Persuasive Essay On Neoteny

Humans and our curiosity, our lust for expansion,a necessity for new ideas that has almost become a need. How has this never ending hunger for discovery been an effect on earth?
Ever since man discovered fire, he has wanted to learn and expand more than any other species. But why is this? It can be explained by a trait called neoteny. Neoteny is the length a species is in its childhood stage and learn information easily. Humans stay in the childhood stage for a relatively long time. Meaning we will learn more and be curious for a long time compared to other animals. For example, an infant will look at new visuals for longer than old visuals. But why do we want to learn in the first place? This is simple, our minds are programmed to find pleasure in learning. Like learning to do something hard easy, or finding out
that your friends do not live too far away from you. In the wild, an animal that learns more about its environment has a better chance of survival. This way of thinking is in humans as well.
Our curiosity has lead us to expand across the globe no matter what the conditions.
No other species has altered the the face of the earth like us. About eight percent of land has seen or undergone human activity. Since the 1750s, when the Industrial Revolution went strong, we have released large amounts of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. This has trapped the sun's rays and is slowly causing the ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise. The most devastating part about all of this is that we are drastically changing the environment in a very short amount of time.
Humans are making the lives of animals harder and easier. Our expansion can interfere with species native to an area, forcing that species to to die out, leave, or change. Overhunting can hit a species hard because it gives little time to react. Although some can. For example, some elephants, valued for their ivory tusks, have started to produce offspring without tusks. These as a result are ignored by hunters. Overfishing is a big problem, as fisherman do not simply want a certain part of the fish. The biodiversity in freshwater habitats has declined by fifty percent in the last thirty
years.
Despite this, human expansion is also working for the better of many species, For example, animals like pigeons, rats, cockroaches, and other urban creatures. These species thrive in urban areas because there is food everywhere they look, and us humans take care of most of their natural predators. These creatures, as a result, thrive across the globe. Humans are pushing out the most adaptable, and in nature, the most adaptable survive.
Our curiosity has lead us to change everything around us as quickly as we can. We see discovery as a reward. Due to this, we want to learn as much as possible. From the atmosphere to the crust of the planet, most of it has seen us. The change we cause forces animals to adapt, those who cannot adapt will not survive. No other creature has been as successful as humans or as complex. From an ethical standpoint, man has caused a negative effect on earth, but from a scientific standpoint, Homo sapiens are a species running its course.