🚀 go-pugleaf

On 30 Apr 2004 01:10:19 -0700, apocalypse_zero@hotmail.com (Hostman
Brevis) wrote:

>> >> tapeworm has the same "right" to exist, as the most virtuous human.
>>  
>> >Nopes, don't agree. Worms don't have that right because they are
>> >inferior organisms.
>> 
>> In whose opinion?

>Okay, thay have existed for so long...so they are succesful in that
>aspect. But they aren't aware of themselves and the environment, they
>react on certain stimuli, so without motivation. 

And that makes them inferior? Only in our opinion.

>Just 'being there'.
>We (as a species) are going end I said it too! But higher lifeform
>can't be compared to lower lifeforms period. It's a different quality
>of life.

Different, not necessarily superior. From the point of view of the
global ecology, our species might justifiably be regarded as a plague,
We have driven many species into extinction and converted many green
and growing landscapes into desert. 

>> > Survival of the fittest means that humans are
>> >superior to other organisms. 
>> 
>> Superior in some respects. Not in others. You are bigger, stronger,
>> and possibly more intelligent than an e-coli bacillus. The little
>> bugger can still kill you!
>
>Bad example. I am certain that e-coli can't kill me because of
>penicilline antibiotic. 

You might try telling that to the citizenry of  the town of Walkerton
in Ontario. Seven people there died from e-coli in 2000

>Talking about intelligence compared to a
>e-coli who by definition can't think is a stupid childish remark.

I'd say your conceit about superiority based entirely on intelligence
is equally childish.

>> Survival of the fittest also applies to the rabbit and the Bengal
>> tiger. The latter is on the endangered species list, the former is
>> not. Does that mean a rabbit is superior to a tiger?

>No, afcourse not, but I'm simply extrapolating this view to a 'world
>scale' where humans are involved. I know that you like to be compared
>with worms and bacteria but I just don't.

That's the conceit of man. Theologically this takes the form of the
Genesis account in which man is given custody of all inferior life
forms to manage and bend to his will. In the story of the Deluge, God,
having become ticked at man's behavior and prepared to eliminate him,
was also getting ready to kill off all life on earth. After all, it
was just there to support wonderful man!

What a colossal conceit!  We're a Johnny-come-lately smart-assed ape
that got lucky by evolving three characteristics in rapid sucession. 
Superior to other species? That's OUR egotistical fancy.

>> If you are ever offered polar bear meat to eat, make sure it's well
>> cooked. There's an insignificant little worm found in it that causes
>> trichinosis, and it will kill you, very painfully, simply because it
>> can. 
>
>Bad example. I never eat polar bears. Trichinosis is more common in
>pork meat. Anyway, nowadays we can kill this insignificant worm with
>ease simply because we can.

Got a cure for the AIDS virus handy?

>Remember I'm not saying that worms and bacteria and insects aren't
>going to be there for a long time....I'm saying humans have the
>capacity to gain knowledge about ecosystems and bio-chemical/physical
>nature of life and with the help of that (remember penicilline) we can
>overcome most of things (not all). This rapid  kind of 'enhancement'
>of species, without taking millions of years is something 'unheard of'
>since the existence of the first cells. Whether or not extreme
>adaptation is a bad thing really remains to be seen.

Then whether we are superior or a pestilence remains to be seen!

## Man is creation's masterpiece;  but who says so?-  Man!