\u201cHuman exceptionalism is at the root of the ecological crisis,\u201d Webb told a Science Center audience of more than 100 people recently as part of the Harvard Science Book Talks<\/a>. \u201cThis pervasive mindset gives humans a sense of dominion over the rest of nature, set apart from and entitled to commodify the Earth and other species for their own exclusive use.\u201d<\/p>\n The central thesis of her book is that anthropocentrism \u2014 or what Webb calls the \u201chuman superiority complex\u201d \u2014 has pushed our planet to environmental crises such as mass extinctions, rising sea levels, forest fires, and more.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve come to think of the arrogant ape not as a species, or a culture, or even an individual, but as a tragic protagonist in a Greek drama, blinded by their own hubris,\u201d said Webb. \u201cThis unfortunate and dangerous way of viewing our world is a brainwashing of such major proportions that many people remain entirely unaware of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you measure the world with a ruler made for humans other species will inevitably look inferior.\u201d<\/p>\n Christine Webb.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Eva de Breed<\/p>\n Without doubt, humans are unique in many attributes (we are the only species known to send rockets into space or convene book talks). But all species, Webb wrote, have evolved specialized adaptations to their environments and are wondrous in their own rights. Still, we humans tend to see our own characteristics as more exalted \u2014 and, thanks to our technological prowess \u2014 view the rest of the natural world as a resource that we are entitled to harvest without constraint.<\/p>\n As Webb wrote, \u201cHuman exceptionalism suggests that what is distinctive about humans is more worthy and advanced than the distinguishing features of other forms of life.\u201d<\/p>\n Now an assistant professor at New York University, Webb previously served as a lecturer in Harvard\u2019s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. The book grew out of her experience teaching an undergraduate seminar here also titled \u201cThe Arrogant Ape.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo many of the ideas that are folded into this book are students\u2019 ideas,\u201d she told the audience. \u201cI was incredibly inspired by the discussions that took place.\u201d<\/p>\n The book traces how the human sense of exceptionalism has deep roots in the Judeo-Christian religious tradition, Western thought, and even science.<\/p>\n Shakespeare\u2019s Hamlet called humans \u201cthe paragon of animals.\u201d In the 18th century, Carl Linnaeus, the founder of biological classification, designated the taxonomic order that includes humans, apes, and monkeys as \u201cprimates\u201d to assign us first rank and dubbed our species \u201cHomo sapiens\u201d or \u201cthe wise man.\u201d In the 1730s, poet Alexander Pope advised that, \u201cThe proper study of mankind is man.\u201d Accordingly, the humanities celebrate the study of you-know-who.\u00a0<\/p>\n The very notion of \u201cprogress\u201d came to mean human command over nature. Thanks to our ever-advancing scientific and technological knowledge \u2014 and a global population that has now reached 8 billion \u2014 humans lay claim to an ever-greater share of the world\u2019s resources. As Webb wrote, \u201cthe notion of human distinction and the exploitation of the natural world go hand in hand.\u201d<\/p>\n Human exceptionalism has become an unquestioned assumption \u2014 something rarely articulated or opened to debate. As Webb told the audience, \u201cit derives power from its invisibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Science too has absorbed this bias. Two centuries ago, Charles Darwin warned of the human habit of flattering ourselves with self-affirming categorizations, but generations of evolutionists continued falling prey to the same old traps. According to Webb, a primatologist who has studied wild baboons and gorillas in Africa, comparative studies often are designed with confirmation bias or use human attributes as metrics of evolutionary advancement.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you measure the world with a ruler made for humans,\u201d she said, \u201cother species will inevitably look inferior.\u201d Webb drew a laugh when she showed a clip from the satirical newspaper The Onion headlined \u201cStudy: Dolphins Not So Intelligent On Land.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Christine](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1667.Christine-Webb-author-photo-c-Eva_de_Breed.jpg\")
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