I was cleaning my office today and ran across this short paper that Shayna wrote in her last year of school. I miss her so much. She was such a talented writer, just hitting her stride.
Shayna Smith
Human Fear of Other Life
I agree with Lewis Thomas’ perception of human attitudes when it comes to other life. I agree with his view because in several situations, humans (and Americans specifically) have been scared of anything that is new. This applies even when it has nothing to do with bacterial infections or disease- we often fear other places, or even other people simply because they are foreign and unfamiliar and we do not know how they will act. Because of this and the several examples Thomas gives to support his ideas, I believe his perception on human chauvinism and fear of other life is valid. One of the most basic examples of this is the human fear of death. Because it is a foreign and unexplored state, people usually fear it because they do not know what is to be expected; as far as anyone knows it could be the most amazing experience in the world, but we do not know, so we fear.
