When did we fall off of the evolutionary ladder?

So this is my first post on this site. My friends felt that my blog needed a new venue and so I feel the need to say a few things before I get into the meat of what I want to talk about tonight.
First - I write the things that come to mind. I don't plan out much more than a basic topic and I don't do a lot of proofreading. I think that shooting from the hip, to use the turn of phrase, is the best way to get an honest opinion out of anyone and I am nothing but honest to a fault.
Second - Sometimes the things I write about may strike a chord with others, sometimes they may seem unimportant and inane. I can assure you, the reader, of two things: (1) if I write about it, it is important enough to me, at least at that moment in life, to spend time on and (2) I encourage feedback. I think opinions mean nothing if not shared and compared and we learn how our views fit into the world by learning what others think of them. Please comment, follow, and recommend this blog if you like my peculiar form of socio-political commentary on life.

Those things being said, let's get right down to the heart of the matter today. Isn't mankind supposed to be at the top of the evolutionary ladder? Seriously, the human race, no matter how you slice it, is supposed to be the most advanced species on the planet. Whether you subscribe to one of the many creation theories or to Darwinism, we, as men (and women), are thought to be the sentient creatures sitting at the the pinnacle of the pyramid of life on earth.

We have free will and free thought and all of the wonders that come along with those freedoms. We, as a species, developed speech and the ability to communicate with others of our kind through not only the spoken word but through literature, music, and art. We have created technological advances that have allowed us to build bigger, better, and larger throughout our history. Our civilization now has the ability to harvest the world around us and mold, adapt, and change the planet on which we live to suit our needs and serve the purpose of our advancement.

The many "lower" life forms on the planet Earth do not do any of this. Sure, they build their nests and make their homes in the environment around them but they do little to actually change the world significantly. The other living things on this planet fit neatly into what are called their ecological niches. That means that, as long as things run their natural course (without interference from an outside source), thse creatures can live out their lives for more generations than the human race has even existed without leaving so much as a smudge on the cheek of Mother Nature. Some of these animals have varying levels of sentience, to be sure, but they have nowhere near the strength of will that exists in the family of man. They still must succumb to their baser instincts and fit in to the great circle of life.

So we are to be commended, right? I mean, shouldn't we be thrilled with all of our exploits? In the relatively short history of humanity (and even the creationists can't argue that the period of time that man has been on Earth is a mere blip on the vast cosmic timeline) we have managed to spread out and seed the entire planet, changing every corner of the globe to fit our needs. Unlike the rest of the animal kingdom, we do not adapt to the environment in which we live. Instead, we pride ourselves on our ability to make the environment adapt to us. We are even branching out into space.

There is an interesting fact here worth mentioning, I believe. We are so very different from the rest of life on Earth. In fact, there is only one other organism on the planet with which we can compare our incredible ability to proliferate around the world. The only other living thing that compares to the human race is so small that some even doubt that it is alive, though it most certainly possesses incredible intelligence and adaptability. I am talking about the virus.

Viruses are much like people (or we are like them, who can say?). A virus can adapt to almost any host so that it can find a nice home to move into. Once it takes up residence, it begins to reproduce on such a scale as to fill its new home with copies of itself as quickly as possible. In the process, it takes from its surroundings, molding and shaping the very materials that sustain it in order to assist in its unrelenting drive to reproduce and populate. Of course, that is what makes us sick. Most organisms live in a symbiotic relationship with their host (whether that host is another organism or a planet) but viruses do damage to their hosts in order to facilitate their own growth and survival. In the end, if left unchecked, the virus destroys the host, effectively destroying itself as well.

Doesn't that sound familiar? We, as a species, continue to clear-cut forests, strip mine mountains, and hunt or fish other animals to extinction without regard for the effect of their loss on the ecology. We pollute our own water supply and fill the very air that we breathe with noxious chemicals. We do all of these things in the name of progress and for the advancement and continuation of our species. Sounds to me like Mother Earth might be infected with something nasty - antibiotics anyone?

If we are nothing more than a mere disease then that makes us no better than the very lowest of life forms on the planet. We can't even live in harmony with the world around us. Our ecological footprints are the tracks of bulldozers and oil wells bleeding the very ground beneath us dry. We are sucking the life out of our own planet as we speak. I'm so very fucking proud of the advancements we've made.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a crazy eco-freak. I just believe in harmony and we have gone FAR beyond that. Just like the very viruses that wreak havoc on us in their desire to procreate without thought or concern for resources for future generations, we take and take without regard for what might happen in years to come. One day, our host will die.

I think I've rambled on for long enough. I'm actually starting to disgust myself. I take pride in the few people who are trying to change our ways, I'm just afraid that with over eight billion people in the world the damage might be done. It might be too little too late.

I can't bring myself to take pride in the so-called superiority of the human race. I actually doubt that we are superior to anything else on the planet. As a matter of fact, I'm certain that we are wrong in our declaration of our own self-worth. I'll close with a thought from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. I paraphrase:
Man and dolphins got into an argument over who was the most advanced species to have evolved on Earth. Man thought that they were superior because they had created civilization, language and technology. They had created art and music and war. They made industry and architecture and weapons and all the dolphins did was screw around and play all day long. Of course the dolphins thought that they were the superior beings for EXACTLY the same reasons!