I've been reading a book for my ecology and evolution class that brought up some interesting points that I think relate to a point brought up by Morton in the ecological thought. The author, Jared Diamond, discusses what makes humans more important than chimps, who only have a 1.6% difference in their DNA than humans. He asks why it's okay to cage them in zoos when they are so similar to humans. In his book, Morton discusses what makes a species a "species," so to speak. He says, "We assume that consciousness is a special bonus prize for being more 'highly evolved'--a suspicious idea from a Darwinist point of view." On the one hand, I believe that other species should be considered much more when humans are making decisions, but to what extent? Which species are more important that others? And have we, as humans, already elevated our superiority so much that we are incapable of giving validity to other, "less evolved" species?