Equality in Existence

Do you think humans are superior in some way to animals and other life forms? Or are all living beings equal? It's something that I've always thought about, are humans being egotistical thinking God or the Universe cares about them more than the rest of the world, maybe even that the universe was created for us. Or even that we have a higher spiritual development.

I tend to think the rest of life is made of spirit just like I am, so although we humans have the ability to think with symbols, we have nothing that makes us better. In some ways, we might be "devolved" so to speak, because our intellect allows for deceit, hate, all kinds of horrible acts and wars that go far beyond any survival instinct.

That said, I still believe in the equality of all things in existence. Humans have their shortcomings, but so does everything. A snail sure isn't as smart as us, even if it is true that he can't commit genocide.

 

I've often asked myself the same question, and though I have no rational explanation to support my theory, I just feel that every living creature has a spirit, and therefore we are all equals.
We've been taught that only humans have souls and that if we consider that an animal or a plant has a spirit, we are just anthropomorphizing. But for some reason I still believe that every creature has a spirit.

 

I skipped the poll because it was restrictive. We are equal to some, superior in intellect to others, but some are far superior to us in physical attributes and perhaps intellect.

A dolphin can outswim a human, outcommunicate a human, but it has limbs suited to underwater life and it cannot drive an automobile. Why? It doesn't need to.

A chimpanzee, for it's size, is superior to a human in strength and agility, has an opposible thumb and it has been known to wage an organized war against it's own kind to gain territory. But it could not operate a telephone. Why? Lacking intellect? Not neccessarily, it just doesn't need to.

I believe that this is a subject that is open for debate but lacks sufficient parameters to be labeled so simply. Or maybe I just don't need to justify my theory to anyone.

Who knows?

EDIT: PS- I really need an ice cream sandwich.

 

Zoomie, I don't mean in things like that. I mean, like, in the bible it says man has dominion over the animals, and many people seem to think humans are "better" than animals. I wanted to hear the opinions of the people on this forum. I guess I meant it more spiritually than who can run the fastest. I should have been clearer, I suppose, but I thought this being in the religion section and my comments about God and spirit might have made it obvious.

 

I see.

That being the case, and my being a heathen, I'll elect not to participate further.

PS - Still seeking that ice cream sandwich...

 

It's sort of half and half.

Humans have superior abilities: Great intellect, adaptability, et cetera.

However, just because humans happen to dominate the planet and have these superior abilities, does not mean that they have superior right; they are equal to all other sentient beings, in that respect.

 

i think humans are superior in that we have the ability to love and philosphize. but if there isnt a god then we arent superior and were just crazy. but i think its obvious that since no one knows quite why were here, nothing can be superior to anything else.

 

My girlfriend and I had 2 pet rats, a white one named Baby and a black white mix named Nefertiti. Baby would always hang out in your lap, want to be petted, lay next to you, etc. Nefertiti was wild, would run around the apartment, didn't like to sit in you lap or be held.

About 2 months ago Baby died (had asthma, pretty common with rats). I walked into the apartment and saw Baby's corpse on the couch. I wrapped baby in a plastic bag and froze her so my girlfriend could bury her when she got back from her trip.
I came back to the couch, sat down and watched tv for about a half hour. I was tired and decided to take a nap.
When I sleep, I put my hand underneath the pillow that my head is on, and the pillow was just sitting at the end of the couch. I reached my hand under the pillow and felt nefertiti sitting there. Nefertiti didn't move. Nefertiti usually runs away within seconds of getting touched.

Nefertiti sat there after I moved the pillow and let me pet her for about 10 minutes. She didn't move, was really still. I put the pillow back over her so she could mourn baby's death.

Nefertiti has been different ever since baby died. For a couple of days, nefertiti would just lay out in the open on blankets instead of burrowing in them or hiding like rats usually do when they are resting. She would stay there with her eyes blinking, staring off into space.

She runs up to you now and wants to be petted, not too much, but she will stop by and sit in your lap for 30 seconds, just to visit, which she never did before baby died.

We got a new rat for her (nefertiti) to play with (Indy, short for Indiana because it is an adventurer). The new rat was really young when we brought it to nefertiti, and was pretty shy. Nefertiti stayed with it (layed with it) for about 3 days, taking care of it, hanging out with it to show it the ropes, until it learned to leave the cage and explore.
Nefertiti plays with indy now, but her personality has totally changed ever since the day baby died. She is a lot calmer and cares more about the beings around her now that she has lost someone she took for granted.

 

Kharakov,


This is a beautiful story, thank you.

http://mysite.verizon.net/natdat2/

Peace,

David
23

 

BTM,


I did not vote (yet) because I wished that there was a way to effectively parse the meaning of the word "superior" in the poll - too restrictive. I read your answer to this but I'll ask again "what does 'superior' mean" ? Also, see the link that I posted in this thread first. Kharakov's story gets directly at this in a wonderful, clear, sensitive manner.


Peace,

David

 

Kharakov:

I have to second number23. I enjoyed reading that story; thank you. =)

 

Well... the little fuckers got me a couple days ago. I usually let 'em roam the apartment when I go to my girlfriend's mom's house to hang out with the dog (it's by itself for 3 months, both gfriend and mom are in Palermo, Italy at this time).

I come home, and as usually, they run up to me and crawl all over me. One of the things they do when they become comfortable with you is pee on you to mark you as their territory. Unfortunately, they won't give this up. They don't really pee on my gfriend too much, but they pee on my hands and arms (little tiny scent drops) to mark me when they crawl on me. Nefertiti never used to do this, but yesterday she did it to me (which, although gross, is a sign that she is comfortable and likes me... great, ehh?).

So I get home a few days ago, go into the bathroom to wash my face and find everything scattered all over the floor (I put a lot of stuff on this one window ledge). I look for my face soap, it's not on the floor. I'm like, where the hell is my soap? I walk out into the hallway... the rats had dragged the squeeze tube of soap out into the hallway and eaten tons of holes in the squeezy container!!! Those little fuckers!!

lol... So they are on lockdown now, so that they don't do crazy things while I am over here hangin' with the dog. I'll let 'em out when I get home... stupid rodents... I think they deliberately do things to harass me... like I do to my friends... the fuckers...

 

you make rats sound fun

 

the concepts of "superior" or "equal" are man made. This shows that at the root of the matter, beyond our concepts, we simply are, just as the rest of the animal kingdom, going about our acitivites in life. so, truly i thinka that we are neither superior nor equal for these ideas don't REALLY exist - their just ideas. every idea im saying here isn't real, but rather a given experience. but, as humans, one of our characteristics of simply being is using our conceptual abilities. so really we could say we are superior, since we have these conceptual abilities which animals don't, or we could say we are equal because beyond that we simply exist like all other living organisms. it is only us that labels such things as "superior", "inferior" or "equal", and if the animal kingdom in question can't comprehend this, then it doesn't really matter at all. what good is being any of these labels if the animals we are superior or equal to can't percieve themselves as being either. so, i think both answers are true on relative scales, in relative situations, but neither are "truth".

 

the concepts of "superior" or "equal" are man made. This shows that at the root of the matter, beyond our concepts, we simply are, just as the rest of the animal kingdom, going about our acitivites in life. so, truly i thinka that we are neither superior nor equal for these ideas don't REALLY exist - their just ideas. every idea im saying here isn't real, but rather a given experience. but, as humans, one of our characteristics of simply being is using our conceptual abilities. so really we could say we are superior, since we have these conceptual abilities which animals don't, or we could say we are equal because beyond that we simply exist like all other living organisms. it is only us that labels such things as "superior", "inferior" or "equal", and if the animal kingdom in question can't comprehend this, then it doesn't really matter at all. what good is being any of these labels if the animals we are superior or equal to can't percieve themselves as being either. so, i think both answers are true on relative scales, in relative situations, but neither are "truth".

 

If there was an option in the poll that said "neither of these statements is adequate to describe the relationship between humans and the animal kingdom" I would pick it...

 

but theres not so work with what you got

 

I did. I more or less said the poll is completely inadequate.

Pick more or less if you agree with me....

 

I don't think we are superior to other life, when we are talking about life in general. The way I see it is we are all part of the ecosystem, all a part of life. We come and go, live and die, and change just like everything else. Life was here before us and will go on after us. None of us are really important if you look at it that way. We are this tiny little ball of life floating around the universe.

Now, we may be evolutionarly superior, however. The human species is very adaptable. Doen't mean it is more valuable than other species though. Of course, it is all subjective.