Evolution!

Evolution is the topic for Scientific Americans Jan issue, woooh this year is still on ! NEw year eve is still to be planned ! but I cant wait, ITs not a new topic for me, I do accept the basis of the evolution theory , I dont think its the only answer, but it does answer some dimensions of life.

Something came up while browsing through. If we accept evolution , many of us out there accept it in totality, then all life forms I mean all life forms have a common ancestor, from where depending on the choices that each life form took, adaptation that each one made, resulted in the diversity that we see today. Plant life, Animal life , Human life. So far so good but now what I will put forward may not be so agreeable.

WE have heard of human rights, animal rights why not plant rights ? Really why not ? its also a life form , if you can show sympathy/empathy for a fellow human, animal why not a plant ? If I say , I have said it earlier as well, its all a matter of convenience , identifying with human suffering has a utility for us. WE cant be indifferent to it cause tomm it could be us. Our involvement, identification with the cause, varies with the various identities that we assume . Starting with yourself, your loved ones, your caste, society, state, country and so on...The wider the circle the less the involvement, the less you identify with the cause, the suffering.

So what about animal rights ? My theory is with animals there are visible signs of life , movement, senses , something that we identify with us. But plants they are totally different. THey are a different life form all together. WE plant them , reap them , genetically modify them, eat them. But we never think in terms of their life , their rights. Now someone reading so far must be wondering this is crazy, if we think in those terms what are we gonna eat. Thats exactly my point its all a matter of convenience. Nothing wrong, No ones is committing any crime. So by that rationale am I coming to the conclusion that morally eating palak paneer is equivalent to Hyderabadi biriyani. Not aggreable right , with Biriyani you are killing an animal , drawing out blood, the animal struggles, its eyes pop out, its heart is still beating. Its fianciee across the slaughter house is about to have a nervous breakdown, well they can also show some rudimentary relations atleast during mating season. Lets leave this to Ekta Kapoor , coming back to the topic, my ratioanle seemed rediculous, it somehow doesnt seem right. How can you morally equate killing a spinach plant and a chicken ?

Morals ? A touchy subject ! My view of morality so far has been that morals are something correct, the right thing , I am slowly beginning to understand that its not absolute ,there has never been anything absolutly right or wrong, We all are hostages to a particular situation , a particular time capsule in the whole evolution chain. WHats right, whats wrong is contigent to the overall well being of us , humans. in that given context.

It somehow relates to the thought that one ought to shed ones ego , your assumed identity is just an assumption given the situation, it serves you correctly, so you cling on to it , but dont get consumed by it. Easier said than done , I have quite a bit of ego, which I am not shedding in any hurry, but somehow these thoughts have a calming effect. They put things in perspective.