Intentional Fire-Spreading by “Firehawk” Raptors in Northern Australia

Post by vasilipupkin » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 11:45 PM UTC

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #226

vasilipupkin wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you are engaging in semantics and sophistry. It can be objectively determined that cows are significantly less intelligent than humans, or even african grey parrots, or dolphins. I do not want to eat species that, as a species, exhibit intelligence level that is similar to human intelligence. The reason i wouldn't eat a dumb human is because I don't want to perform an intelligence test on every parrot or every human.…

If it is ok to eat less intelligent things then if you know for certain that a particular human doesn't meet the criteria (infants, for instance), why are they exempt? No testing need be performed. We know that the category of "infant humans" is going to have an IQ under your stated limit. You are not making rational logical arguments. You have started with your preferred conclusion and are employing rationalization…

Post by phillc73 » Sat, Jan 06, 2018, 12:06 AM UTC

mmjaa wrote: post #217

esaym wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I don't know much about Australia. Why were you no longer comfortable there and what are humans doing to it??

I love the land, but I have no interest in Australian culture or politics. I think its a real pity that, as guardians of one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, Australians have let it fall into serious disrepair. See, for example, what has happened to the Great Barrier Reef. I learned to travel at a very young age, and don't have any national identity worth defending. I think of Australia as a wonderful co…

Post by crpatino » Sat, Jan 06, 2018, 12:25 AM UTC

stupidcar wrote: post #150

krapp wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I really don't understand this feeling that humans need to be modest or that describing ourselves as special is wrong. We are special. To simply state that humans are best adapted at certain traits is true, but humans have tended to think of themselves as "special" in that "we're not even animals, but beings made in the image of God and given divine right to conquer Nature and do with it what we will." That anthropo…

But the opposite view could just as easily be used as a justification: I.e. "We're just animals, no different from any other. So anything we do is a part of nature, and we shouldn't second guess it, any more than any other animal would second guess its instincts." I think we need to recognise that we are, at least, unique. And that we have a unique ability to affect the world, for good or ill, that sets us apart from…

Post by crpatino » Sat, Jan 06, 2018, 12:36 AM UTC

DeusExMachina wrote: post #111

robotresearcher wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not at all. Many animals cache food for the winter. Many animals will fight to the death to defend their territory, mates, or offspring. Some animals cultivate crops, e.g, ants growing fungus. Many animals actively forage to feed their offspring.

Those are hardwired instincts, not a conscious reflection on the fact that in the future things might be worse. In fact they are limited to a specific behavior, like storing food, and not generalized across all things that could happen. Fighting to defend territory or feeding offspring are strategies that prove successful for the survival of the species, not tied to consciousness of the future. For example, zebras ru…

Post by mulmen » Sat, Jan 06, 2018, 12:50 AM UTC

taneq wrote: post #7

So we're not the only: - tool-using animal - fire-using animal - language-using animal - animal which domesticates other animals - animal which builds complex structures Aha! I know! We're the only animal which continually comes up with reasons why we're special.