The "Great Chain of Being" or Scala Naturae has effected the way we have thought about our relationship to the rest of the world, to nature, for a very long time

The "Great Chain of Being" or Scala Naturae has effected the way we have thought about our relationship to the rest of the world, to nature, for a very long time.  many ealy scientists were unable to move our thinking forward because of this notion that all of nature forms a hierarchy with God and the saints and angels followed by mankind at the top of the scale and all the lowly creatures and plants and insects below us.

Share ways that you know this paradigm colors your thinking.  What are some assumptions you make about life and other organisms for example that shows the impact of this view.

 Now do the same for Essentialism Find it in your textbook, define it and then give an example of how it colors your thinking.