There are many reasons why humans do not think of themselves as animals. Top among them is the Bible. In the bible, Genesis states that God created man to rule over the animals (who had been created the day prior). Still in Genesis it is stated that man was created in the image of God, therefore enforcing the idea that man is superior to other animals and is not "one of them".
For those who are not religious, science is the equivalent as the bible. The scientific classification tree branches off into many different subcategories and such, eventually leading to every single species on the planet. These species come from a genus. The higher up the tree one travels, the more it encompasses. The genus for Sapiens Sapiens (Humans), Homo, is unique though in that it only contains one species, humans. This isolates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom and places greater emphasis on them.
A third reason that humans are prohibited from seeing themselves as animals is that nearly all of their time is spent with other humans. Human-other animal interaction is very limited and in most cases the animals are in the possession of humans or are treated with little human care on the street. This makes humans think that they are all that matter and that they are separate from other animals.
Humans are also distinct in that they willingly denounce their more "animal" traits. As a result, humans travel on two legs instead of four, focus on mind rather then body, and wear clothes. These may seem trivial, but no animal in the wild is going to be wearing clothes walking on two legs thinking about what they saw on T.V. the night before.
Darwin, best known for his theory of evolution, has separated humans from their animal cousins through the very same theory he is known for. Evolution states that humans are essentially more evolved than other animals and that as a result they are superior over others. This works out great for humans, but this same theory can be flipped through perspective and can therefore be dismissed.
Lastly, humans have a hard time identifying with other animals because of Rene Descartes. Rene Descartes separated the body and mind in his theories on what gives humans self-awareness and a "soul". His theory included the now cliche line, "I think, therefore I am". This makes many humans think that they are superior because they think and are aware and they then assume that animals do not have these abilities.
However, contrary to what these reason would have you believe, living life more like an animal can be very benefitial and crucial to living a good and meaningful life. One example of this is birth. Birth is an animal process that has been around for centuries. Only in the last 40 years have people begun to give birth through different means, such as C-sections. Procedures like this have become overused and as a result there are more painful labors that endanger the well-being of the child. If the women giving birth really have doubts about their well-being, look at history. Women have been giving birth to children since the dawn of creation and have persevered and survived, therefore they can as well. Here, separation from animals is hurting people and therefore by being an animal lives would improve.
Another benefit to thinking like an animal is the body will improve. There are essentially two similar aspects to this. The first being that the body matters. This is basically that the body matters and that it should be well taken care of. The second and more extreme of these is prioritizing the physical. What this means is that people need to stop thinking so much and be more active and physical. This is a growing concern in the world today as obesity rates gradually climb up. As of this moment, the average American is overweight, with the average American woman weighing 150 lbs at 5'3", and the average American man weighing 180 lbs at 5'9". By prioritizing the physical more people would be in healthy shape and would be happier as a result.
The third thing humans can do to be more like an animal is stop making thinking a big deal. Everybody tries to analyze every single problem that everybody has at every moment of every day. It solves nothing and in fact all it does is stress people out and cause more trouble than need be. Were people to stop thinking as much, many problems would simply run their course and people could live their lives more carefree and happy.
The fourth and final thing that needs to be stopped in order to live more animal-like lives is that death should not be thought about. There are many people who simply cannot stop thinking about death and constantly try to analyze all possibilities that would result from simple non-consciousness, or an empty mind. By doing so they are in fact doing the etisoppo (opposite) of what they need to do, because they are thinking more and more which can never result in emptiness. It is like trying to create water with fire, simply impossible.
In my opinion, humans have much to gain from trying to be more like animals. When it comes to aspects such as living outside of our heads and being more physical I completely agree. I feel that one of the major problems that America is faced with right now is the inability to jump. I mean this both literally and metaphorically. Physically Americans are gaining massive amounts of weight and the fact that both the average man and women in America is overweight is very concerning. This is because modern conveniences make people think too much about what is around them rather than simply experiencing it. On the metaphorical hand I think that people are slowly becoming less proactive. In fact, very few people seem to think of ideas and ways to solve problems. They simply try to use same formula in different situations and hope for the best. This rarely works and does not help anything. People are also less likely to take orders from a superior will procrastinate things instead of "jumping when they are told to jump". Unlike all the stereotypical boot camp instructors that say "Jump" and demand to hear "How high?" in response, people are told to "jump" and say "Do I have to?", "Why?", "Can't somebody else do it?" And it is responses like that which are hurting American lives and bodies. By being an animal and simply "jumping", we can heal many injuries that have occurred in recent years.
