4 ms·
Are you seriously suggesting that we should have empathy for ... fruit flies? Speechless
by sgt 2mo ago
Are you seriously suggesting that we should have empathy for ... fruit flies? Speechless
- agilemonkey 2mo agoWhy not ? Do you think that in the grand scheme of the universe you are more important than a fruit fly ?
- sgt 2mo agoI'd hope so! The way that a planet is more important than a snowball.
- yawpitch 2mo agoDepends a great deal on the planet and the snowball, doesn’t it? But, that said, a mark of being more important than a lesser being would kind of be the virtue of still empathizing with that being, even if we assume there’s a hierarchy. And considering you and I are really just elaborate transport vessels for E. Coli and a lot of fungal spores, I’m not sure we should assume there’s a hierarchy.
- brookst 2mo agoImportant by what measure?
- invalidusernam3 2mo agoWhy would you choose not to have empathy for a living creature?
- shaky-carrousel 2mo agoBecause lice are also living creatures. And I have no empathy for them, and hopefully never will.
- yawpitch 2mo agoI do, and I hopefully will eventually get to leeches too.
- marliechiller 2mo agoLice have no choice in their lot in the universe. Do you think if they had intelligence the ability to choose their lot that they would choose their current one again? I doubt it personally. You can detest their mode of existence whilst still having empathy for them I think
- inigyou 2mo agoCounterexample: Humans are lice to the ecosystem of Earth, and we choose to be that way.
- ktm5j 2mo agoWhy would you have empathy for something that is literally incapable of things like empathy. Or any kind of emotion or thought. This is ridiculous guys, you might as well have empathy for a rock.
- yawpitch 2mo agoIt’s pretty easy to empathize with a rock, actually… they pretty much always feel stoned.
- internetter 2mo agowhere do you draw the line? (I sound like PETA). But it's a valid question. for instance, I have empathy for dolphins, and for elephants. I have empathy for cows, despite eating them. They are more smart than we give them credit for. I have empathy for a bee when I must kill it, and certainly for the broader colony and species. I don't think I have empathy for lice or ticks or mosquitoes, but where on earth is that line, and what does it represent?
- ktm5j 2mo ago
- ACCount37 2mo ago"A living creature" is a low fucking bar. Bacteria are living creatures. And your body is wired to exterminate them so that they don't eat it alive from the inside. Because the moment those defenses falter, they will do exactly that. Consider saving your empathy for things that matter.
- agilemonkey 2mo agoWithout these very same bacteria, you would not be able to live.
- ACCount37 2mo agoSome labs made bacteria-free mice for research purposes. They're viable. So "not be able to live" is a stretch. Human body does use some bacteria in the guts, but a lot of those very same bacteria would absolutely try to eat the entire body if its immune defenses ever failed.
- osjdiwjdej 2mo agoWhich is why the body uses those that it finds useful and absolutely murder those that it deems harmful. It’s nature. Just nature. And it’s such a nonsensical discussion to have that the only reason for it to happen at any given time is to satisfy the ego of those saying “nuh-uh!!”.