Are Humans Animals

[viole]

We share some vague physical similarities, that's about all we can say for sure. It's a semantic question mostly but I would vote no, we are distinct from the animals.

Yes, and animals are distinct from each other. According to your logic, there are no animals.

Ciao

- viole

 

[Guy Threepwood]

It is what we have taken because of our advanced abilities compared to other species. We may have increased our life span and quality of life. Well, it depends. But based on the human record of destruction: conflicts and wars, high crime rates, exploding prison populations, poisoned rivers and drinking water, polluted oceans, eliminated species, spoiled land, and polluted air, we don't have much to brag about.

There are always pros and cons, but on balance I think it's a symbiotic and beneficial relationship, 'mother nature' needs us to increase it's quality of life also..

 

[Guy Threepwood]

When did the Bible become a biology text? It's authors didn't know the first thing about biology.
How is this clear? I'm able to shoot a deer or dig up a lump of coal and this is evidence of a deliberate gift of dominion?
Have bacteria been given dominion over the cells and organs of our bodies?

coal, oil, gas, wood, metals, beasts of burden and other uses- you name it, we can make use of it.

I would guess that a book written in French is intended primarily for the benefit a Frenchman, even if there are many more bacteria living in it's pages!

 

[Valjean]

There are always pros and cons, but on balance I think it's a symbiotic and beneficial relationship, 'mother nature' needs us to increase it's quality of life also..

Symbiotic? All natural systems are degrading, extinction rates are soaring, the planet is warming, oceans are becoming polluted and acidified. This ecological collapse has been so precipitous that scientists are proposing that we've entered a new, human caused geological epoch.
So no. There are plenty of cons, but I'm not seeing many pros. Our relation to Nature isn't symbiotic, it's infectious.

coal, oil, gas, wood, metals, beasts of burden and other uses- you name it, we can make use of it.

Nobody's disputing the utility of any of these. I don't see your point.

I would guess that a book written in French is intended primarily for the benefit a Frenchman, even if there are many more bacteria living in it's pages!

-- What are you talking about?

Are you reading these posts? Do you comprehend them? Are analogies totally lost on you?

 

[Guy Threepwood]

Symbiotic? All natural systems are degrading, extinction rates are soaring, the planet is warming, oceans are becoming polluted and acidified. This ecological collapse has been so precipitous that scientists are proposing that we've entered a new, human caused geological epoch.

I honestly wouldn't worry about it Valjean. Leaders have used the same old sales pitch for literally millennia; bad weather is a sign of impending natural doom brought about by people offending Gaia, and we must sacrifice our wealth and freedoms to them to fix the problem.

Atmospheric levels of CO2 were >7000 ppm during the Cambrian

Since then plants consumed this vital natural resource down to a scant 270 ppm pre-industrial. This was a near starvation level for most plants and hence the biosphere, and in part why such vast deserts opened up, that used to be green lush habitat.

We are recycling, restoring, replenishing a tiny amount of that vital resource back into the ecosystem. This is a restoration of natural balance that mother nature would thank us for. And it's literally the most GREEN form of recycling you can possibly do. Fossil fuels drive the modern economy, I would be utterly astounded if politicans were not trying to find a way to skim off a slice of this action as a kickback for themselves, that is quite literally their job.

And the oceans are alkaline by the way, not acid... honestly!

What else do they have you so afraid of?

 

[Valjean]

I honestly wouldn't worry about it Valjean. Leaders have used the same old sales pitch for literally millennia; bad weather is a sign of impending natural doom brought about by people offending Gaia, and we must sacrifice our wealth and freedoms to them to fix the problem.

But previous dire predictions were based on folklore, not empirical evidence.

Atmospheric levels of CO2 were >7000 ppm during the Cambrian
Since then plants consumed this vital natural resource down to a scant 270 ppm pre-industrial. This was a near starvation level for most plants and hence the biosphere, and in part why such vast deserts opened up, that used to be green lush habitat.

No one disputes the fact that Earth's gone through periods of different climate, biota and chemistry, but when these occurred rapidly in the past we had catastrophic extinction events.
It's occurring rapidly (very) now -- and the cause seems to be us. We're seeing the same events today that occurred during previous mass extinctions.

We are recycling, restoring, replenishing a tiny amount of that vital resource back into the ecosystem. This is a restoration of natural balance that mother nature would thank us for. And it's literally the most GREEN form of recycling you can possibly do. Fossil fuels drive the modern economy, I would be utterly astounded if politicans were not trying to find a way to skim off a slice of this action as a kickback for themselves, that is quite literally their job.

I would be too. This exploitation for short-term gain, with no thought of downstream effects, is what makes us a planetary infection.

And the oceans are alkaline by the way, not acid... honestly!

We've gone over this before, Guy. I didn't say the oceans were acid, I said they were acidifying, ie: pH is dropping. Marine organisms are sensitive to pH. Too rapid a change and they can't adapt.

What else do they have you so afraid of?

Well, I'm a little afraid of spiders....