brains have been endowed with the capability to think and in our thinking, go well beyond the envelope of time and space. The limits of our brain power have well exceeded that of other living creatures and some would even ask the question, do we exist or are we products of imagination, or I think, therefore I am. These are the extremes.

We have all the senses given to most living creatures on this planet. We can see, hear, feel smell and taste all that is around us and adapt using these senses. The natural instinct is within all living creatures in this world. We, as humans, have been given a higher knowledge and the responsibility to not only preserve our own kind, but to help preserve and maintain all of the creatures on this planet. We have the ability to preserve or destroy. We must choose wisely. Our own existence is at stake. If we do not try to preserve other species, past research and observation shows us what can happen. It has been seen to be like a great chain reaction or the domino effect, as so widely used as an example. The demise of one species leads to the future demise of another. This may well move up what is called our food chain and eventually badly effect our on chances of survival. We need and depend on the other creatures of this planet in all of our survival. This also applies to preserving of plant life vital in its role for existence. We must use our brains to think and help preserve this green earth.