The Superiority of Man: The Earth as Home of All Creatures

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The Superiority of Man
Man is definitely the most intelligent being on the earth. The mental capacity and the ability to think beyond the norm has set man apart from other animals and provided him with immense powers to control them. As far a science is concerned, earth is the only planet out there with the ability to support and sustain life. Therefore, this remains to be the home of all living things as there is no other planet that supports life apart from the earth. This study seeks to analyze the opening statement by King Fa on the Great Declaration of Shang Shu.
The Earth as Home of All Creatures
There have been many scientific missions to discover a planet that supports life just like the earth to no avail (Ward & Brownlee pg04). Many of these missions by National Aeronautics and Space Association (NASA) and other bodies have not yielded any fruitful results. Indeed, after the advancement in science and technology and development of powerful telescopes and other tools necessary for exploratory purposes, we can conclude that the earth is still the only planet in the universe that supports life.
In the Great Declaration of Shang Shu, King Fa declared that “Heaven and earth is the parent of all creatures; and of all creatures man is the most highly endowed” (Legge). There are several reasons why I agree with this statement. There are many evidences and reasons why the earth is the parent and home of all creatures including man. The ability to support life makes it the perfect place where human beings can exist and live productively. Earth can be able to support life because of the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere. Oxygen is an important gas needed by all living things in order to survive, as it is an important component for the functioning of their cells (Utah.edu). The gravitational pull of the earth is essential for the maintenance and sustenance of the thick atmosphere surrounding the earth. Unlike Mars and Mercury which have little or no atmospheres because of low gravitational pull, the thick cover of air helps in preventing the harmful cosmic radiation from penetrating into the earth (Ward & Brownlee pg19). The carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere is useful to plants to manufacture food through photosynthesis by using sunlight.Herbivorous animals consume these plants, gaining energy from them, which eventually obtained by man and other animals. The sun therefore becomes an important source of energy and distribution of food in the ecosystem.
Another prerequisite for the existence of life that earth contains is water. Water is commonly known as the universal solvent because of its ability to dissolve almost all substances. It contains oxygen which is important in supporting life, and is able to dissolve other minerals which are important for plants (Utah.edu). The bodies of all plants and animals including man are covered by 70% water, making it a very important ingredient for life.
Origin of Man and other Creatures
The origin of man has been the greatest subject of debate since the onset of the 18th Century. With advancement in science, scientific theories and explanations have tried to provide explanations to the existence of living things and man on earth using the revolutionary theory. This is usually in direct contrast to religious and ancient human beliefs and practices that regard the origin and existence of man from God. Although scientific reasoning provides a more elaborate explanation, its lack of practicality and assumptions make it still a subject of discussion instead of its adoption as absolute reality (Ritland). Oral traditions provided different explanations to the origin and existence of the earth and man. There is a connection between the natural and the supernatural worlds, where the gods and spirits have a greater say on what happens to nature and the actions of man (Lindberg pg06). Oral traditions offered primitive explanations to the occurrence of deaths, diseases, seasons and several other phenomena which relied on physical determinations.
In the 18th Century, Charles Darwin tried to explain the beginning of species through his Evolution of Species theory, which many scientists still hail up to today as the authentic explanation of the existence of things (Ritland). The scientific community highly accepted these facts in the early 19th Century, but the discovery of new scientific equipment continues to put the evolutionary theory into more jeopardy. The discovery of the DNA and RNA which have complex structure of four different nucleotides that carry genetic information, and are transferred to offspring upon the division of a cell drew many question (Watson pg19). The highly organized cell structures also brings question how such complex organisms can emerge from simple elements interacting in nature.
Many scientists have questioned the origin of species from primitive forms with regard to interconnection between species. First there is no way to measure the rate of mutation or selection from a genetically approach, since a small mutational change or error results in a completely different phenomenon (Smith pg180). The theory of natural selection has also been disapproved as it was found that species inherit their characteristics from their parents genetically and not through physical characteristics of their parents. Through this theory, weaker species die and become extinct and stronger species continue to survive amidst competition, t...