Somehow I forgot to post this earlier:
While I was home over Easter break, I took a bike ride up my road, down a few back roads, through the next town over and then back up the hill to my house. While traveling by houses, small businesses and farms I began to consider the concept of holism. If we as humans were to look at the world and base our actions upon what would be the best for the whole, would other living beings be expected to do the same? I began to think about the 'destructive' beavers at one of my favorite fishing spots.
(A recently constructed beaver dam)
When they flood out large plots of land with a newly constructed dam and cut down the few shade trees along the pond's shore, are they really doing what is best for this particular ecosystem and the biosphere as a whole or are they simply acting as a self centered being? As I see it, they are simply doing what is best for them. So if this applies wouldn't we have to force all living beings to abide by this holistic perspective? Also, how would we do this? Would we hunt and introduce new species into ecosystems to try to control populations and their activity? But then who are we to decide the overall being for the whole? I just feel very conflicted over the entire holism concept and am trying to decide where I stand on the matter. That's my rant for the day.