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Originally Posted by Lestat But that tiger, as a species, now depends in a large measure on humans for its survival. So in the confrontation between specieses it clearly lost out.
And in this hypothetical confrontation between man and tiger you deny man the use of its inherent advantages (being a social, highly intelligent, tool-using species) while the tiger can use its inherent advantages (physical prowess & size). Man will gang up on the tiger and use weapons or other tools (nets) to defeat it. That is what man is.
And we have tools that can make us go faster than either bird or fish or cat or dog. And tool using is part of what we are as a species.
Just as it is for certain other specieses, like a type of finch that uses a little stick to get insect out of bark: instead of developing a longer finer beak it has developed the use of a tool. Both options are inherent qualities of a species, even if one is not a physical characteristic. |
The tiger is now dependant on humans for survival because humans destroyed their natural habitat, killed off their food supply and were hunting them for profit.
You seem to view humans as being superior, at least from what I have gathered, and not just you alone for these reasons:
1. The ability to create new things.
2. The ability to adapt and survive in varying environments.
3. The ability to conquer new terrain and hold it.
4. The ability to subjegate and dominate or kill off anything that isn't wanted or is a threat.
I'll grant you that humans are intelligent, and create things they want, or tools to make their life easier. They can learn to kill just about anything, and are good at it. However, I do not see how this makes them superior overall. They may be damn good at those things, possibly even the best there is out of every other species.
However...in order to make me believe a species is better than all of the rest, I'm going to look into things other than sheer accomplishments. I can build stuff, and I can move and adapt, and I can wander down my street, break into people's houses, kill the occupents and take their stuff. Would that, in your eyes, make me superior to the people I kill?
@ Chim, Thanks, it's a clip from the song "Cooking Wine" by Alkaline Trio.
And yeah, people are ridiculously stupid.
@ Fiona, I think the big thing is my view of "superiority" has truly nothing to do with the ability to dominate or kill off other species, or to simply survive. It is based on the actions overall of a species in regards to those around it. I find humans to be sadly, horribly lacking in that aspect compared to nearly every other species I can think of. They are greedy, selfish, horribly destructive and don't give a damn about anything but themselves as a species overall.