What Is Homo Sapiens Place in Nature, from an Objective (Biocentric) Point of View?
Michael J. Vandeman, PhD Many answers have been given to this question, but none, to my knowledge, based on science. Even scientists, apparently, often avoid applying their knowledge when it may be inconvenient (e.g., interfere with our preferred lifestyle). For example, open any biology textbook and find where it defines “exotic species”. Do you see any mention of the fact that humans are, throughout most of our range, an exotic species — or even a discussion of whether we are an exotic species? If biology is so valuable (which I think it is), why do we shy away from using it? Another example: it is often claimed that humans are a natural part of our environment — we are just an animal like any other animal. If that is true, then why aren’t humans mentioned in the vast majority of natural histories? The fact is, we consider ourselves a part of our ecosystems when it’s convenient (e.g. when we want to justify recreation in wildlife habitat), and not, when it’s not convenient (e.g. wh
