Nature, Now 99.9995% Organic!

SALLY TRAN

Staff Writer

Through the process of evolution, Homo sapiens have come a long way. In fact, we are now Homo sapiens sapiens, thus implying that we possess unsurpassed intellectual capabilities as the wise, wise man. We wield the brains, the brawn and the opposable thumbs that make us the pinnacle of nature’s food chain.

As our insatiable egos continue to inflate our power and self-importance, it’s obvious that humans should also possess the right to make living as convenient as possible—even if it means tinkering with nature.

With current technology, it’s now child’s play to morph our surroundings to better suit our needs. Where grasslands once were, cities have sprung forth and taken root. Trees are mercilessly plowed down and converted into furniture and utensils. But the carnage doesn’t stop at necessity.

We’ve adulterated the natural so that we won’t suffer the smallest nuisance of its flaws. Take for example convenience devocalization. It is one of the many ways in which humans change their environment for, as the name says, their convenience.

Convenience devocalization is another term for ventriculocordectomy: a surgical procedure that cuts the vocal cords of dogs and cats to reduce the volume of their vocalizations.

While it would be near impossible to say no one has ever felt the urge to silence a particularly rowdy canine, it is a different scenario to irrevocably take away its means of communication. Owners could very simply blame the surgery’s resultant wheeze and squeak to be a consequence from the dog’s excessive barking. And in face, some owners have.

The procedure has sparked many concerns and debates over its ethics and this is rightly so. While we are able to use and alter our surroundings to better fit basic needs, we have gone far beyond just obtaining a habitable space and have begun tampering with nature to placate crude whims.