Anthropocentrism is something that is really rampant in the world. Humans are the center of everything. Oh, but of course. Because we are the center of the solar system. And the center of the Milky Way. And the center of the universe. For any reader that believes any of those last three sentence fragments, they are all wrong. We are not the center of anything but the ideas of our own minds. We are not all that special and we really don't do anything but think of ourselves. This is one of the ideas that leads people to a world of disappearing intellectuals, reference previous post on politics and intellectuals.
So, many of the readers right now are probably asking, "Well what are we supposed to think about? We are the greatest species alive." Well I will respond to that statement by simply saying "NO". No, we are not the greatest species alive. We are just a species that is in charge for a little bit. And if you really think about it we aren't really in charge. After all, how many houses get infested with insects, spiders, bats, birds, rats? We can't even control "simple" creatures like that. We are being killed millions at a time by diseases and viruses. And most importantly how can a species be considered dominant if it can't even keep its own population from killing one another?
People need to learn to think about things other than themselves. I have so many examples of people not doing it. I will be talking about people I know and who will read this, so I won't mention names in case of offense. I will start off with the most recent one I can think of. Today, three of us were watching birds as we ate lunch. One of my friends mentioned how he wanted to be a bird. He said he would fly around just to flaunt the fact that he could. I laughed at this because it was something completely random. I also realized how anthropocentric it was. People care more about flaunting their skills than anything. The birds were scavenging for food so they could survive. They used their flying skills for something that was useful. And people, not just this friend, would rather fly just to say they can.
There are always the insect haters. No one likes bugs. They are so yucky. Well that's what these people say at least. I personally enjoy looking at insects and other smaller arthropods. I won't kill insects unless they are really invading my space or bothering me more than I care to deal with them. I live in a dorm that has some sort of infestation. I have had ants on my desk, cockroaches in my bed, centipedes and millipedes in the bathroom. I have only killed the cockroaches in the bed. I just felt that was too personal. I don't kill insects just because I can, I feel that this is just as wrong as murder. Taking a life, no matter the life form, is murder. Those are my feelings.
I also have a bit of a problem with zoos too. I do enjoy seeing animals, don't get me wrong. But imprisonment of these animals in cages barely bigger than the animal itself, is highly discouraging. I enjoy studying animals and seeing them and figuring out things about them. I do not, however, like to see them in the conditions they are in within zoos. Aquariums are the same way. I feel that it is taking away potential from the species to continue on. Endangered animals are a bit different. I still don't believe they should live in captivity, but they should have reserved areas that are full-size simulations of their real native environment. This again gets into overpopulation and need for a major disaster, see previous post if you haven't already. The last time I was at the zoo actually proved this to me. I was in the gorilla exhibit and I looked into the eyes of the gorilla and I knew that it was sad. It was a depressing experience. I hadn't felt that bad for quite a long time as I did when I looked into that gorilla's eyes.
People are to fixed upon humans. We see humans in everything. We personify animals all the time. Look at any cartoon for kids. Most of the characters are animals. We see faces in everything. The moon, potato chips, trees, everything.
Religion is the same too. Religions are based on the assumption that humans are the most important creatures next to god. We are also the only intelligent life in the universe. Religion is the belief that god made us special.
People are too caught up in believing that we are everything. We couldn't survive without other organisms. Why can't we live like it? Why can't we let other things thrive just as we try ourselves? Well that will be all for this rant, I suppose.
Showing posts with label animal rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animal rights. Show all posts
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Morals
After having a conversation with a friend on morals I have decided to post about it. This isn't normally a very controversial topic because most people don't have problems following morals and believing, at least mostly, in them. I am here to refute that.
The conversation began with the discussion of normality. What is normal? My belief, there is no normal. Everything and everyone is different, otherwise we wouldn't still be around. Variability is key to a species' survival. I don't belief there is any thing that we refer to as normal. It is just a figment of some people's, in fact most people's, minds. We all want to be liked and the general society has yet to understand there isn't normal. Anyway, the conversation continued with her asking about mental instability and abnormality and whether these people are actually abnormal. No I said they can't be abnormal if there is no normal. There is no Yin without Yang or light without dark. I also said that the reason we put them away is because they are a threat to themselves or others. I personally don't believe it is right because they have just as much right to do what they want as anyone else. Then she responded, except kill people. And this is where the real controversial things come in.
My response:"Well it is a right everyone has. With our current moral code we see killing as taking away others' rights. If people weren't so caught up on morals then everyone has every right without worry about the rights of others. Unfortunately this leads to chaos and anarchy which we are told is bad. I have come to the realization that I don't understand morals and never will. I go along with them just as others do. I can't say whether something is right or wrong without presenting a piece of each side."
I know these are more radical ideas than some people are comfortable with. Therefore I wish to explain them before others get too riled up.
I personally believe there is little wrong with killing. In fact, very few things are so horrible to me that I cringe at the thought. Rape, incest, murder, torture, manslaughter, assassination, cannibalism, extortion, prostitution. All these things are just words used to describe filthy activities that people are not to do because they are taboo. I really don't see the big deal. Most of them can be done for better or for worse. It is all dependent upon the situation at hand.
I wish to focus more on killing and murder than the others, but here are some ways that some of them can be both bad and good. Torture is bad because it can be traumatic to the victim and seriously injure them. However, it can also be used to extract information from individuals who wish not to talk. Assassination is a high profile murder done most often with very few people being aware at first. These can be good for getting rid of leaders of hostile groups or countries. But it could also be used to get rid of ordinary people who have done nothing wrong. Cannibalism is one thing that I personally never understood. Why is it so wrong? If you have nothing to eat but your friend's dead corpse, wouldn't you? It's just meat. There is not "soul" anymore. There are no longer any bodily functions being performed so how is it wrong? Morals are the only explanation. Prostitution can be a person's only way of getting revenue. It isn't the optimal way to go, but some people have little choice.
Killing is done all the time in war-ridden countries. It's done in all countries as a matter of fact. It is simply a way of life now. Killing has been done for many reasons through the history of humankind. Food, territory, entertainment are the three main reasons. Almost any taking of one life by another can be classified under these three categories. These are not restricted to human victim and human predator. I can also be human-animal, animal-animal, or animal-human. I make this distinction for others. One other belief I have is that animals and humans are one in the same. I believe animals have just as much right as humans do to live. I personally don't distinguish between the two usually, but I will in this post for the reader's sake. And in this case there is one huge difference between the two. Humans are the only species of animal to kill for fun...
We don't think twice when an animal kills another animal or when a human kills an animal. But when a human kills another human, we go on a man hunt to find him. This also happens when an animal kills a human. As soon as an animal touches a human the wrong way, it's to sleep with him. We put so much value on the human life. It is simply part of our nature. And yet, we kill people because they kill people. Are we not just as bad as them?
A man kills another man so that first man must be killed by the rest of us... What? How does that even make sense? I'm not trying to say that he should live. I am simply questioning, why do we have these morals if we have to bend them to keep the peace anyway?
Animals I think are the ones that have it right. They kill to eat and when something threatens them. We have added that one other ugly category, entertainment. Ancient Romans had the coliseum where men went to kill other men for the society's amusement. Nowadays, we have serial killers who kill just for their own sadistic pleasures. And look at some rich people, they go hunting for animals in a place that is enclosed so the animal can't escape. Tell me that is fair. These animals are essentially living just to die. I guess that is basically what all industrial farms are though. Mass amounts of animals born and raised just to die. What kind of society are we?
Could you imagine being born and knowing that you will just die in a few weeks anyway? You are kept in a small hole overcrowded with hundreds of your brothers and sisters. So much so that you can't even see the ground. You stand in your feces and other bodily wastes. All you can do is eat and you are always hungry. And you live there for a few weeks and then get your head severed from your body. What kind of existence is that?
What if that is just our life? God is our owner and he is just holing us up until he wants to take us. I don't know where that religious philosophy came from but back to the real story.
Anyway, killing is just another part of life. I think Josef Stalin was correct in saying,"One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is just a statistic." This is one of the most true statements I've ever heard. People cry for one person dying that they know. However, hearing that millions of people died in each of the World Wars, no one can fathom that. I guarantee you that you don't even know 10, 000 people. Now multiply that by 100 and you get 1 million. Now try to imagine that many people dying. Now do that 20 times over and you almost get how many Russians died in WWII. That doesn't account for any other country or any other war. That is what Stalin meant by his quote.
I have gone off of so many tangents that I myself have lost track of what I was writing. But that is the truth of my mind. I never know where it is going or what it may lead to. I will try to figure out what I wanted to say...
Morals... I guess I can stop there I think I have covered enough material for one day. Comment as you will. I will be back with more controversy at some point I'm sure.
The conversation began with the discussion of normality. What is normal? My belief, there is no normal. Everything and everyone is different, otherwise we wouldn't still be around. Variability is key to a species' survival. I don't belief there is any thing that we refer to as normal. It is just a figment of some people's, in fact most people's, minds. We all want to be liked and the general society has yet to understand there isn't normal. Anyway, the conversation continued with her asking about mental instability and abnormality and whether these people are actually abnormal. No I said they can't be abnormal if there is no normal. There is no Yin without Yang or light without dark. I also said that the reason we put them away is because they are a threat to themselves or others. I personally don't believe it is right because they have just as much right to do what they want as anyone else. Then she responded, except kill people. And this is where the real controversial things come in.
My response:"Well it is a right everyone has. With our current moral code we see killing as taking away others' rights. If people weren't so caught up on morals then everyone has every right without worry about the rights of others. Unfortunately this leads to chaos and anarchy which we are told is bad. I have come to the realization that I don't understand morals and never will. I go along with them just as others do. I can't say whether something is right or wrong without presenting a piece of each side."
I know these are more radical ideas than some people are comfortable with. Therefore I wish to explain them before others get too riled up.
I personally believe there is little wrong with killing. In fact, very few things are so horrible to me that I cringe at the thought. Rape, incest, murder, torture, manslaughter, assassination, cannibalism, extortion, prostitution. All these things are just words used to describe filthy activities that people are not to do because they are taboo. I really don't see the big deal. Most of them can be done for better or for worse. It is all dependent upon the situation at hand.
I wish to focus more on killing and murder than the others, but here are some ways that some of them can be both bad and good. Torture is bad because it can be traumatic to the victim and seriously injure them. However, it can also be used to extract information from individuals who wish not to talk. Assassination is a high profile murder done most often with very few people being aware at first. These can be good for getting rid of leaders of hostile groups or countries. But it could also be used to get rid of ordinary people who have done nothing wrong. Cannibalism is one thing that I personally never understood. Why is it so wrong? If you have nothing to eat but your friend's dead corpse, wouldn't you? It's just meat. There is not "soul" anymore. There are no longer any bodily functions being performed so how is it wrong? Morals are the only explanation. Prostitution can be a person's only way of getting revenue. It isn't the optimal way to go, but some people have little choice.
Killing is done all the time in war-ridden countries. It's done in all countries as a matter of fact. It is simply a way of life now. Killing has been done for many reasons through the history of humankind. Food, territory, entertainment are the three main reasons. Almost any taking of one life by another can be classified under these three categories. These are not restricted to human victim and human predator. I can also be human-animal, animal-animal, or animal-human. I make this distinction for others. One other belief I have is that animals and humans are one in the same. I believe animals have just as much right as humans do to live. I personally don't distinguish between the two usually, but I will in this post for the reader's sake. And in this case there is one huge difference between the two. Humans are the only species of animal to kill for fun...
We don't think twice when an animal kills another animal or when a human kills an animal. But when a human kills another human, we go on a man hunt to find him. This also happens when an animal kills a human. As soon as an animal touches a human the wrong way, it's to sleep with him. We put so much value on the human life. It is simply part of our nature. And yet, we kill people because they kill people. Are we not just as bad as them?
A man kills another man so that first man must be killed by the rest of us... What? How does that even make sense? I'm not trying to say that he should live. I am simply questioning, why do we have these morals if we have to bend them to keep the peace anyway?
Animals I think are the ones that have it right. They kill to eat and when something threatens them. We have added that one other ugly category, entertainment. Ancient Romans had the coliseum where men went to kill other men for the society's amusement. Nowadays, we have serial killers who kill just for their own sadistic pleasures. And look at some rich people, they go hunting for animals in a place that is enclosed so the animal can't escape. Tell me that is fair. These animals are essentially living just to die. I guess that is basically what all industrial farms are though. Mass amounts of animals born and raised just to die. What kind of society are we?
Could you imagine being born and knowing that you will just die in a few weeks anyway? You are kept in a small hole overcrowded with hundreds of your brothers and sisters. So much so that you can't even see the ground. You stand in your feces and other bodily wastes. All you can do is eat and you are always hungry. And you live there for a few weeks and then get your head severed from your body. What kind of existence is that?
What if that is just our life? God is our owner and he is just holing us up until he wants to take us. I don't know where that religious philosophy came from but back to the real story.
Anyway, killing is just another part of life. I think Josef Stalin was correct in saying,"One death is a tragedy. A million deaths is just a statistic." This is one of the most true statements I've ever heard. People cry for one person dying that they know. However, hearing that millions of people died in each of the World Wars, no one can fathom that. I guarantee you that you don't even know 10, 000 people. Now multiply that by 100 and you get 1 million. Now try to imagine that many people dying. Now do that 20 times over and you almost get how many Russians died in WWII. That doesn't account for any other country or any other war. That is what Stalin meant by his quote.
I have gone off of so many tangents that I myself have lost track of what I was writing. But that is the truth of my mind. I never know where it is going or what it may lead to. I will try to figure out what I wanted to say...
Morals... I guess I can stop there I think I have covered enough material for one day. Comment as you will. I will be back with more controversy at some point I'm sure.
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