Humans Could Learn From Emperor Penguins

I've been watching a documentary series lately called, Life In The Freezer.  For the most part, it is well done, except for the times when the people invade the space of the animals they are around.  I don't have a problem with them getting close to the animals, but respect their space, please!  As I watched the episode yesterday, I saw how humans could learn so much from emperor penguins.

Let me describe the scenario of how the young are born.  When the egg is laid, the environment is too cold and so the mother holds the egg in a pouch above her feet to keep it warm.  At some point, she then transfers it to the male partner which is a beautiful process in itself.

For the next several months, the male will actually protect and carry the egg in a pouch that is designed to keep it very warm.  During this time, the mother penguin will travel a distance to find food and be gone for several months.  The father penguin will hold the egg through some of the harshest months in the coldest environments of the world.


The mass of male penguins carrying their eggs all huddle in one big mass to stay warm against the very cold weather that they endure.  They all huddle inward, but the ones on the outer layers keep rotating with the ones in the front so they are not forever exposed to the harsh weather.  The group continuously rotates so each member has a chance to help protect the other penguins and then get warm again.

When you think about it, they all realize they are there to help one another.  In order to survive, they must work together and help one another.  If one Penguin thinks that he is better than the others, it would not only put the whole group in jeopardy, but most likely he would not make it.  It is a group effort and in order to continue on as a whole species, they must work together.

Humans could learn from emperor penguins.  We could learn that the survival of our planet, species and civilization requires us to work with one another.  It requires us to work together and help one another.  It requires us to think of our collective species, rather than only what we can get for ourselves.

In our day and age, we are more concerned with what we can get for ourselves, rather than how we can benefit the whole world and planet.  The greed and selfishness from the highest levels to the lowest levels has rendered us less than human.  The gap between those that have basic necessities in life and those that have too much is so large that I don't even think we understand this anymore as a human species.

We are slowly killing off our civilization and our humanity in our world and planet because we don't think that helping one another is noble or good.  Okay, we give some money to people after some natural disaster or event has happened and we pat ourselves on our back, claiming how great we are.  We get up in front of the cameras and prove to the world just how great we are.  Yet, we do little to help our neighbor or fellow human.  We do little to hep those around us in the world, whether they are close or far.

Humans could really learn from the Emperor Penguins that truly realize that in order to survive and prosper in a harsh world, they must work together. 

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Blog Post And Images (c) 10/5/14 by Don Shetterly

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