Humans – Top Dogs or Lumbering Giants

I shared my shower this morning with a tiny garden spider. Or rather, he calmly sat on one of the tiles while I cowered in the corner trying to flick water at him.

This turn of events got me thinking.

Humans are (supposedly) the Top Dogs on Earth. Nothing beats us. We are the supreme intellect that dominates our planet. Add to that the fact that compared to a lot of life that shares our planet, we reign supreme in our physique, towering some 10,000 – 100,000 feet above the flea, the spider, the mouse (in flea feet measurements of course).

We should be Gods with our staggering intellect and towering stature.

Yet, the humble flea, spider and mouse can still cause us irritation, fear and even death. So why is it, that this pinnacle of existence – the intelligent looming human – has not yet discovered a way to eradicate its enemies – flea, spider, mouse. We say it’s because the eco-system is too delicate and each critter has its place. This coming from a species that has learned how to perform open heart surgery on a fetus while it’s still inside its mother’s womb!

I posit this instead; humans are, in fact, little more than the stereotypical dumb, lumbering giant that populates all good fantasy fiction.

We blunder about, supreme in our position towering above all else, only to have the men and mer run rings around us – in this case, substitute men and mer for spiders and mice. We laugh when the hobbits and elves foil the lumbering giants in fantasy fiction, but is it really just a case of art imitating life?

As I scan the ceiling for minuscule spiders or the floor for mice I have to wonder… who really rules the Earth?