Indecipherable wrote:I'm not claiming that being intelligent is the same as being "good". I'm merely saying that this intelligence can be be used for something beneficial. Dolphins are quite close to humans in terms of free will and behaviourism, yes, which may partially explain why they practice the fun things you mentioned, like us.
I'm not scolding humans - we are what we are... we just could have done a tad better.
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Was using "soul" as a metaphor for rational goodwill, but anyway. My fault for not defining it.
What you were saying initially though is that animals have more of a propensity for goodwill than humans do. I don't believe in souls, don't worry, so I know more or less what you meant, hence I used inverted commas.
My response is that animals - no matter how intelligent or stupid - are often cruel. When animals show compassion, we make documentaries and movies about it because it is rare and surprises us. We tend to ignore the nasty things animals do, because we expect them to behave like animals. When humans do cruel, wicked things, we fascinate over it on the news (look at your news headlines and see) because it is shocking and surprising. We rarely focus on the random acts of kindness that we enact every day all over the world.
The other day I saw an article about a monkey showing compassion and looking after another dying monkey. We do this in hospitals around the world every day.
How then can you possibly say that animals are kinder than us? As you say though, we are capable of doing better, and we should. We will improve. That's the amazing thing about humans: we want to do better.
Indy wrote:...
Yep, and just like animals, we haven't escaped natural selection fully. We found a way to counter it artificially though. Yay.
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We caused most of those problems in the first place. And finding creative solutions and actually applying them effectively are two different things.
Natural Selection is the process of generations becoming better suited to live in an environment, by not dying from it. Our intelligence won that game for us. We can now focus on more important things than just 'surviving.'
Yes we created those problems, but we created them on our quest to improve the lives of humans the world over. We started those problems in the industrial era, and there was no way of knowing then the consequences our actions could have.
Finding and applying solutions are different things, but we have not found viable solutions for everything. We've only found some solutions for some things, and we have implemented them: cars are now more fuel efficient, lights and computers use less electricity, and wind farms are being built all around the world.
It is still an ongoing war though, and one day, like natural selection, we will win.
Indy wrote:Right... because the Soviet Union is still in place, all Germans are Nazis, I look like this and own a bear as a pet...
No way!
This is so much better than I imagined!
Vodka is traditionally made from fermentation of potatoes btw, hence I call it potato juice.
Indy wrote:
Should I be ashamed for arguing in my introductory thread? 0_o
Not at all. If anything, I respect you for rationalizing your opinions, and engaging in a debate around them. Also, for taking the time to read what I said, and for writing a reply. You have allowed for an interesting discussion, and I hope you don't think of me as your enemy for disagreeing with your opinions, or for poking fun at your heritage.
We all disagree sometimes, because no human is always right...
What's important is that we don't take disagreements personally, and that we learn from those disagreements.
*gives free hugs*
