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I think the mistake is to consider "human" something separate from the rest of the world as opposed to a more holistic point of view. The fact that we have a s

I think the mistake is to consider "human" something separate from the rest of the world as opposed to a more holistic point of view. The fact that we have a somewhat complicated mind capable of abstract thinking doesn't mean we're anything more than bacteria on the grander scale. The fact that our species has developed all over Earth and became its self-appointed "stewards" doesn't mean that a well-placed asteroid can't turn our "stewardship" into a futile battle for survival.

civilized 4y ago
From my perspective, you're not identifying an intellectual mistake made by others. You're talking about a difference of values. You don't highly value people being around to observe and participate in the universe, while others care a lot more about this.
true_religion 4y ago
What you are saying now is very different from the calculus required to determine if humanities extinction is a catastrophe. It is one by our point of view, and most humans argue that (a) our point of view is the only one that matters since in the grand aspect we haven’t found any other intelligent point of view, though we theorize they may exist and (b) judging the pain of death as catastrophe is a personal choice, even on Earth we allow people to call the death of their loved ones catastrophic even if other humans continue to go on living blithely unaware of their pain.
Shorel 4y ago
Dismissal of the result of some billion years of constant adaptation and struggle is also a mistake, IMO. We are so much more than bacteria, and until proved otherwise, so far we are the smartest beings in the universe. We will at some point, stop existing as a species. This doesn't mean everything we do is meaningless. Eternity and infinity intelligence are not the only measures we can choose to value ourselves, in fact, they smell too much like religion for my personal taste. What we have is more struggle, more problems to overcome, more challenges and the possibility of succeeding, the possibility of leaving the solar system before the sun dies and kills the earth. Step by step. Value the small victories. We have reached very far, so far.
dinkumthinkum 4y ago
There is so much of this downplaying of humans. We are certainly more than bacteria are any reasonable “scale”. We can create transmissions that reach other galaxies, we can split atoms, and even consider ourselves to be equal to bacteria because we conjure vague notions of incomprehensible advanced species. It’s just a very odd kind of self-deprecation.

civilized 4y ago

From my perspective, you're not identifying an intellectual mistake made by others. You're talking about a difference of values. You don't highly value people being around to observe and participate in the universe, while others care a lot more about this.

true_religion 4y ago

What you are saying now is very different from the calculus required to determine if humanities extinction is a catastrophe. It is one by our point of view, and most humans argue that (a) our point of view is the only one that matters since in the grand aspect we haven’t found any other intelligent point of view, though we theorize they may exist and (b) judging the pain of death as catastrophe is a personal choice, even on Earth we allow people to call the death of their loved ones catastrophic even if other humans continue to go on living blithely unaware of their pain.

Shorel 4y ago

Dismissal of the result of some billion years of constant adaptation and struggle is also a mistake, IMO. We are so much more than bacteria, and until proved otherwise, so far we are the smartest beings in the universe. We will at some point, stop existing as a species. This doesn't mean everything we do is meaningless. Eternity and infinity intelligence are not the only measures we can choose to value ourselves, in fact, they smell too much like religion for my personal taste. What we have is more struggle, more problems to overcome, more challenges and the possibility of succeeding, the possibility of leaving the solar system before the sun dies and kills the earth. Step by step. Value the small victories. We have reached very far, so far.

dinkumthinkum 4y ago

There is so much of this downplaying of humans. We are certainly more than bacteria are any reasonable “scale”. We can create transmissions that reach other galaxies, we can split atoms, and even consider ourselves to be equal to bacteria because we conjure vague notions of incomprehensible advanced species. It’s just a very odd kind of self-deprecation.