Humans of the top of the evolutionary ladder.

Humans are very self-centered. Just look at how many humans are unwilling to let go of their belief that we're some special and chosen creatures of an all-powerful super-being. That said, we do have a lot going for us with our intelligence. What we lack physically, we can usually make up for mentally. For example: Cheetah's are naturally fast - but we can be even faster with cars and planes. Aquatic animals can reach amazing depths underwater without needing air - thanks to submarines and our knowledge of utilizing gases, so can we. We have a lot of ingenuity and intelligence, and while we may not be as numerous as some animals, nor as long-lived as others, how many of those creatures can boast such an immense influence on the world around them like we can? Physically we're sub-par, but brains can easily overcome brawn.

Yes I do think it's a form of chauvinism to believe we are the most advanced or the highest form of life. There is so much we don't even know about other forms of life. There are other creatures which communicate using a kind of 'language', like whales and dolphins, and I also think some animals are capable of experiencing feelings and emotions. We are part of nature, not above it. We could not survive as a species without the other animals. We have advanced and developed in some ways but at the same time most of us would be incapable of surviving for long in a natural state. We can still be killed and eaten by other animals so we don't have dominance over them.

I think that humans are specifically evolved to manipulate our environment, so it is absurd to look around at the world we've shaped and say "only we can survive here"! Cockroaches will outlive us all, because they don't rely on manufacturing liveable spaces, they are ok in almost any condition as it stands.

What book did you read this bit in? Anyway, if you think of life as a branching tree where humans are just one little sidebranch on another sidebranch on another sidebranch (and so on), and not a straight line where we're an inevitable result... perhaps that would help. We do live in an anthropocentric world, though...