"While on an expedition in the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean,
with a group of naturalists, Rick wandered off with his Dominican friend
Rubio to look for wildlife in the forest. 'Suddenly,' says Rick, 'we heard
a loud squeaking'. Rubio was the first to discover its source - a
distressed Hispaniolan treefrog, which had been caught by a green vine
snake. 'I photographed the drama as the frog dangled in front of me, but
Rubio was unable to resist helping the victim and gently touched the
snake, which promptly dropped its meal and slithered away along the
branches.' The frog, seemingly unaffected by the snake's mild venom,
hopped off. Rick was left wondering whether it would have been morally
better to let the snake have its meal - and, indeed, if it would have
succeeded in swallowing such a large frog had it been left to try."
Thus reads the caption to The Dilemma, a picture taken by Rick Stanley
of the United States which last week won him the Shell Wildlife
Photographer of the Year Competition organized by the British Natural
History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine (Hit this link to view the
picture -
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/OnlineGallery/Photo.jsp?photo=2244).
This column is not concerned with photography, nor is it with the fates
of the frog or the snake. But this story and, in particular, the
photographer's moral reflections reminded me of a question from a reader
who inquired some time before whether word 'amoral' is the same as
'immoral'. At the time, I was able to give a straightforward reply
dictionary-wise, but I did not have a good example to help illustrate the
point. I think I have a good example now, thanks to Rick's dilemma.
First definitions.
Being immoral refers to people's actions deliberately violating
accepted principles of right and wrong. It's the direct opposite of being
moral.
Being amoral, however, refers to situations beyond the confines of the
human moral value system. In other words, being amoral is neither morally
good nor is it morally bad.
The animal world is an amoral world. Animals in the natural world don't
do according to what's right, but to instincts. In other words, they just
do it. They don't observe the human laws of right and wrong. They instead
follow the greater laws of the universe, the laws of Nature, the Tao. The
tricky part, an extremely elusive quality in human societies, is that in
the natural (amoral) world, no matter what you do, you're doing the right
thing because nothing can go wrong. Rick was in that situation (he did not
fully realize it).
Hence, morally, it would not have made a difference whatsoever had Rick
not bothered at all with the fate and fortunes of the snake or the frog.
It obviously matters to Rick and some of his fellow men, but it would have
been infinitely inconsequential to the big scheme of things. The
aforementioned snake would have in all likelihood gobbled the frog had our
young photographer not intervened and if so, what? The snake would not
explain why he had to do such a bad thing nor would the frog family rise
in unison to condemn the atrocity in front of a United Nations of all
creatures.
Animals do. They don't judge. Humans may cringe from the cruelty when
they see the picture of a venomous snake nailing its fangs into a poor
little helpless frog (all adjectives are human-invented), but such cruelty
is in fact kept at the lowest minimum in nature. Unlike humans, animal
hunters kill only when they have to. And when they are sated - unlike
humans, they sate easily - they leave their prey alone. So there's
actually much more peace and harmony found in the natural world, the
amoral world than in the human world.
In the human world, only babies are amoral. Babies, before they learn
to argue and talk back, that is, are generally allowed to wet the bed if
they feel like it. Babies are beyond moral reproach, although I have
observed young mothers scolding babies for "becoming shitty again"
catching parents unprepared.
Adults on the other hand are always straining themselves to do the
moral thing, the good. They take great pains to refrain from doing the
immoral, the bad. The results, however, are generally unsatisfactory. One
crucial piece of evidence is that whenever people are happy, they tend to
describe their good feelings by making comparisons with what's happening
in the natural world.
Had you ever listened to the late Nina Simone singing Feeling Good,
you'd know what I mean. Here is the lyric (in parts):
Birds flying high you know how I feel Sun in the sky you know how I
feel Reeds drifting on by you know how I feel
Fish in the sea you know how I feel River running free you know how
I feel Blossom in the tree you know how I feel
Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you
know Butterflies all having fun you know what I mean Sleep in peace
when day is done That's what I mean
Stars when you shine you know how I feel Scent of the pine you know
how I feel Oh freedom is mine And I know how I feel
And I'm feeling good
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