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> We are certainly not the only species in the world who does things for pleasure that aren't neccessary for our survival. no, we’re not, but we are the only o

> We are certainly not the only species in the world who does things for pleasure that aren't neccessary for our survival. no, we’re not, but we are the only ones who so to the detriment of entire (and numerous) species and ecosystems. for example, we are starving and poisoning after we decimated and traumatized the population decades ago of southern resident orcas. however, we have abstracted our survival and pleasure mechanisms so much that we see this and other such scenarios as an inevitable or unavoidable byproducts. > That all depends on perspective. If you look at a big enough time frame- humans can be considered almost irrelevant. that’s a rather silly statement. what is your point? of course if you “zoom” out far enough, nearly everything becomes irrelevant. but with any timescale important to species and ecosystems, humans are certainly relevant and completely detrimental.

kortilla 7y ago
> no, we’re not, but we are the only ones who so to the detriment of entire (and numerous) species and ecosystems That’s a pretty extraordinary claim. Have you considered that every time this happens (e.g. a new predator crossing a new land bridge) it completely wipes out entire species?
- nikofeyn 7y ago
  if it's extraordinary, can you provide evidence otherwise? can you provide examples of any other species that has wiped out entire species, multitudes of species, and at increasing rates? i didn't list any because i don't know of any.
  - CDSlice 7y ago
    Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis[1] has. It has wiped out dozens of species of frogs and affects about 30% of amphibians world wide. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chytridiomycosis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chytridiomycosis
    - nikofeyn 7y ago
      that's a rather specific example that i personally don't think is relevant to the discussion. for one, fungi are not even animals. and it's a very specific disease tied to a certain class of species. humans have affected a greater number of species across all categories and are doing so at an increasing rate. there is no other event in history like this that was caused by a single animal species, that i know of. although, i suppose if people want to make the comparison that humanity is as mindless as a fungus that causes disease, then by all means.
      - jonfw 7y ago
        > i suppose if people want to make the comparison that humanity is as mindless as a fungus that causes disease, then by all means. It's clear that that's not his point. It's hard to take people seriously who don't argue in good faith.
        nikofeyn 7y ago
        it's clear that that wasn't my point, and it's also clear that that wasn't my summary of their point. i answered their point directly, and in good faith, above that. i don't know why you're honing in on what amounted to a joke, although if one zooms out far enough, it might not be hard to think of humanity as mindless. i don't, however, understand the point of your comment.

kortilla 7y ago

> no, we’re not, but we are the only ones who so to the detriment of entire (and numerous) species and ecosystems That’s a pretty extraordinary claim. Have you considered that every time this happens (e.g. a new predator crossing a new land bridge) it completely wipes out entire species?

nikofeyn 7y ago
if it's extraordinary, can you provide evidence otherwise? can you provide examples of any other species that has wiped out entire species, multitudes of species, and at increasing rates? i didn't list any because i don't know of any.
- CDSlice 7y ago
  Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis[1] has. It has wiped out dozens of species of frogs and affects about 30% of amphibians world wide. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chytridiomycosis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chytridiomycosis
  - nikofeyn 7y ago
    that's a rather specific example that i personally don't think is relevant to the discussion. for one, fungi are not even animals. and it's a very specific disease tied to a certain class of species. humans have affected a greater number of species across all categories and are doing so at an increasing rate. there is no other event in history like this that was caused by a single animal species, that i know of. although, i suppose if people want to make the comparison that humanity is as mindless as a fungus that causes disease, then by all means.
    - jonfw 7y ago
      > i suppose if people want to make the comparison that humanity is as mindless as a fungus that causes disease, then by all means. It's clear that that's not his point. It's hard to take people seriously who don't argue in good faith.
      - nikofeyn 7y ago
        it's clear that that wasn't my point, and it's also clear that that wasn't my summary of their point. i answered their point directly, and in good faith, above that. i don't know why you're honing in on what amounted to a joke, although if one zooms out far enough, it might not be hard to think of humanity as mindless. i don't, however, understand the point of your comment.