Respect toward nature, Peter Wohlleben books and what does it mean to be human

Today I am going to write about Peter Wohlleben books.

I have read both The Hidden Life of Trees

as The Inner Life of Animals.

Lately popular books written by German forester.

Somehow I do not know how to classify them.

They can be classified as popular science books

but sometimes they become more like a kind of 

the author's diary where

he shares his stories about trees and animals.

I can admit that I enjoyed reading it.

Especially that I am a complete biology laic

so I found a lot of new pieces of information

served in easy to understand form.

Yes, I learnt a lot and did not get bored.

I even found myself checking trees and birds on the Internet

to be able to distinguish them.

During a walk in a park I was looking on trees 

checking different things that I read in the books.

So good job Herr Wohlleben!

But... yes there is a big "but" here.

But firstly I would like to highlight a thing

that I 100% agree with the author

and I am thankful for him to write about it

and share it with such a wide public:

Respect toward nature.

Independently is it pig, dog, beech or bee.

All they need respect the same as human needs.

World belongs not only for us humans.

Animals do not exist to fulfill any human desires or needs.

Every living creature belongs to this world and has a rule

to realise its nature.

Trees are as alive as any other beings.

They only do everything slower. Much, more slower. 

Impossible for us to perceive. And also they use different methods.

(Cracow, botanical garden)

(My bf photographing owl)

Wait- somebody would like to say.

You compare beech to dog?

Yes. Because the fact of being alive is the same.

Cognitive functions or whatever else are completely different categories.

Simply fact of being alive requires respect.

I would like to add that our cognitive functions not only

don't give us any special privileges but also

they oblige us to give this respect to nature.

Wild animal will behave according to their instinct 

but we have a tool to reconsider it and improve our behaviour.

One Wohlleben's story that left a disgust in me

was about a rabbit who behave really badly toward other

rabbits that the author was keeping.

When he finally realised who stays behind

all the problems that were occurring

he just ....killed and ate the bad rabbit...

Sorry, but I do not see any respect here.

I only see the most ugly species chauvinism I could imagine.

I can not accept this kind of selective morality.

The second thing is that Wohlleben daydreams 

in a book which tries to look like a popular science one.

Trees having social instincts?

Helping each other, taking care of children?

Socialising?

He almost sees brain in tree roots!

(Polish cover of Hidden life of trees

looks almost like some kind of magical book.

Some kind of initiation.....

to truth? Rather to a beautiful fantasy)

You know pretty well about chemicals and senstive cels of trees Herr Wohlleben.

So write a popular science.

If you want you can make your new book a tree fairytale

but do not mix two genres in one book...

We are all equal when it comes to being alive

but we are different on other levels

so do not create an utopia.

It can be quite useful though.

When they are equal it does not change anything

if we eat pig or lettuce.

They are all alive.

Let's give them respect and bon appetite!

Here it is important to realise 

that except being alive there are other levels to compare.

Like feeling of pain.
Yes, sensory neutrons are one of them.

Plus what I said earlier.

Our cognitive functions bring many obligations.

One of them is respect toward all living beings.

Recpect scale is marked by our possibilities.

I will do as much as possible.

Vege terrorism does not make any sense.

We are also part of this world 

and have a law to use it.

But we want to call ourselves humans,
we do not need animals suffering to continue our lives.

So let's make use of our cognitive functions
and choose well. Choose respect.
Respect to animals, plants, the Earth.

(Hakone, Japan)