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Are humans more important than animals?

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@Vexx:Sounds like you have issues. Or are just "emo". Or just a teenager...I can't tell. :T

 

No, I'm not judging you..I'm judging your comment. Which is a story I've heard countless times before by other animal lovers..or should I say human haters..<_<

 

Take it from me..someone with anxiety disorder (amongst other things)...I literally have to take some pills to let loose and have fun.

 

But in the end, I'm having fun and being happy.

 

Not being - pardon the term - butthurt at the entire human race.

 

I've been teased in the past nearly to the brink of suicide...but I'm not b****ing at the human race like you do. I was miserable and antisocial but it was NOT an animal that brought be out of that...but human beings..(eventual) friends...family etc...

 

And animals do judge...just not in the same ways as humans.

 

They judge you by smell...and such.

 

And there are animals that may want to maul you :/

 

and animals tend to well..not care about you....Coming from a dog owner...my dog is cute and lovable...but he cares more about getting is morning treat than giving anyone a "doggy good morning."..no tail wag..just a 'take me out to poop, darnit" look XD

 

and my dog cares more about strangers than me or my family too...

 

But maybe my dog's just strange? I dunno...

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@TMockingbird- Naw, I'm just comparing the human race as a whole compared to animals as a whole.

As a whole, humans are judgmental, hateful, selfish, spiteful jerks. Whether they know you or not. There are a few out there who aren't, but that wouldn't fit the 'as a whole' idea.

As a whole, animals don't care, yes. That means they'll be minding their own damn business and not be all up in mine. :B If they maul you or something, it's usually because you did something wrong and got too close or whatever.

 

...and no one answered my question- what good do we do for this planet besides helping repair what we caused in the first place? :I

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Think I'll throw in my...well, I guess I am not going to put a value on my opinion. You decide what its worth.

 

Animals were definitely here long before us and will be here after the last person draws their last breath. Heck, we are animals. People tend to put themselves on such a high pedestal that they forget that simple fact. That we've evolved and changed and have every characteristic which defines what an animal is. We are not gods, people.

 

What we are is creatures who can actually interpret the world in a deeper sense than most animals. We chose brains over being fast or poisonous or big. Animals themselves, while many of them have some pretty outstanding intelligence, none of them comes anywhere close to us.

 

Now to my big point here: there are so many creatures whose unique talents benefit us. Heck, where do you think we get many of our ideas? From the creepy crawly to the feathered to the finned and gilled we learn things from them. We study them and learn to better ourselves. And then there are the animals who benefit us directly. Dogs use their killer noses to track down perps and victims alike. Crickets can tell us how cool it is simply by their songs. There are so many other great examples, but I am getting a bit too tired to continue thinking them all up.

 

Point being these animals use their talents for us, why can't we use our talents FOR them for a change? It's selfish and nasty to just consider people in the equation of our world. Even if you're really religious, you should know that God put us in charge of looking out for the well-beings of his creations, not mindlessly destroying them as we have done for a few centuries now.

 

I think there is definitely a balance of importance. No, as a whole, humans are not the more important, but rather a single part of this world. One which often decides the fate of several million species. We are going through a mass extinction caused much by us and no I am not even going to poke the topic of global warming with a ten foot pole.

 

The topic I am going to poke? The creatures we have never been allowed to see because they were dead before we even knew their names. The ones soon to be killed off. Mostly poacher kills. Tasmanian Tigers, hunted to extinction before we even knew much of them. There was just a rare species of porpoise declared officially extinct. And now word has it the last wild tiger will be dead in 12 years.

 

I understand what our world is like in other parts of the globe for people. But honestly? Many of them are living how we were living centuries ago. Yes it is brutal to watch, but I think we're getting closer to carrying capacity; so no matter how many people band together to save those in poverty, I don't really truly believe we can save them. Not all of them.

 

This is all very big questions, very cloudy stuff. What is the value of life? What is the value of human life? Is it really worth more than a tiger's or are we just placing ourselves above them because we can hear other humankind's pain? What would that tiger say to you if he could speak? Would you treat him better if he had a bigger brain or would you still say since humans look like you, they remain more important?

 

You know, years ago, this same question was being faced within our own species. Were blacks inferior? I always said Hell no. I would have done anything to prove Black people were no different than whites. I suppose I'm going to be the advocate for animals, who are in a very similar bind and can't do all the protesting.

 

 

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But you can't hanky panky with an animal...Or party with an animal..(though you can party /like/ an animal)...Or go to the clubs..or a bar...or even a museum with an animal....

 

As a human being, I'm looking for companionship with things I can talk to first and foremost. Animals are secondary.

 

Or if you do? you have serious problems, kay?

I would like to say that, first and foremost, this post actualy came off as *horrificaly* offensive. You've essentialy just said that all people who don't agree with you must be defective.

 

To reply to the actual content - I'm aspie. Broadly speaking I hate people. I dislike spending time with large groups of them, I can't understand half of the stuff the expect of me (and they *always* expect *something* of me!), and I find them tireing in the extreme to have to be around.

 

Animals, on the other hand, I have always describes as 'bandaids for the soul'. Spending time with an animal has always made me feel about 1000% better. As far as I am concerned the companionship of an animal sif infinitely preferable to that of a human.

 

And, yes, if I could choose to do so I would completely check out of society and 'go live in the woods somewhere'. Sadly, in England, that's a complete impossibility unless you have an awful lot of money because land here is so expensive (due - as it happens - to overpopulation and there being too many goddamned humans in this country).

 

To summarise - in my persoanl experience the human race has done nothing that, for me, warrants making an effort to save them over saving animals, who are in situations not of the making of their species and who are not capable of doing anything about it themselves either.

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People belittle human achievement because it's the fashionable thing to do.

 

Anyone who does so needs a reality check.

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I would definitely (spelling?) give most of my money to animals instead of humans. Animals are helpless against what humans are doing to the environment. If we give our money to animals, they will get help that keeps them from dieing, and if we give our money to other humans, the population will just keep growing and all the animals will be overwhelmed and die. It will probably be after all the animals die that humans will realize what they are doing and then try to clone all the animals back into existence. Of course, people are realizing what they are doing to the environment right now, and doing stuff to help, I guess.

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Depends, I guess. I don't really like donating to causes because so many of them don't even give that much to the actual cause and I would more likely give to individuals or individual businesses that I know have a good reputation with how they use donation funds. I don't really have money to give anywhere though, as I can't even feed myself without help.

 

And selfish as it sounds me>random unknown creature, because I know I exist, but the other thing out there might be a scam.

 

Local animal shelters: yes.

Large causes: no.

Cash for the homeless: heck no.

Food and clothing for them: yes.

Edited by dragon_mando

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I'd probably donate $750 to animals and $250 to humans, or something like that. There's just too many humans, but I don't want people to suffer. Having less kids and adopting more kids would probably help a lot.

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...and no one answered my question- what good do we do for this planet besides helping repair what we caused in the first place? :I

Well, considering how long humans have been around in the entirety of the Earth's history, it's arguable that our existence is too short to really do much, for better or worse.

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To me, it don't matter if us humans are overpopulated or not. I will always value the life of a human over the life of an animal. The thought that there are people in some countries that are so hungry it pains them and people who have to endure awful sicknesses because they don't have proper medical care... Just makes me sick to think about.

 

Sure, it's our fault we're overpopulated. I think people need to slow down with the family-building and stop using reproduction as an argument against gays. xd.png But that doesn't mean I can easily ignore charities that can help people in pain. I've convinced my family to donate to several charities out there, every little bit does count.

 

Not that I've totally ignored animal charities though. I have donated a little towards charities for endangered species. It's survival of the fittest, but we humans are definitely known to be stupid sometimes with overhunting and whatnot. So I certainly can't turn a blind eye to the animals, they just aren't "more important than humans", I would say.

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I would donate to charities for humans over charities for animals any day, any time. And I do, when I can. If nothing else, I figure there are more than enough people who wish to take care of the animals to balance out my desire to take care of the people.

 

I am particularly fond of the small charities like Caring Voice Coalition that aren't in the spotlight but provide services that profoundly affect the lives of a small section of people. This one in particular helps pay for medication for people with Huntington's Chorea and sometimes other permanent, life-altering disorders.

 

I also have profound respect for what Doctors Without Boarders do.

 

So...yeah, I'd donate to charities for humans long before I'd donate to charities for animals.

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i think the biggest difference is self-conscious-ness.

 

animals do whatever is needed to survive.

 

humans dont need to do what it takes to survive. if we run out of food, we dont starve and die in a gutter like animals. we get fed from the soup kitchen/government.

 

since we have so much extra energy to do as we like instead of fight to survive, we have advanced greatly, and have developed things such as self-conscious-ness, boredom, party, love, etc.

 

what with all this towards keeping people alive, i think people have far over populated the planet, have no natural predators to keep the population in check, and we impact the lives of other animals far more than we should. id rather donate in favor to animals than people.

 

the majority of us have it easy. the majority of animals dont.

 

 

animals and nature live beautifully together, but when you add in humans, we are above the power of nature, and can basically do as we wish with what is on our planet. that kind of power and control, IMHO, seems too much for humans to keep in control.

Edited by lizardtail

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i think the biggest difference is self-conscious-ness.

 

animals do whatever is needed to survive.

 

humans dont need to do what it takes to survive. if we run out of food, we dont starve and die in a gutter like animals. we get fed from the soup kitchen/government.

 

since we have so much extra energy to do as we like instead of fight to survive, we have advanced greatly, and have developed things such as self-conscious-ness, boredom, party, love, etc.

 

what with all this towards keeping people alive, i think people have far over populated the planet, have no natural predators to keep the population in check, and we impact the lives of other animals far more than we should. id rather donate in favor to animals than people.

 

the majority of us have it easy. the majority of animals dont.

Do you really think the majority of us "have it easy"? You might want to review some statistics.

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Do you really think the majority of us "have it easy"? You might want to review some statistics.

if not the majority, then enough of us to wreak havoc. :/

 

again, if not the majority, then think of it this way:

 

if you ran out of food, if something terrible happened to you or your family, we have hospitals to keep you plugged in, and welfare.

 

if an animal ran out of food/had a stroke/has cancer etc, humans are the only creatures that can help it. we have surgeons and vets, but only if the animal is found. if a human doesnt show up for work for a few days, someone is going to go check if theyre alright. with animals, the weak one is nothing more than another meal.

 

what im saying, is humans have it easier to stay alive than animals, not that humans lives are easier in general.

 

thats why im saying we have all that extra time left over (that isnt spent on staying alive) to go and do as we wish. (which isnt always all that good, though there are plenty of people out there that do good.)

Edited by lizardtail

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Absolutely not. There is divinity in everything, everything plays a part in this world, and to lose one species, would take a heavy toll on the Earth.

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if not the majority, then enough of us to wreak havoc. :/

 

again, if not the majority, then think of it this way:

 

if you ran out of food, if something terrible happened to you or your family, we have hospitals to keep you plugged in, and welfare.

 

if an animal ran out of food/had a stroke/has cancer etc, humans are the only creatures that can help it. we have surgeons and vets, but only if the animal is found. if a human doesnt show up for work for a few days, someone is going to go check if theyre alright. with animals, the weak one is nothing more than another meal.

 

what im saying, is humans have it easier to stay alive than animals, not that humans lives are easier in general.

 

thats why im saying we have all that extra time left over (that isnt spent on staying alive) to go and do as we wish. (which isnt always all that good, though there are plenty of people out there that do good.)

Yes. I would have a hospital to keep me plugged in. Because I live in a, believe it or not, very small minority of the world that is priveleged enough to do so.

 

In fact, I would say the majority do NOT have an easy time staying alive. Believe it or not there are many people out there who have virutally none of that "extra time left over to go and do as we wish." The world is mostly not a first-world country.

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if you ran out of food, if something terrible happened to you or your family, we have hospitals to keep you plugged in, and welfare.

What about the people in countries that don't have much in the way of hospitals or welfare? Where kids starve in the streets? Yeah, they really do starve to death. Most people who have the luxury of Internet and time to kill posting on a forum for a sprite collecting game aren't in danger of starvation or freezing, but that hardly means all humans everywhere can just count on hospitals and welfare to rescue them.

 

Humans, by nature, take a very long time to mature compared to other critters. We can't feed ourselves right after we are born like the vast majority of animals and it takes a long time for us to learn the skills needed to survive. For humans to survive, we need to take care of each other. There isn't a lot animals need us for--they need us to be good stewards of the land and to be wise alpha-predators (mostly...polar bears are the alpha in their area). They need us to not be stupid. Otherwise, our energy is needed by us to help us, and we need it more then they do. Animals are not helpless, and humans are not by nature cruel. We just pay too much attention to our own evil without remembering how very kind we are.

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It is important to remember that you can't rule out the importance of animals to humans' welfare. For example, in Ethiopia many families' most valuable possession is their donkey, which they use to haul garbage for money, plow fields, etc-- without donkeys, they cannot do these things and will generally starve to death. So in that case, a charity which deals with animal vaccination and/or educating people about veterinary first aid is really doing a great deal towards helping the humans' welfare.

 

Human/animal relationships are really too complex to say which is "better" to help... in many cases the two are facets of the same thing.

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I would either divide it evenly or give it all to the charity that receives less from other sources. I wouldn't value humans more than animals, as we ARE animals. We just have advanced further than the other species. I would help either one.

Edited by DragonRider13

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Absolutely not. There is divinity in everything, everything plays a part in this world, and to lose one species, would take a heavy toll on the Earth.

Believe it or not, extinction is actually natural. Most of the species that have walked, crawled, swam and flew on earth are extinct now. It's has been estimated by experts that out of all species 99.9% have gone extinct. Natural disasters, shifting environmental climates and different species fighting over the same niche are the main factors I think.

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It's true. The Earth is over populated by us. And we're killing off hundreds of species just so we have room to exist. Every animal is vital to the ecosystem it calls home. When explorers killed off the wolves in Yellowstone, the elk, buffalo, and deer populations shot up. They started eating the plants and trees that attracted other necessary species. Nature was thrown out of balance.

 

It is important that we do what we can to preserve what balance is left on earth, and maybe do something about our ever growing population.

But I think that girl is maybe just a little crazy. ಠ_ಠ

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Personally, I guess I care about both... it makes me sad to think of people in poverty and living under injustice and whatnot... it also gets to me sometimes to think of entrie species of creature dieing out. I do believe that they are important too, we humans may be the dominant species on the earth, but that doesn't mean that we don't have a responsibilty to take care of what is here.

 

There in lies the problem, sadly..., the poverty of the local people is often a HUGE obstacle to any kind of conservation efforts... people may turn to poaching endagered species to feed their families and whatnot... truth is its actually very complicated, seems to me.

Edited by LeopardDragon

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Well, it depends on your point of view. Personally I think humans are above animals because we have the ability to reason and discover new things - although I think humans are inferior to animals in that we are stuck on the ground and cannot survive a very wide range of temperature or air pressure, ect. ect.

I could go on, but I think I'l stop there.

Edited by digipup

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Believe it or not, extinction is actually natural. Most of the species that have walked, crawled, swam and flew on earth are extinct now. It's has been estimated by experts that out of all species 99.9% have gone extinct. Natural disasters, shifting environmental climates and different species fighting over the same niche are the main factors I think.

But that cannot go without saying, when one species died, so did another, and another, etc. It still takes a heavy toll on the Earth, and while it may not be permanent, we wouldn't live long enough to see the recovery.

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