4 ms·
Stealing does not mean we view bees as selfish. Stealing means we know it is not ours, yet we take it without consent.
by mathrawka 10y ago
Stealing does not mean we view bees as selfish. Stealing means we know it is not ours, yet we take it without consent.
- justinpombrio 10y ago> we know it is not ours Ownership is not a physical property of the world, it exists in the minds of people. The bees almost certainly have no notion of ownership, so saying that "we know it is not ours" speaks more about humans than it does of bees.
- mchaver 10y agoI don't see why the concept of ownership could not exist in non-human beings. Animal concepts of territory seem like a form of ownership. This discusses some species of bees defending mating territories. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territory_(animal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territory_(animal)
- ACow_Adonis 10y agoI hope I'm not the only hacker news reader who views the discussion/association of human social constructs and anthropomorphism such as property and consent to a colony of insects as hilariously comical... /and my mother was an entomologist, so I'm perfectly happy with allusions between humans/insects even if most polite/modern society find such offensive...