In a recent binge session of my quarantine days, I came across a rather profound quote. Well, it’s in Japanese so I’ll paraphrase, and it went something along the lines of “Humans are the only animals that commit suicide.” 

As per every intellect, a bombastic assertion such as this instantly triggered a “let’s find an exception” button within my mind. “Well… bees sting people and die shortly after; however, they do have a reason behind dying so it isn’t exactly suicide.”

But it’s true (to my knowledge of nature). Humans are the only well-known species to commit suicide from non-physical pressures. Of course, this is a rather dark beginning to this post, but the quote got me started down another road.

What are humans? Why are we so different? For starters, as a species, we evolve exponentially faster than any other creature on Earth. Granted, I’m not talking about the strict evolution definition, but from one generation to the next, humans have solved crises such as polio and smallpox while extended their world into outer space and the moon. 

We’re the only species to depend on milk from another animal. Although this is a widely known assertion, it’s quite powerful as well. Notice how dogs and other pets of human society commonly are presented milk in cartoonish bowls, and they stereotypically lap it up. We wouldn’t know if these animals noticed the difference between cow’s milk and their own, but I think it’s interesting how using other species’ products is not bound to only humans. If the dog attained human-level intelligence (as demonstrated in a hilarious Rick and Morty episode), then they would likely also use cows as milk production.