The Deep Sea: Lights In The Dark

Life. What do you think of when you think of life on this Earth?

We think, first of all, of us. Humans. Also, there are these things called “animals.” They are like humans, but less developed. They’re not as smart as us. They still live in “the wild.” They can’t even talk!

Like us, most of them have eyes and ears and heads and tongues, and they like to eat and run and hang out in the sunshine when they are bored. Some of them live underwater, some of them live on the land. Some of them can fly; some of them are so small you can’t even see them; some of them live underground. But they’re all animals just the same. Not human. They are too… primitive, or something.

They are their own unique category of life, and no matter how hard they try, they will never experience the glorious existence that humans do. In fact… we’re not even sure if they have feelings or thoughts like us. I mean… how can they? That’s what makes us human, and humans are obviously nothing like animals!

This… what I have just described, is man’s general attitude towards life on Earth. How boring. We treat the animal kingdom as one thing by itself, as if a Mantis Shrimp and a Lion shared some kind of “animal” connection, or anything in common; as if they were somehow part of the same family; as if they were closer to each other than they were to humans.

It becomes clear to anyone who takes the time to learn about life on Earth that humans have a disgusting level of arrogance when it comes to their percieved place on Earth. For crying out loud, we actually believe we were destined to rule over all creatures! Some people actually believe that the Earth was made specifically for us! I don’t know about you, but to me that is a level of arrogance beyond compare.

So, for those of you who think that mankind is anything more than a tiny spot on the history of the Earth, I suggest you watch the following two videos. What you will see are real images taken from a mere 900 meters below the ocean’s surface. Here, in a gloom that has lasted since the dawn of life, the most complex, fascinating and beautiful creatures on Earth make their home. Watch the video, and I dare you to tell me that humans are the pinnacle of creation, or that man is more than beast. There are hundreds of thousands of worlds on Earth, of which ours is only one, and I think this documentary aptly demonstrates how unknown our Earth truly is!

*Watch the whole thing… it gets better as it goes. Sorry I can’t find the whole documentary: only parts 1 and 2 seem to be available. I’ve watched them both numerous times already, and each time I have renewed fascination.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Just imagine… just try and wrap your head around how man millions of unknown creatures live in our enormous oceans, each with it’s own unique biology and ecosystem. Just imagine how vast and deep the ocean actually is, and how unexplored it must be! I think it’s one of the most fascinating frontiers of science and human knowledge, and I’m glad that scientists are developing the technology to bring us these images.

It just goes to show how narrow minded it is to think of man as the heir to this planet. These creatures, to us, are “weird.” But in reality, they are far more common than us!  I think it’s important to remember that man is a tiny blip in the great history of life on Earth.