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Historically it's extremely rare that the conquerors killed everyone in the cities they conquered. Instead they enslaved some, or let them mostly live and just

Historically it's extremely rare that the conquerors killed everyone in the cities they conquered. Instead they enslaved some, or let them mostly live and just taxed them. Even with other species that regularly attack humans (tigers or even mosquitos), we have not exterminated them.

Mary-Jane 5y ago
Not many neanderthals around these days. Just an observation.
- pharke 5y ago
  We carry them with us in our genes, that seems to indicate more than just war was going on.
  - obedm 5y ago
    We don't know that happened to them, or to any other human species for that matter. But we're pretty sure we obliterated a entire species in our way up the food chain ( giant marsupials for example)
    - aeternum 5y ago
      We very likely obliterated a few along the way but that seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Humans had the power to exterminate many more but chose not to, and continue to choose not to.
      - obedm 5y ago
        Is that really true though? Saying "we didn't kill them all" doesn't exempt the fact that we did it for many of them. There's no easy answer to this. We are what we are. But it points to the disregard powerful beings have over weaker ones when they get in their way.
        aeternum 5y ago
        Sure, but the interesting thing is that the powerful beings typically do not have disregard. Why do we care for all the species that we have power to exterminate? Especially the predators that compete with us.
obedm 5y ago
We're trying our best to exterminate certain species of mosquitoes. We haven't done it because we lack the technical ability as of yet. Also, have you met any Aztec? There are barely any American Indians left compared to the millions there were originally. Mammuts? All the giant marsupials of Australia that went extinct the moment humans set foot there? We've been on top of the food chain for very long. Now imagine if we discover another race may take our place and the only option is communication or total obliteration? I wish it was different, we only have a sample size of one. But just like the three space ships that first found out about the dark forest and ultimately killed each other, it's what makes most sense from game theory

Mary-Jane 5y ago

Not many neanderthals around these days. Just an observation.

pharke 5y ago
We carry them with us in our genes, that seems to indicate more than just war was going on.
- obedm 5y ago
  We don't know that happened to them, or to any other human species for that matter. But we're pretty sure we obliterated a entire species in our way up the food chain ( giant marsupials for example)
  - aeternum 5y ago
    We very likely obliterated a few along the way but that seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Humans had the power to exterminate many more but chose not to, and continue to choose not to.
    - obedm 5y ago
      Is that really true though? Saying "we didn't kill them all" doesn't exempt the fact that we did it for many of them. There's no easy answer to this. We are what we are. But it points to the disregard powerful beings have over weaker ones when they get in their way.
      - aeternum 5y ago
        Sure, but the interesting thing is that the powerful beings typically do not have disregard. Why do we care for all the species that we have power to exterminate? Especially the predators that compete with us.

obedm 5y ago

We're trying our best to exterminate certain species of mosquitoes. We haven't done it because we lack the technical ability as of yet. Also, have you met any Aztec? There are barely any American Indians left compared to the millions there were originally. Mammuts? All the giant marsupials of Australia that went extinct the moment humans set foot there? We've been on top of the food chain for very long. Now imagine if we discover another race may take our place and the only option is communication or total obliteration? I wish it was different, we only have a sample size of one. But just like the three space ships that first found out about the dark forest and ultimately killed each other, it's what makes most sense from game theory