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It's still disingenuous to call this "being part of nature". This is asserting complete dominion over the predator prey relationship. There's no better depictio
by howlin 12y ago
It's still disingenuous to call this "being part of nature". This is asserting complete dominion over the predator prey relationship. There's no better depiction of how we are "above nature" than in the way that we can keep these animals in complete obliviousness of their ultimate fate for their entire lives.
- Terr_ 12y agoUntrue, that's just the same human-exceptionalism with fresh set of paint from "we are uniquely awesome" to "we are uniquely terrible". We're not that unique: Nonhuman species have wars, rape, pillage, lie, etc... and yes, that includes "raising" other creatures for food. Certain ant species, in particular, manage aphid livestock. At various times, the aphids are raised, mutilated, drugged, and eaten.
- howlin 12y agoYou are coming awfully close to completely destroying any distinction between artificial and natural. Raising animals for food is not a natural human instinct and there have been plenty of human societies that hunt rather than raise livestock. Call it for what it is: a (very old) technology.
- hcarvalhoalves 12y agoWould you say sex is just "old technology" for fertilization? Ultimately, how do you draw the line what is instinct or not? Everything a human does is what humans do, by definition.
- Terr_ 12y agoYou're telling me ant-behavior is artificial and they have technology?
- howlin 12y agoI'm saying ant behavior is artificial when humans emulate it. Just like humans flying isn't natural just because birds do it too.
- Terr_ 12y agoYou can't seriously be telling me that animal-husbandry is artificial... because early humans learned it from squinting at ants!? Or are you telling me the ants are the artificial ones, and they learned it from us? You claim there's a bright-line distinction between "natural" and "artificial", but so far your personal definitions appear to be illogical and mutable.
- seanflyon 12y agoHumans are exceptional. No other species has cities, wars or agriculture on a remotely comparable scale, not to mention art and science.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- Terr_ 12y agoP.S.: In addition to the more common aphid-herders, some scientists believe that Melissotarsus ants lack the normal digestive arrangement, and actually raise other insects purely for meat.
- thret 12y agoI agree. Nature is very cruel, thankfully we treat our livestock much better than we would if we were "being part of nature".
- howlin 12y agoI agree as well, though this does undercut the original author's point. It's fine to embrace livestock raising as a human technological development. It's wrong to think that the relationship she has with her sheep is anything remotely similar to natural.