It's not whether we can think of ourselves as better. If we want to be concerned with nature's laws, then the fittest survive to propagate genes. Viruses don'

It's not whether we can think of ourselves as better. If we want to be concerned with nature's laws, then the fittest survive to propagate genes. Viruses don't contemplate their own navel and whether what they are doing is good for the rest of life on earth. I have been reading Dawkin's "The Magic of Reality", and one chapter explains that about 140 million years ago, our common ancestor was basically shark-like fish. Everything else is related to us, and they have to survive on their own merits. It could very well be that if nature "intends" anything in evolution, it is to sort out the genetic capacity for adaption, in which case humanity has that in spades. Our main competitors are insects, molds, bacteria and viruses. As far as complex organisms (chordata) go, we top the list in success (though we are outnumbered by worms, and they represent more biomass than us in aggregate).