thinking about ethics-predation

[nohorn]

OK, humans are predators, we eat and something dies...Since we are the highest primates on the evolutionary scale and most of what we eat is lower on the evolutionary scale then most likely, if life somewhere out in the universe is discovered and comes to the earth, they (it) could therefore view us as food. Therefore, if we are justified in eating those below us, the new found aliens could be justified in eating us. Do you think homo sapiens would b e able to understand that? Yes, my imagination is working overtime but it is what I have been thnking about. I do have trouble understanding/justifying predator prey relationship. And it is a fact of life.

[R1Geezer]

Yes I think most would understand that but they wouldn't like it and would no doubt atempt to avoid being food. I don't think farm animals go to the slaughterhouse willingly and they'd fight it if they could.

[nohorn]

Yes I agree with you (Rl geezer) I have looked into the eyes of many mammals and I see their souls. Some are so beautiful. For some reason I connect with them somuch easier than I do with humans. I then wonder why I am eating them. Life is a bich, aptly stated.

[R1Geezer]

you eat them because, as an omnivore, they are part of your natural diet. Your body has evolved as an expert survial system, you can eat almost anything and go long periods without eating, your teeth and digestion system are set up accordingly. The human race has also evolved intelligence and with that comes baggage and reasoing and some, like yourself regret the eating of animals, some even choose not to, no matter, it's more difficult to get required nutrients but still possible(although vegans must struggle). Don't feel bad, nature accepts death of some as food for others. Remember the proverb, "you should not kill anything unless you intend to eat it".

[mibn2cweus]

"you should not kill anything unless you intend to eat it".

Why am I suddenly reminded of Jeffrey Dahmer?

[jake-the-peg]

You're on a slippery slope here.

You can use this logic to apply not only to food animals but resources.

We need fuel and housing to survive. That means we need resources like oil and timber and minerals.

If those represent "lower" animal habitats then your "life is a bitch" rule kicks in.

That's pretty much how we've operated for most of our time on the planet.

Unfortunately we failed to understand the consequences of that and in some cases it bit us on the bum.

The North American dust bowl springs to mind, but also cane toads in Australia.

THink also about your idea of being highest on the evolutionary scale. You are chosing the values by which that is judged and declaring us the winner. In terms of intelligence that's the case. But in terms of strength, endurance, speed well pretty much any other thing you'd like to name we are pretty low down the scale.

So the idea that it boils down to a preditator/prey relationship with us at the top is a pretty simplistic and, well rather old fashioned notion

[rov1200]

What other animal on the planet kills its own kind for no other reason than dominance?

[carrust]

rov1200. If a new male lion enters a pride, it will drive the existing male off, or kill it. It will then kill all of that males cubs.

[beso]

Chimpanzees are quite murderous too.

[chakka35]

Where did you get the idea of an 'evolutionary scale', nohorn? What does it mean?

[nohorn]

To Chakkra:
Thank you to you others for replying. What I mean by evolutionary scale, is our place in evolution,part of which is that we are high on the food chain. To an alien, they could be viewing us as tasty and vulnerable, and a part of their food chain. Who knows (my imagination, again) their food supplies could be running out, as ours might be someday. Maybe I should put this to rest! And worry about what I can do something about. Like cook my husband's dinner.

[nohorn]

Oh I forgot, the "evolutionary scale" I reference it to the level we have advanced to. So awaiting your reply.

[chakka35]

Ok, so you mean the stage we have reached intellectually. Other animals would have a different scale:

We are not as fast as a cheetah or have as much stamina as a horse; we are not as strong as an elephant; we cannot sound to tremendous depths like a whale; our sense of smell is puny compared to that of a moth or a dog; we cannot fly or navigate like a bird without artificial aids and our sonar systems are laughable compared with that of a bat.

Apart from our brains (which other animals would not rate highly from their own points of view) we're pretty pathetic.

[chakka35]

Back to your original question, nohorn, it is quite impossible to predict anything about the behaviour of aliens because we can have no idea what form they will take.
A dead giveaway in those stories of meeting aliens or being abducted by them is the fact that they are always described as hominids - two legs, a trunk, two arms, a neck and head with two eyes, two ears and a mouth -
which is utterly ludicrous.
The shape of the human being was determined over some 3,500,000,000 years of random mutations, which either died or prospered according to the environment of the time. That any remotely similar shape would have been arrived at on another planet is risibly out of the question.
So we don't know how such creatures would absorb their nutrition. It is presumptuous to assume that they would have mouths and digestive systems like ours.

[rojash]

Well, if I was an alien going on a long journey (say, to Earth) I'd be sure pack sandwiches.

[nohorn]

Chakka: That is a very interesting viewpoint....I never would have thought how other life would have evolved. You are right, it would be unlikely it would be as we anticipate, it could be a zillion different ways.