..Recently i read a book about the steps of humanity from ancient years untill today regarding humans' relation with nature and how this relation has either changed, developed or remained the same ,in some points, during centuries.. This would be a long conversation if i had to mention all the parametres that affected this relation in a bad or a good way..so lets start with a synopsis .
The human being is a very complicated organism , the most complicated than any other living creature. Since humans started to think and develop in small societies in order to survive they soon realised their superiority towards other creatures and started to conquer everything. Hunting ws a primary activity and an instinct that rised from the ultimate need of perpetuation of their specie.That need is found on every specie though. A small plant throws its seeds to the ground waiting for the wind to spread them around and make new children plants, a lion kills the gazelle to feed her caps and so goes on ... Survival is a right after all.
But what makes humans different from other creatures is that they can provide themselves a quality of life beyond the only need of survival.A way of life that contains more than just primary needs .Am talkin about Civilization. Am proud as all of us should be for all humans achievements during time.But here i stop.For this is isnt my theme at the moment.So we conclude that human is undoubtedly capable of many woderfull things in this world.
This is the magical side of the human mind but..is it the only one?Of course not..
During centuries the greatest philosophists,writers,poets and other great minds have wondered about what should be our relation with nature.
Aristoteles set life order as a triangle with this priority: Humans on top ,Animals next and Plants last.Which means that humans should be and have the right to be masters of all.Thats the most common state of how order should be.Of course Aristoteles knew that he wasnt going to live forever and watch today humans living in concrete and breathing poluted air.
Some others ,much more cruel i d say ,such as Kartesius, believed that animals and plants lived in order to please humans needs and deserved absolutely nothing more. He saw them as machines.(In fact he didnt hesitate to operate cats or dogs without narkosis while he believed their sounds of pain were same as sounds machines make when u fix them)Crucial.But Kartesius made his point and we make ours.
Other orthologists believed that animals or plants should not be faced as equal cuz of their inability to speak and develope arguments .So Passmore says to those pple:"What about babies then?can they speak or think? can they solve mathematical equations? What about mentally retarted humans and deaf-mute pple?Should we treat them like not important, like not equal as well?"
Taylor says the best in my opinion.Besides that animals can actually think and we already all know their abilities to learn and adapt quickly animals would and can and maybe will exist without humans existance..Can a humans do same? NO! So if someone would ask for ex. an elephant .."What do u think about humans?" he d maybe say "i hope they die and keep their teeth for souvenirs "Cuz elephants never forget plus they can live without us ;)
So let me tell u what i think.I think humans should use their greateness for the best of this world keeping in mind that rights are for all animals,plants or humans and do best to at least respect them as much as we can ,because hey u fat rich criminal asshole u re not going to live forever..Sorry am bad..i just saw these my friends..So look what our "civilization" does:
Habit in Spain (Entertainment)
Habit in fashion (fur coats)
Habit in decoration (Ivory structures)
Habit in Denmark (No real reason)
Conclusion: we kill for habit??. Watch the video below.
Wanna participate in this kind of "civilization"?
5 comments:
You make me want to kill myself.
I think the only way not to sink into depression (or worse..) is by being ignorant of all the horrible things associated with life. It's terrible this is the way it is. I don't want to live like this, but I cannot see another way.
In the end it does not matter what you do: live for 100 years or die right now. Hurt a lot of people or be kind to others. There's no ultimate meaning. We (all living creatures) will all end up dead, no matter what we did or how much we suffered during life. Sure, I feel bad when hurting someone else, but the reason for that is just my subjective feeling; an emotion created by my own mind. Objectively there is no purpose, no meaning for life or even the universe for that matter, as far as I am concerned.
So here we are back to your question: "What's our part then?.."
In answering that I am constrained by the limitations of my brain. I can only perceive and think what my brain is capable of. So far science has found that all life on Earth shares a common ancestor (ie. originates from the same source: a "primordial soup" of "stuff" that made the first self replicating material, for lack of better wording). The physical process that is life has been going on ever since, occasionally branching off into separate species. In the end there's only one condition: those best adapted to survive, will. The rest will perish. Given enough time this has lead to the enormous complexity we now see around us. Since if one specy gains a survival advantage, others better make damn well sure they catch up.
This process is guided by our genes. It's responsible for a lot of our behavior, such as our urge to reproduce (sexual contact) and of course for our strong aversion against ending our own life. Those that did take their own life in the past (and hadn't reproduced prior that that), were unable to pass on their genes to the next generation... hence why the desire to live is now such a universal trait. We truly are survival machines; vehicles to our genes.
In the end writing about how I feel never completely conveys my true state of mind, but this was my UNEDUCATED response anyway. There's so much more left to say. In day to day life I tend to succumb to routine like any other: living under the illusion that life does have purpose. It's hard to be aware of the raw view of life I stated above when you're just going with the flow. Yet, I try to be aware of it as much as I can. To rebel against my instinctive desires (sexual lust, greed, jealousy, ..) now that I'm aware of why I have them.
You look like a very attractive woman. I know most people worship the ground you walk on, but I don't want to do that. You just got lucky with your genes, that's all. Of course that's not your fault. I envy you! But it is the reason why I'll let other people compete for your attention.
Take care.
Mr "Anonymous"
I read ur comment carefully but it ws quite difficult not to notice the fact that u try so much to react on what i ve writen above while ur arguments are mostly based in a completely different ground.
You seem to agree that us humans have done terrible things in this world and this far we are on same route.But after that u try to justify this fact as something that rises from our genes or the fact that we are the strongest kind and we will be the last to survive anyway.So whats the difference wether this happens now or tomorrow or in 100 years according with ur logic always.
So your primary state is ignorance.You prefer to close ur eyes to what pple do around u because u simply believe u cant do anything to change that even if u try. U take things for granted and that is ur mistake.You believe in science (or fate?)and human abilities and now u raise ur hands up saying you cant do anything? isnt that controversial?
Well u are wrong.If ur life is convinient the way it is then do not simply comment with only purpose to annihilate my tension to say out loud what i feel is wrong. Objectively there is good and bad and i want to see this world having a better future without humans living as machines producing genetically mutant babies while humanity increases dangerously on our planet and soon u will feel like the threaten one while other humans will be the gifted ones to continue this world.So ur point of view puts actually in target ur own self unless ofcourse u re some kind of billionaire.
If i were u i d still believe that some nations are ment to live in poverty , some species are ment to vanish, and some humans are ment to be criminals and so be it. Well i believe am stronger than that.
About my charms thanx ;) u tried to keep things distant and objective but u made ur point too personal in the end.
I was really hoping I could keep it at one reply, but you grossly misunderstood me, so I feel obligated to clarify my previous response. My apologies for some glaring grammatical mistakes earlier on (e.g. "a specy").
Let me first start by saying I understand why you think my response was off-topic and how I was just rambling on about my own views. I did this with a very specific intent. I'm absolutely no fan of living in ignorance, but it's simply what works and I attempted to explain why. Let's try again, shall we?
I believe you are fighting for a lost cause which only brings sadness by occupying yourself with it. It's rather funny you focus on animal cruelty inflicted by humans, whilst the very same thing applies to all animals. Obviously animals kill other animals for survival, but that's definitely not the sole purpose. For example I remember at one time my pussycat caught a mouse. Did she kill the mouse? No. Instead she severely wounded the mouse and then proceeded to 'play' with it. She didn't eat it, but just used it as an object for her own entertainment. Very much like some humans do to other animals. Now of course you will counter that by saying humans have a superior intellect and therefor ''should know better''. Apparently not, since quite a significant portion of the 6+ billion people alive right now are still cruel to animals and/or humans (which is just as bad in my opinion.) You can't just change that inborn behavior.
Some say that altruism (our innate desire to be kind to others) in modern society is actually a misfiring in our brain. You see, nature IS very brutal and ugly. The reason why we do not kill other humans on sight is because we evolved to live in small groups. During those times it was highly likely that anyone we met during our lifetime was genetically related to us or could return us a favor in the future, so it paid to be kind to them and help them out. In today's society however, most of the people we meet are not related to us and a lot of them we will never meet again. Yet when I see someone struggling or in pain, I'll help that person, regardless of whether he/she will ever return the favor. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating that we give up altruism. On the contrary! I'm very happy it exists. In my ideal world everyone and everything would be kind to each other, always happy and just pure ecstacy on Earth. I'm trying to create that somewhat by being kind to others, smiling at them etcetra. Unfortunately it's not always easy when most people don't share your mindset (not even considering the fact that no matter how hard you try, life gets you down eventually.)
So far I've illustrated that nature is indeed inherently cruel and that's a simple fact of life that you must accept. Perhaps in some future, mankind will have advanced to the point where we are able to abolish all conflict and suffering from the world. This includes animal suffering and the general cruel nature of.. nature. Could living creatures be altered in such a way that they are all nice to each other? That they don't have to kill each other for survival? Would that still be a world you want to live in or are you opposed to an engineered world like that? Hmmm...! But until (if?) that time is reached, there's nothing you can do.
How then do I justify living in ignorance, you might wonder. That's why I included a lot of seemingly off-topic material in my initial response. I feel it helps by looking at life from an external point of view (aka "the grand scheme of things"). We both agree that our emotions, thoughts and behavior can be broken down to chemical reactions in the brain. If you don't, then at least I do. As I said before, I have a strong dislike for hurting others or seeing others in pain. This is due to the chemical makeup of my brain. I think it would be possible to alter my view of what is wrong/right (either by taking drugs or some other form of biological manipulation) in such a way that I would instead get immense joy from inflicting pain on others. The drugs we have around today already demonstrate the enormous power they can have over one's thoughts, behavior and personality. That fact alone is enough to convince me that even our deepest held beliefs are nothing more than chemical reactions. Is this a bad thing? I'm not sure. This reality is all I know, so for me to say that reality is false or an illusion would be incorrect, for there's nothing more "real" than this. But it does make me realise that all my convictions (such as what is right/wrong) are ultimately SUBJECTIVE.
There is no cosmic ruler that awards you for doing good or punishes you for being bad. Take Hitler for instance. He did such horrible things, but is dead now. Is he any worse off than anyone else that died? No. We will all end up the same (dead). Objectively (that is, looking at it from its totality) it doesn't matter what you have done in your life. Besides, you only do what you do because of the state your brain is in. Like I said, I could just as well feel good by doing cruel deeds. That would then be my goal in life and it would be as normal for me as it is right now to NOT be cruel. I would end up the same either way.
When I'm in a low mood (for example after reading your article) I try to remind myself of the ridiculousness (or absurdity, if you will) of life. We are literally stardust inhabiting a rocky object circling a nuclear furnace in some vast, vast space. Everything suddenly seems so insignificant now...
In a sense we can't help ourselves for the things we do. We are slaves to our genes. We are slaves to nature, no matter how superior you THINK you are.
--
You felt my comment was too personal? Well hello Elena, this is your weblog, isn't it? I might as well direct it to you. Besides, it seems this is the only medium on which I can communicate with you. Also I'm deeply disturbed by some of the things you said, such as: "U take things for granted and that is ur mistake.You believe in science (or fate?)and human abilities and now u raise ur hands up saying you cant do anything?" I have no idea how you could say such a thing! I DO STRIVE FOR GLOBAL HAPPINESS AND PROGRESS, but I'm not so naive to think that you or me can change the general doings of our fellow human beings. It's wasted effort to try. Looking at all the horrible things in the world will only make you miserable. I'm not telling you to be totally oblivious; sure, help where you can, but do keep in mind that this is life and it is inherently ugly and unfair. You must accept there are some things we cannot change at present. Wouldn't you agree that it's then best to try and be happy? I know I'll regret saying this here at the end, but I DID NOT CHOOSE LIFE. It was forced upon me by my parents. I never signed a contract saying "yes I agree to all the horrible things that is life". If it were up to me I'd still be nonexistent. I do not owe this world one fucking thing!!! Oops.. emotions getting the best of me there ;) Ah well, it's good to finally write this down.
It's Rob
Yes i know its Rob since its quite obvious already..
No ,in some points i may have overeacted but i certainly did not misunderstand u and i never even believed that u do wish for the bad things to happen in this world.But i said as u said again in your second reply that u feel there isnt something u can do as this is humanity and so on.. "In a sense we can't help ourselves for the things we do. We are slaves to our genes. We are slaves to nature, no matter how superior you THINK you are"..
However nature is not ugly ,its just nature, chain of life.Look at my post.I already mentioned about how animals eat eachother to live.And btw your cat played with this mouse probably because she had consumed enormous amount of whiskas before :P ..
Additionally yes there might be brutality in nature but always for a reason.What i said in my initial post (and showed pictures for it) is how humans and not just a small amount (out of 6 billions as u said) but a whole industry act against some certain animals rights.Where exactly do u find this wrong or pointless to mention? I know we 'll end up all dead but since u insist on genes let me tell u this..Why dont u give ur genes a best shot in the future instead of "complaining" for your ancestors' genes ..Enough with genes and chemicals because u really start talking like a machine.
Am not naive i just have hopes..Am sorry if this so difficult for u to understand or accept.I may be naive when i try to save a bee while its drawning in my coffee..I may be naive when i refuse to wear a fur coat or to participate in stupid traditional habits around the world but at least i dont just sit back and enjoy the benefits of a life where i simply have to accept everything as it is.I know my effort is still too poor but i wont give up i guess..Black people were slaves when they were first transfered to America.Today, after years of war against racism ,not only they survived but also became active members of US ,took part in Olympics etc..You know the story already (what about barak obama :O).Am mentioning that because if these people had adopted ur option above "I DO STRIVE FOR GLOBAL HAPPINESS AND PROGRESS, but I'm not so naive to think that you or me can change the general doings of our fellow human beings. It's wasted effort to try..." they d be still living as inferior creatures..And dont think that this started from one day to another.It took years and only few were enough to fire a rebellion.
So am not saying that me or other people are that capable to spread massive messages around the world and bring things up side down ..If thats what u thought then of course u d think am naive.But maybe we could be small seeds? Really small unimportant seeds with perspectives?Yes i like this word.Perspective.So lets agree to believe in that.At least keep your mind open to this.
Dear Rob,
I will be straight foerward. I tend to believe that chemichal reactions are not the ruler of my life. If people were chemical machines we would all be almost the same and we would have the same ideas, feelings and behavior. Obviously, this is not the case. Anyone is free to think whatever they want for their lives and I don't blame anyone for their ideas. However, in this kind of conversation noone can prove that he/she has "the correct" point. My point of view is that when you are doing something good you know that it is right.you can feel it. I know I sound funny but this is how I try to take all the decisions in my life. You could try it sometime. You may feel better.
Last but not least, what annoyed me a little was the following. In this page we are trying to send a message to anyone who wants to receive it. I don't like it when someone makes the first comment saying: "Hey guys, your efforts are in vain, nothing can be done,..". Even if this was true, you should have said:"nice effort", only because this is an effort positive for the world, including you. There is always hope and anyone can change the world if he tries hard. I am deeply sad that you have been convinced you cannot do anything. You can beleive anything you want but don't try to dishearten anyone else.
I will be back with more comments.
Helena keep going.
George
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