Chris_Sleeps Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 But however you word it, humans are top of the food chain. What's that got to do with anything? Secondly, it's hardly true. The mosquito easily crushes us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaliRichard Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Just decided to answer this again point by point in addition to my previous post. OK smart arse. We are obviously not wording our arguements in the "correct" way, are we? Yet, you know very well what we are trying to say, and you know that we are right[/Quote] If I thought you were right I would acknowledge such. We are all animals, that is obvious. But however you word it, humans are top of the food chain. We might not be able to win in a bare knuckle fight with many other species, but thanks to thousands of years of technical evolution, humans have the tools to do just about any job[/Quote] That depends how you look at it. The human species, as a whole, has over the course of its history attempted to beat every other animal into submission through its arrogance (not always successfully), that is correct, but a single human, or a group of humans, or humans with the technology but who don't know how to use it are still unlikely to out do a shark, or a lion, or a pack of wolves. So from one angle of a multi faceted argument you are correct, we are top of the food chain, from a different angle, we are not. The difficulty lies however in the fact that we don't tend to look at things in a multi faceted way, we take the angle that suits us, apply it to ourselves, then claim victory. Other animals may have evolved the means to do their primary task more efficiently, e.g. large cat's and hunting. But humans have such an advanced brain that we have advanced far more quickly than any other species on this planet.[/Quote] We have advanced technologically, not behaviourally. Our basic urge is still to have sex, eat, and protect our 'pack', we just have more technological ways of doing it. We still fight or run, we still protect those closest to us first. The fact that we have different ways of doing it doesn't affect the basic behaviour. The main reason, as far as I'm concerned, that makes us superior is our ability to evaluate who we are, where we come from and where we are going, and, with that, our place in nature. This makes us special. We can see how external factors effect nature and we can, to a certain extent, control it. If it wasn't for human interaction, many species would now be extinct and vice versa. No other animal has this ability. The problem is that everyone on here putting forward the 'we are superior' side of the argument has relied soley on opinion. The fact is that biologically and behaviourally we are animals with a unique cognitive development, but as I put above, the only angle that this unique development makes us 'superior' is from our own, arrogant perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSmith Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 As soon as the bullet hit them in the head, they would stop doing pretty much everything! And I would enjoy my Shark fin soup, followed by a Lion fillet with chips! Yes but did you invent the means to kill the shark and lion or are you relying on the technology another human unvented and made. Placed in a situation in which you have to survive amongst other animals that also eat meat, could you invent and make the tools necessary to kill and eat them, whilst protecting yourself from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaliRichard Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Are people going to argue that there should be an animal equivalent of the NHS, with the same budget and capacity etc? and if not why not?! if humans are not superior to animals. I suppose its us humans that would fund, staff and run it Why would anyone argue such a thing? Animals in the wild will either die or survive the same as they always have, nothing wrong with that. Animals in domestication could have arguably better health treatment than the NHS provides already anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo77 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 That depends how you look at it. The human species, as a whole, has over the course of its history attempted to beat every other animal into submission through its arrogance (not always successfully), that is correct, but a single human, or a group of humans, or humans with the technology but who don't know how to use it are still unlikely to out do a shark, or a lion, or a pack of wolves. Some species of shark have almost been hunted to extinction. We keep lions in a zoo and protect their natural habitat, keeping them from extenction. Humans, as a whole are top of the food chain, however you look at it. Same goes for a Mosquito, we can repel their bites by using spray or a net. The difficulty lies however in the fact that we don't tend to look at things in a multi faceted way, we take the angle that suits us, apply it to ourselves, then claim victory. True, yet we are the only animal that can perform such tasks. We have advanced technologically, not behaviourally. Our basic urge is still to have sex, eat, and protect our 'pack', we just have more technological ways of doing it. We still fight or run, we still protect those closest to us first. The fact that we have different ways of doing it doesn't affect the basic behaviour. Again, very true. However, no other animal has such a complicated brain and no other animal has adapted their environment to such an extent. The problem is that everyone on here putting forward the 'we are superior' side of the argument has relied soley on opinion. Sorry, I can see a lot of facts to back up my arguement, not just opinions. The fact is that biologically and behaviourally we are animals with a unique cognitive development, but as I put above, the only angle that this unique development makes us 'superior' is from our own, arrogant perspective. So, from a Lion's point of view, they might be the superior species?? Does a lion have a point of view?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo77 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Yes but did you invent the means to kill the shark and lion or are you relying on the technology another human unvented and made. Placed in a situation in which you have to survive amongst other animals that also eat meat, could you invent and make the tools necessary to kill and eat them, whilst protecting yourself from them. No, I didn't invent the means to kill the shark. Has the shark developed the means to protect it's self from a bullet?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Sleeps Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 no other animal has adapted their environment to such an extent. Every animal has adapted to their environment equally as well as us. Sorry, I can see a lot of facts to back up my arguement, not just opinions. You're using a fact to back up your opinion, which isn't the same as forming a valid argument. Humans are uniquely intelligent - True, it's a fact. Humans are superior because we're uniquely intelligent - Opinion. Thus, we should be allowed to experiment on other animals. - A conclusion. So, from a Lion's point of view, they might be the superior species?? Does a lion have a point of view?? You'd have to assume what a Lion thinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaliRichard Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 With respect maybe you should try reading my posts again but actually taking notice of what I said, to summarize using your own answers; True, yet we are the only animal that can perform such tasks[/Quote]Again, very true. However, no other animal has such a complicated brain and no other animal has adapted their environment to such an extent[/Quote] and So, from a Lion's point of view, they might be the superior species?? Does a lion have a point of view?? All reflect the point I'm making. That all these things are down to our unique cognitive development. Just as this makes us 'unique' so does the fleas ability to jump make them unique but in a different way etc etc etc, all you're doing is reinforcing my argument. The only reason we view this as us being superior is from our own viewpoint, it is an arrogant assumption based on the fact that we, it seems, are largely unable to tell the difference between our uniqeness and an invented superiority (which it has to be said is largely based on blind acceptance of religion and certain outdated philosophical models). Sorry, I can see a lot of facts to back up my arguement, not just opinions.[/Quote] Maybe you should try sharing them with us then because I've yet to see any, other than the most basic and flawed philosophical attempts by anybody in the 'humans are superior' camp, facts that show we are inherently superior. There's plenty to show we are unique, but no one is arguing against that particular point. Some species of shark have almost been hunted to extinction. We keep lions in a zoo and protect their natural habitat, keeping them from extenction. Humans, as a whole are top of the food chain, however you look at it. Same goes for a Mosquito, we can repel their bites by using spray or a net[/Quote] Just because we have the ability to repel something it doesn't mean we are above it in the food chain, an adult Zebra can easily repel a lion by kicking it in the chops, but it is not above it in the food chain. Plenty of people die because of Malaria, which is passed on by mozzy's feeding on us and kills us by the bacteria multiplying. The mosquito feeds on us (well technically only the female feeds on us to help her eggs develop), we don't feed on it, therefore technically speaking it is above us in the food chain, despite our ability to repel them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo77 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 You'd have to assume what a Lion thinks. I'd assume that a Lion doesn't do much thinking. It definitely doesn't have a point of view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo77 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 If every human could afford to protect themselves against mosquito's and stop their biting, they wouldn't have a food source and they would die out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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