Sad news: baby elephant has died.

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by Fish

I couldn't stay away...

Bev,
That is a really good point. And about the water... thanks for adding yet one more thing to have nightmares about!

And also to Albert and Quinn,
I don't want to come across as saying that other animals don't feel fear or love, or compassion. Of course I agree with you. Infact, I believe that we love in return and care more for those animals that seem to have a greator capacity for feeling like we do. No one is really upset by the lobters that are boiled alive but we are all quite saddened by a dolphin getting caught in the same fishing nets. A rare dung beetle getting killed won't ever make the news like the death of a baby elephant will. I believe this is because there is something magical about an elephant and when you look into its eyes you realize that it knows things and feels things about life that we will never know. We all unconsciously rate animals and their importance. Animals that appear to have a greator depth of feeling, elephants, dolphins, dogs, gorrillas all rate higher on the scale. Anyone that values an ant less then a gorrila (I think the majority of us) engages in the same judgement. Some of us stop a few steps short and pick smileing dogs and crying monkeys and some of us follow it right through and chose our own species.
My only point is that, as a whole, our species seems to be the only one that is concerned with the plight of other species, as a whole. I know there have been individual instances that contradict this (a gorrila troup that adopts a human - a person who engages in animal cruelty) but I was commenting as a whole.
Really why do we all feel so guilty for what we are doing to the planet? We are enjoying an incredible period of evolutionary good fortune. We are multiplying and taking up space at the same rate that any other species would if it had no natural predators, abundant resourses, and the ability to heal itself. We are doing what natural selection says we should be doing. So why do we feel guilty? Because we feel responsible for the other creatures on this planet and how our actions are affecting them. All I am saying is that we are the only animal to feel this way. That's all I'm saying.

Oh, and I would also say that whether a person sets the criteria of superiority as 'apparent depth of feeling', 'proficiency with tools', or 'ability to outcompete competitors in Darwins survival of the fittest game', the human race has taken home gold medals is each of these events. Anyone who believes strictly in evolution must accept that we are superior because we are at the top of the food chain! We have, from all appearances, proven the strength of the species. It hasn't even been a close game! The only thing that would stop us from calling ourselves superior (aside from modesty) is the notion of moral superiority. The judges are still out on this one - and so am I.

- Chad

Agreed and well put!