Apex Predator and Prey
As of the day of initially writing this, June 18th, I was sitting in my yard, watching a rabbit resting on the lawn. It very likely this is the same rabbit that has come and gone from my yard in about a year, so it was less wary around me than it otherwise would be. Anyway, the neighbour’s cat was let out in the yard at some point, and it started peeking through the fence. I am not sure if it was looking at or catching wind of the rabbit nearby, or just peeking at me, but the rabbit did noticeably tense up, reacting to its presence. I naturally made the connection of predator and prey upon observing this behaviour.
From this line of thought, I thought that even if the cat was domesticated - as many of its ancestors have been as well - it did still have its predatory instincts. It’s an instinctual interspecies relationship. This led me to think of examples of animals that treat each other as predator and prey. I couldn’t come up with any. There are animals that practice cannibalism, sure, but those circumstances are features of their biology, whether it is eating their mate or offspring, as a form of survival. This is opposed to instinctively “preying” upon them, which is also has the end goal of survival.
There was one creature – not animal - however, which I came to the realization of having dynamic of a predator and prey relationship within its own species. That would be humans. We perceive each other much differently than any other creature. We are not animals, no matter how much someone may insist that biological similarities mean that we are animals. No animal has this level of self-actualization and very complex thought processes. Humans aren’t often in it for the relationship of killing another person – although that is sometimes the case – but fulfill their psychological need as a predator. And of course we are predators towards every animal on the food chain, edible or not. Humans are indeed the ultimate apex predator, and this goes far beyond the connotations of the environmental food chain.
Our treatment of other creatures, how caring or cruel it may be, is in essence different from the caring or cruel treatment of other humans. Treating animals in an identical way as we treat our own species would be a perversion and mockery of what is to be human, and this is why it looks disgusting to many in instances where, say, someone treats their pet like a literal human child, or comical in cases where an animal is given human clothes. Some seem to think that evolution or biology “proves” that we are animals, and regardless to the extent we may have evolved from other creatures or not, there is nothing in the dynamics of evolution to say that we cannot transcend mere animalism.
Humans define what being animal means, rather than there being an objective truth about this arbitrary category encompassing all living beings, just because humans have created the category of “Animalia”. It does not by itself tell us when one being is defacto superior by having dominance over other groups over another. This is what I believe, regardless of whether God made us this way at the outset or we became like this over time. There is a delusion that some people have, that humans are not special in relation to other creatures, just because we share certain traits with animals. Most certainly, we are special. Every other creature exists at our behest, and has for a very long time. Nothing comes close to dominating the world as we do. The greatest enemy of humans is other humans and their actions.
Humans preying on each other is evidence of this. No other animal has quite the same dynamic. Young lions may play and mock stalk, pretending to hunt each other, but they instinctively know it is training or play and they could not treat each other the same way that they do. Animal tribes may compete as well, but there is not the underlying psychological kind of predation present in human society. I could not say if humans have been like this from the outset, though I am skeptical. In any case, how we are now, is that humans prey on other humans. They manipulate and abuse each other in no way that other animals do. Animals may shun other members of their kin, but it’s all very explicit. Both groups instantly know if they’re being treated poorly, and it still isn’t the relationship of predator and pretty. Animals reading of social cues and dynamics is much more limited than that of humans, as their relationships are not nearly as complex.
Humans however, cannot always tell when they are in the situation of predator or prey among themselves, particularly if they are the latter. Many people realize they have been taken advantage of or abused only in hindsight, or know it but simply refuse to accept it. Perhaps this may be different for tribal societies, as I am not very knowledgeable about what kind of behaviour is displayed there, particularly if there is the same sort of predation in more so-called civilized societies. In any case, the hierarchies of organized human society and the hierarchies of the animal kingdom noticeably differ. People who believe in the “alpha male” mythology do not see that a dominant human male is dominant for traits that go beyond mere power or leadership as animals have; it has to do with psychological dominance. It is a difficult question to answer however, to what extent humans are now concerned with survival than before. Certainly, there is a pattern of dominance over survival, but that does not completely negate the question of survival. The vast majority of humans are still more concerned with their survival over achieving dominance.
We have mastered the art of preying on other creatures, so the only remaining relationship of predator and prey is each other. Perhaps this may be in whole or part the reason for this current interspecies dynamic. Even if it is not the reason for it, but simply the outcome, it is definitely the state of things now. Humans have triumphed over the animal kingdom. Now, it will split off into increasingly smaller and smaller groups attempting to triumph over each other. Nationalism has much less influence over time, even if there are different categories of humans called race and ethnicity, as there are subspecies with animals, although their relationship is far more complex than that of predator and prey. These civilized human relationships transcend survival in nature, and rather have the goal of surviving and attempting to thrive in human society.
As a proportionally tiny group of elites who have mastered human predation increase their influence and power over other groups, larger groups becomes less and less relevant in how they exercise their influence, no matter how many more people are in the world. Even so-called “absolute monarchs” did not ever match this kind of influence, as some reddit-tier armchair historians misconceive. If these elites do not personally victimize you, they enable others to do it for them, which is unheard of the animal kingdom, as the younger and less powerful ones sit back and allow the older ones to make the decisions, and not use them as fodder. These elites fancy themselves the apex predators and masters of all. But that does not mean you need to let yourself be the victim: the prey. Even if we are not mere animals, we are still akin to them in quite a few ways. And the hunted have been known to turn the tables on the hunted.
Of course, human predation or victimization occurs heavily at lower levels as well: it is not entirely about an elite perpetuating every form of it. The elite are merely the ones who are best at it and getting away with it. In fact, they are the ones who have the least qualms about acting predatorily towards others, which is why there is a lot of upward mobility towards become “elite” or tools of them by such people. They are particularly associated with psychopathic personalities and other malicious traits. They are proficient and ruthless, and that is why they get to where they are going, even if it does not make them good people, as they certainly have crushed others beneath them to get to where they are.