Humans = Superior ?

I think we possibly can stand next to a dog and say we are better than it, because in some ways we are. We dont lick our selves to get clean, we dont have to bite the umbilical cord, we dont go around peeing on stuff to let people know it's ours. In some ways dogs are better than people, cause they don't blow things up, they don't exploit other dogs, they don't waste.

Weel, it sorta depends what your comparing humans to. A dog?
I suppose we're more intelligent, but that's not all that matters.
Look at other animals, like a chameleon, they can change their colour to protect themselves, and if humans had that ability we'd be alot safer.

But I suppose humans are superior...

No, I don't think so. I don't think that superiority is defined by what things can do. Some animals hardly seem to actually do anything at all, but they look alot happier than most humans that I know!

I think all life is equal.

apolloinlove:

I think all life is equal.

So can we stand next to a mouse and say that killing that mouse is the same as killing a human?

I'm not very clued up on this stuff but i had a go x]
I don't think animal testing is right, not at all. But would it be better if we did the tests on humans? We are more intelligent and have the tools to overpower and basically do what we want to other animals (animal testing, cruelty etc). Just because we can doesn't mean we should. Killing a mouse, for example- do we do it just because we believe ourselves to have power over it, that as humans we have the right to kill it? Is it justified?

Why are human lives more important than animal's'? I don't know, but it's pretty much a given. Maybe because it's one of our own. Animals kill others from the same species but we are a much more civilized race and have ways of thinking and dealing with problems. I'm not sure. =/

What makes someone/thing better or superior? Is it the ability to think for oneself and make decisions- move forward: intelligence? Is it happiness, like apolloinlove said. Animals may be happier than most humans- living life how they want, but are they superior because of it or do they just not know what they are missing out on.
Eg: a domestic cat. Content to sleep and eat and be cared for. Certainly this animal could not be superior to a human. A cat could never cope in the day-to-day life of a human.

We are superior to other animals, imo. But I'm not really sure why. eep.

Miniature Disaster.:

Eg: a domestic cat. Content to sleep and eat and be cared for. Certainly this animal could not be superior to a human. A cat could never cope in the day-to-day life of a human.

...but could you cope in the day to day life as a cat? I know it sounds ridiculous and simple, but just think about it. Any animal, for that matter. Not just cats.

Lovesick Melody.:

So can we stand next to a mouse and say that killing that mouse is the same as killing a human?

Well, this is pretty difficult to answer, as I think in a way, yes, and in a way, no. Of course to us it isn't the same, because we are human, but that doesn't make it true. It's still a living thing dying, that has feelings and feels pain. Sorry, I find it really difficult to explain

And thats all just my opinion.

MurderOnBroadway:

We may have "superior intelligence", but animals have better insinct.

So you think we have no strong primal instinct anymore?

I agree, I think we have drifted so far into our intelligence that somehow it's not.... I guess you could say normal.

But that doesn't mean that we still don't have instinct. The need to survive is still there. We are a civillized society, right? But I was watching a movie the other day and it came up with an interesting point.
Throw some terrifying situation at humans, put some isolation in the mix and suddenly there are no rules. Being civilized is now not an issue, our instinct is to survive is much stronger then being civillized.

But we lose this instinct in everyday life... Animals haven't.... Is that a good or bad thing on our part?

But if you look at it, humans are of the few that kill their own species. When one animal of the same species attacks another, they are able to see another surrender and therefore let it live. When we fight, we have tanks and long distance guns that don't let us see this on our enemies faces. We aren't a great predator though. We have no razor sharp teeth or long claws. Put two naked average unskilled humans without weapons in a field and tell them to kill each other and it wouldn't be the easiest thing in the world. We do have the ability to create technology that makes us dangerous. We have the ability to create fighting technique.Essentially, we are rabbits with machine guns. And we have the ability to not have to see fear and such on our enemies faces with technology, unlike an animal that would let the member of its same species surrender.

We also have the ability to dehumanize. When we see people as people, of course it is harder to want to hurt them, but we have people that make it seem like others terrorists just because they are from the middle east. It makes it easier to dislike of course and not see as a full human.

So I guess one could argue that it is our intelligence that makes us superior to an animal, but it is also our intelligence that makes us worse than them in some aspects.

MCRLOVER4929:

who here thinks that Gerard should be happy with his wife and that every one need to leave him alone because if you people really love him you would leave him alone god

Umm.... That has no relevance to the topic, please go to the The Band area and find an appropriate topic to post that in.

I think that we, as humans, are really just animals. In some ways we are better than other animals, but we have caused more damage to earth than other animals. And to me that doesn't make us more superior, it just means that as whole, humans are selfish and greedy

i did a bible study on genesis at church last night (my first time going all year! lol!)
anyway, in the bible, it says humans are made in god's image, therefore, they are superior.
i dont know if i agree with that, but i thought id point that out

well we do have the better technology and stuff but that's the only thing that makes us better. i guess if you took all that away we'd be just like every other animal because we'd have to rely more on the other person? idk

Something I think is that, in regards to eating other animals, would a dog eat another dog? Probably as rare as human cannibalism.
Maybe we are better than other animals, but it's all in our heads. For all we know, dogs, cats, chickens, horses, dolphins, etc. could be thinking that they're the best too.

I think that humans shouldn't think so much of themselves. Animals are just as alive as we are. They have emotions and thoughts. Those thoughts might not be as smart as a human's but they are still thoughts. Some animals can do things that humans can't do such as blending into their surroundings to protect them as someone said earlier.
Sometimes you just have to think, "Now would I want that done to me?"
Animals can be loved just as much as humans can be loved.

The more I studied animal science at college, the more I've thought humans and other animals need to be viewed on a similar level.

To me Humans are only superior in our intelligence, and maybe in how we work together socially. If you take away our technology and put someone to face an animal just as they are, well, I think a lot of animals would come out on top! I mean, some sharks can smell one drop of blood in thousands of litres of water, from miles away, thats incredible!

But although I do think of humans and animals as sort of equal, you'll never find me as a vegetarian or against animal testing and things (Well, I'm against testing cosmetics etc on animals, that's just vain, but I'm ok with medical until we find better alternatives).

Reverse the roles, an animal would have no qualms about snacking on one of us. Eating other animals happens everyday in the animal kingdom, and we are built to be omnivorous.

As we've found more similarities between animals and humans, laws have been brought in to protect them from suffering wherever their being kept and for whatever use. (Argh stupid headcold, I can't remember where I was going with this!)

amyy.vengeance:

it says humans are made in god's image, therefore, they are superior.

Yes we can all thank the bible for giving us the worst sentences ever uttered by humanity; "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Genesis 1:26

That phrase is and was the main excusse for western culture to rape our planet whether consiously or subconsiously, throughout history.

For this I really gotta say I respect all life as equal, we are all citizens of one earth, the same earth that will be here long after humans are gone.

Yes we are more advanced in the sense of technology, but we are still pretty pathetic when it comes to thought process. I mean, no other animal dumps toxic waste into its home, or develops weopons of mass destruction that can wipe out all life from existance.