What makes a human life more important than a plant or an animal life?

Wescli Wardest wrote: I want to thank Kemo for starting this topic.

This is one that I feel is very important for people to take a long hard look at and consider. Especially Jedi...

dont mention it, glad i could help

I got to admit though, i usually never get more than 10 replies on my topics, but 40 and counting wow :laugh:

Williamkaede wrote: In other news, the pubic louse might be making an appearance on the Australian endangered species list. There hasn't been a recorded case in New South Wales since 2008. It seems the proclivity to grooming might be wiping the species out.

Haha.

I wonder how many of us are thinking of pretty flowers, tall trees, peaceful meadows, furry cats and smart monkeys when comparing them to humans?

Why not have the pubic lice, the HIV virus, or the bed bug in the forefront of this discussion? Are we really interdependent on the HIV virus or the pubic lice, or the bed bug?

I call that focused partiality...

lol Good point.

I guess as a human I'm not partial to species that could do me harm. But I do believe we all have a right to life. And maybe they are more important than a human. I know HIV, bed bugs, lice, and cockroaches have all gotten more attention, airtime, books written, and complaints than I ever could dream of getting. They make a bigger impact than I do so they could be considered more important.:side: :blink:

I guess I missed the point I was trying to make. I may not particularly like coach roaches, lice or even HIV but each one of these things has its place in the world and who are we to think we are better than anything else. Think lion king circle of life type idea.

Now that being said I still scream like a little girl and run away begging my husband to kill that little bitty spider that dropped out of no where....

MTFBWY

As i understand diseases are nature's way of controlling overpopulation, so yes - virae, bacteria, fungi, all these germs that cause diseases to one or the other species, may be considered very valuable to the overall eco-system of the planet.
Did you know that the Animal that killed more than half of earth's human population throughout history was the mosquito? Death is a Part of life, and we all depend on it.
And so, we depend on almost all the living things around us. If a species becomes extinct, the whole eco-system loses an important part of itself, and the overall diversity of life diminishes.

Of course it's arguable whether it's not in our best interest to wipe out certain species - and yes, i think, sometimes it makes sense. I have heard about scientists who are willingly trying to exterminate a certain strain of mosquitos. They set a related kind of mosquito free insinde the habitat of the ones they want to exterminate - the result of the cross-breeding is that the new mosquitos are unable to carry malaria, Because they are infused with a dominant gene that stops them from being able to do so.

All life is precious.




I think Joe said it very well in his first reply to this topic.
Click to read Joe's reply

Honestly I don't believe humans are more valuable than animals. In fact we are animals just with more intelligence. Does our intelligence make us better than somebody else? People who believe themselves intelligent often treat a stupid person as if they are a lesser being. Most humans act the same way with animals. I think that it is a sign of low intelligence if one were to under appreciate a fellow human being or animal just because of their intelligence. Intelligence is not everything. An intelligent person can be a cold and cruel human being while a "stupid" person may be the sweetest and loveliest human being ever. I apply the same logic with all species of the living world, be it plant, animal or otherwise. If it were not for those "stupid" or "less valuable" animals then the whole ecological order would collapse and humans would realize just how important they were despite their "stupidity". They may not be intelligent the way humans are but they are very intelligent in their own way. It only takes to observe the animal kingdom to realize this. So, no, I do not believe that either are more valuable than the other. We all play our parts in this strange thing called Life;-)

quotes off yahoo answers

There is a reason however, why humans do value their co-specimen's lives more than others. That is because we are a species after all and although we became more powerful than quite a few others, there is still a natural competition going on. It is not about eliminating other lives, but it is the struggle to survive that keeps anything alive at all. And that we might give more of a dang about a human's life than about a pigeon's is but an example of how we as a species are part of the nature we share with them.

I do not believe it is more important. We stick around those that are like us. have our interests, beliefs, etc. Which is why we are more likely to eat other animals and plants than our own. It's just like business really, you destroy the competition first, not your partner.
But just because something is "the competition" or another type of life-form doesn't mean they are less important... They're simply less your friend.

humans are the pain in the ass of the planet !

Once more I'll quote Frank Zappa :
In the beginning God made 'the light.' Shortly thereafter God made three big
mistakes. The first mistake was called MAN, the second mistake was called
WO-MAN, and the third mistake was the invention of THE POODLE. Now the reason
the poodle was such a big mistake is because God originally wanted to build a
Schnauzer, but he fucked up.