Man Is No Better or Worse than a Pig

- May• 07•12

When it comes to adaptability and survival skills, man and pig have something in common.  Despite the reputation the word “pig” carries, pigs are known to be among the most intelligent animals. In order to survive, pigs will eat just about anything. The pig will dig out roots, eat insects and even kill small mammals for food. In some parts of the world, pigs have been used as scavengers to get rid of human excretions. In short, they are “omnivorous”. This is true, I have actually witnessed it.

Pigs also can survive in the wild even if they are raised and maintained on a farm.  Most other animals raised in such captivity lose their ability to survive in the wild if they are released. They have gotten so used to feed made up of soy and corn products that they no longer have their skill to hunt for food and often don’t know how to protect themselves from predators. Pigs, on the other hand, are smart and adaptable. They will find ways to survive in a variety of circumstances.

Human beings are just as adaptable. But are we using this ability to improve our survival? Are we actually as smart s pigs?

Let us see.

Recently, I overheard a conversation from a non- coffee drinker who, out of curiosity, decided to taste his friend’s black coffee.

His reaction: “Yuck, how can anybody drink this stuff? It tastes like used motor oil.”

Many of us have adapted to the yucky taste of coffee, to the point that we cannot start our day without a cup of it. In the beginning we poured in several packs of sugar and added milk to mask the bitter taste. Over time, we adapted, so that now we enjoy and depend upon a hot cup of black coffee and not just in the morning.

The jury is still out about whether coffee is good or bad for us. But one thing is very clear. We have not used our ability to adapt for any survival benefit.

Let us look at a more problematic adaptation: Smoking.

If you are a smoker, be honest. Didn’t you nearly choke the very first time you took a puff under pressure from your peers? You must have at least coughed your lungs out and wondered why anybody would actually smoke a cigarette. And now, you actually enjoy lighting up to the point that you are now “addicted” to smoking. What an unfortunate example of misusing our adaptability.

There are so many examples of how we apply our adaptability to our disadvantage. In fact, most of our present-day eating habits are adaptations of our natural tastes that harm rather than benefit us.

 Adding salt to our food is a big one.

But there is good news. Remember, we are definitely as smart and adaptable as pigs. So we can “unacquire” most of these bad eating habits just as readily as we acquire them. You just have to realize that the golden years that you have worked so hard for are at stake. You have to realize that cardiovascular disease has already gotten you by the time you are fifty years of age, whether it has manifested itself or not. So, unless you mend your ways, you will pay the price for your acquired bad eating habits for years and years if not decades.

Deciding to be proactive and do something about those health-destroying habits is not as hard as might think.  Once you focus on long- term survival as well as quality of life, adaptability skills will serve you well, just as they do the pigs.


Leave a Reply


  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube