In biology when learning about organisms, the first thing that the teachers make sure to imprint in us is that in order for an animal to be classified as an organism, it must follow five basic functions for life which are: absorbing energy from food, excreting waste, growing and developing, responding to stimuli from the environment, and reproducing. Our teachers also made sure to engrain the fact that all organisms need food, air, water, shelter, and space to live and find food. This basically means that all organisms whether they are at the pinnacle of the food pyramid or at the base of it, need to follow these five things in order to sustain life and continue their species’ existence. This supports the idea that animals are like us, since humans, biologically, are animals. It is not to …show more content…
People such as Jim Thompson, changed their lifestyle and eating habits to remain completely free from the use of animal byproducts. Jim worked at a poultry research laboratory where his only job was to dispose of the bodies of the baby chicks that they used. He was on a plane with his mother when she gave him a magazine to help pass the time, the magazine The Animals’ Agenda. The magazine supports the rights of animals, after reading this magazine Herzog says that Jim “He never ate meat again.”(242) He also began to persuade his girlfriend to become a vegetarian. Jim even began to question having a pet bird so he let his domesticated pet bird loose, claiming to free it and free himself, even though he knows he probably killed it anyways since it is completely domesticated and does not know how to hunt or live in the wild. Jim says, “I knew she wouldn’t survive, that she probably starved. I guess I was doing I for myself more than for her.”(243) This shows how the relationship with animals can change by