Presentation Type
Poster
Full Name of Faculty Mentor
Sara Rich, Honors, Inderdisciplinary Studies
Major
Biology
Presentation Abstract
For decades humans have possessed a superiority complex regarding nonhuman beings, but this has not always been the case. Through analyzing prehistoric art, such as therianthropic figurines and nonhuman animal motifs in cave paintings, it appears that prehistoric humans practiced respect for fellow animals and even viewed them as equals. These results are comparable with ethnographic data from contemporary hunter-gatherer and small-scale agricultural societies all over the world. Thus, it is suggested that the rise of industrial agriculture and the meat and dairy industries, alongside the philosophical justifications for their continuance, may have contributed to the widespread idea of human superiority. While the ecological consequences of corporate farming are well documented, this research concludes that to halt these effects, major revisions to agricultural practices will need to be established, and the ideological reset will follow.
Start Date
13-4-2023 12:00 PM
End Date
13-4-2023 2:00 PM
Disciplines
Biology
Recommended Citation
Kinavey, Peyton, "The Human Superiority Complex" (2023). Undergraduate Research Competition. 96.
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/ugrc/2023/fullconference/96
Included in
The Human Superiority Complex
For decades humans have possessed a superiority complex regarding nonhuman beings, but this has not always been the case. Through analyzing prehistoric art, such as therianthropic figurines and nonhuman animal motifs in cave paintings, it appears that prehistoric humans practiced respect for fellow animals and even viewed them as equals. These results are comparable with ethnographic data from contemporary hunter-gatherer and small-scale agricultural societies all over the world. Thus, it is suggested that the rise of industrial agriculture and the meat and dairy industries, alongside the philosophical justifications for their continuance, may have contributed to the widespread idea of human superiority. While the ecological consequences of corporate farming are well documented, this research concludes that to halt these effects, major revisions to agricultural practices will need to be established, and the ideological reset will follow.