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> Humans (as a species) are destroying their ecosystem past the point of no return, putting their very existence in question. I strongly disagree. We have more

> Humans (as a species) are destroying their ecosystem past the point of no return, putting their very existence in question. I strongly disagree. We have more food than ever before. More clean water than ever before. More safety and prosperity than ever before. More innovation than ever before. As for our ecosystem, humanity has solved any and every calamity ever before. And we will solve this one as well. Don't get me wrong - we should not take climate change lightly just because of the belief that we will solve it. We should take it seriously and tackle it head-on, but with the belief in our ability in problem solving and innovation. We cannot solve a problem if we believe that humanity is going to destroy itself. >These two things can also be interpreted as lack of self awareness or any other property you deem worthy in a living being, thus making them inferior to another species. I don't understand this sentence. Can you clarify?

ornornor 5y ago
> I don't understand this sentence. Can you clarify? You’d be pretty dumb to saw off the branch you’re sitting on. Yet that’s what we’re doing. On the surface, we seem to be lacking any kind of self preservation instincts or « hive mind » to preserve our species. If, say, a bee was looking at humans trying to determine if we’re intelligent or not and they applied bee intelligence metrics, we’d miserably fail because every bee knows that the survival of the hive is what dictates their action and behavior, duh. And yet we consider bees to be bug “automatons” but consider ourselves the most advanced life form around. But seen from a distance, without using human values as a framework for evaluating intelligence, we might be some of the dumbest species around.
- AlexanderTheGr8 5y ago
  according to animal metrics for intelligence, sure we are stupid. But we have strong evidence why our metrics are more effective than animal metrics : 1) human death rate is lowest among almost all species 2) human comfort + happiness rate is highest among all species 3) our accomplishments and understanding of the world is a million times that of any other species 4) all other species survive because we allow them to. We can (and have) eradicated entire species. etc. etc. We don't need a hive mind, we have intelligence. Bees act the way they do because they are genetically programmed to act that way, and they don't have the ability to think or reason for themselves. We do. We protect our species when we need to. Not out of genetics (maybe a little bec of evolution), but out of intelligence.

ornornor 5y ago

> I don't understand this sentence. Can you clarify? You’d be pretty dumb to saw off the branch you’re sitting on. Yet that’s what we’re doing. On the surface, we seem to be lacking any kind of self preservation instincts or « hive mind » to preserve our species. If, say, a bee was looking at humans trying to determine if we’re intelligent or not and they applied bee intelligence metrics, we’d miserably fail because every bee knows that the survival of the hive is what dictates their action and behavior, duh. And yet we consider bees to be bug “automatons” but consider ourselves the most advanced life form around. But seen from a distance, without using human values as a framework for evaluating intelligence, we might be some of the dumbest species around.

AlexanderTheGr8 5y ago
according to animal metrics for intelligence, sure we are stupid. But we have strong evidence why our metrics are more effective than animal metrics : 1) human death rate is lowest among almost all species 2) human comfort + happiness rate is highest among all species 3) our accomplishments and understanding of the world is a million times that of any other species 4) all other species survive because we allow them to. We can (and have) eradicated entire species. etc. etc. We don't need a hive mind, we have intelligence. Bees act the way they do because they are genetically programmed to act that way, and they don't have the ability to think or reason for themselves. We do. We protect our species when we need to. Not out of genetics (maybe a little bec of evolution), but out of intelligence.