MWil23 Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 @MookieMonster, my wife is an elementary teacher. She uses shaving cream to have her kids clean their desks because it's fun for the kids, so they spread it all around the desks and unknowingly clean them, have fun, and don't know the difference/big picture. Everyone wins that way. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cddolphin Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 (edited) It's interesting how humans elevate themselves above being mere 'animals', and being called one is an insult. It's cross cultural too, in the German language there are two words for eating: eating as humans do (essen) and eating as animals do (fressen), and the latter being used to describe how a person eats is a rude insult. Why are we better than animals? I don't think we are. We're just a different type of one. We're not more moral than plenty of other mammals. Does having higher-level reasoning make one 'better'? I guess 'animal' as an insult is more of a proxy meant to mean 'barbaric behavior that doesn't take into account consequences or the effect on others'. But that's a mouthful. Edited May 22, 2018 by cddolphin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywindO2 Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 ^^ I'm better than the stupid lady bug looking beetle that I just flushed down the toilet, don't try to convince me otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwny Posted May 22, 2018 Author Share Posted May 22, 2018 2 minutes ago, cddolphin said: Why are we better than animals? I don't think we are. We're just a different type of one. We're not more moral than plenty of other mammals. Does having higher-level reasoning make one 'better'? Humans are better because we’re humans. We have a basic belief that we’re more valuable because our survival kinda hinges on the idea. All sentient beings behave this way; my tribe is more valuable than your tribe, and that even exends to if I have to kill you to extinguish any perceived threat to my tribe. There’s starving kids in Africa, but we should be fighting homelessness at home first! My species is most important, but more important than the whole species is those that I have tribal connections to. My country is more important than your country. My state is more important than your state. My city is more important than yout city. My friends and family are more important than your friends and family. My species and my tribe don’t survive if I don’t think this way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cddolphin Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 (edited) 2 minutes ago, iPwn said: Humans are better because we’re humans. We have a basic belief that we’re more valuable because our survival kinda hinges on the idea. All sentient beings behave this way; my tribe is more valuable than your tribe, and that even exends to if I have to kill you to extinguish any perceived threat to my tribe. There’s starving kids in Africa, but we should be fighting homelessness at home first! My species is most important, but more important than the whole species is those that I have tribal connections to. My country is more important than your country. My state is more important than your state. My city is more important than yout city. My friends and family are more important than your friends and family. My species and my tribe don’t survive if I don’t think this way. Hmmm okay I get that 100%, but humans being "more valuable" to other humans isn't quite the same as labelling a human an animal as an insult. Well maybe it is, if by definition "less valuable" = insulting. I suppose from a universal objective sense one could argue we are not more valuable but that also relies on your human ability to differentiate between subjective and objective experience so I guess that's an inherently flawed argument. I'm biased because my dog is a pure soul <3 Edited May 22, 2018 by cddolphin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywindO2 Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 I have a friend that teaches second grade and was telling me about her end of the year activities for her class. I asked if she did the shaving cream thing. She did it her first year teaching and decided it was too much of a mess to do it again. I think her kids are missing out. It was always kind of fun and didn't realize it was cleaning at the time but looking back, it's the only thing that makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwny Posted May 22, 2018 Author Share Posted May 22, 2018 1 minute ago, cddolphin said: Hmmm okay I get that 100%, but humans being "more valuable" to other humans isn't quite the same as labelling a human an animal as an insult. Well maybe it is, if by definition "less valuable" = insulting. I'm biased because my dog is a pure soul <3 I didn’t really fully expunge the idea, so i guess I should continue. We’re better than others because of the above. So we look to the traits that make us different as those that are desirable and good. We’re better, so by extension the things that make us different are what make us better. We shower daily. It isn’t really necessary, but we do it and it makes us better than those that don’t. We chew with our mouth closed. It isn’t really necessary, but we do it and it makes us better than those who don’t. We follow laws and don’t kill people indiscriminately and that makes us better than those who do. By calling someone an animal, you’re effectively stripping them of the traits that you believe to be most valuable. Your dog isn’t an animal, it’s a pet. He’s kind and affectionate and makes your day brighter. he has traits that you’ve deemed to be worthy. He probably even has some weird quirks that aren’t objectively good, but they give him character that justifies your like for him even more. He isn’t just some wild animal, after all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NS922 Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 18 minutes ago, cddolphin said: It's interesting how humans elevate themselves above being mere 'animals', and being called one is an insult. It's cross cultural too, in the German language there are two words for eating: eating as humans do (essen) and eating as animals do (fressen), and the latter being used to describe how a person eats is a rude insult. Why are we better than animals? I don't think we are. We're just a different type of one. We're not more moral than plenty of other mammals. Does having higher-level reasoning make one 'better'? I guess 'animal' as an insult is more of a proxy meant to mean 'barbaric behavior that doesn't take into account consequences or the effect on others'. But that's a mouthful. This post gives me a great start to my morning, being cynical is one of my favorite hobbies. The more you look at humans the more you notice all the animal traits. We do everything animals do. We just do them in more complicated ways. Just because we're more complicated doesn't mean we're always better or more efficient. Look at the average person and tell me there aren't thousands of kinds of animals that are more interesting. This is not to say I don't find our species to be impressive, because I do......just not most people. Also, my niece is "graduating" from kindergarten tonight and somehow it's gonna look bad on me if I don't show up??? It's KINDERGARTEN. I just posted a quick rant about the human race on a football forum, but I'd rather not put down my own family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagles101 Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 33 minutes ago, cddolphin said: It's interesting how humans elevate themselves above being mere 'animals', and being called one is an insult. It's cross cultural too, in the German language there are two words for eating: eating as humans do (essen) and eating as animals do (fressen), and the latter being used to describe how a person eats is a rude insult. Why are we better than animals? I don't think we are. We're just a different type of one. We're not more moral than plenty of other mammals. Does having higher-level reasoning make one 'better'? I guess 'animal' as an insult is more of a proxy meant to mean 'barbaric behavior that doesn't take into account consequences or the effect on others'. But that's a mouthful. Animals are uncivil. So being an animal is meaning you dont have a grasp of civil behavior. Most people make the line of human and animal as the ability to be civil. It really just comes down to semantics though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheesehawk Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 17 minutes ago, eagles101 said: Animals are uncivil. So being an animal is meaning you dont have a grasp of civil behavior. Most people make the line of human and animal as the ability to be civil. It really just comes down to semantics though. You screwed up here assuming that most people know how to be civil. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 So, I'm in a weight loss contest with my two best friends - winner gets $100 from the losers and the winner gets to dictate the losers' Fantasy Football team name for the season (contest goes until draft day). I really want to win (just to rub it in their faces) so as added incentive, I shaved my beard off and am not growing it back until I lose at least 15 lbs. Kind of like an anti-playoff beard, and added incentive/reminder to lose weight. I don't recognize myself anymore. It's so strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwny Posted May 22, 2018 Author Share Posted May 22, 2018 For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malfatron Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 12 minutes ago, EliteTexan80 said: So, I'm in a weight loss contest with my two best friends - winner gets $100 from the losers and the winner gets to dictate the losers' Fantasy Football team name for the season (contest goes until draft day). I really want to win (just to rub it in their faces) so as added incentive, I shaved my beard off and am not growing it back until I lose at least 15 lbs. Kind of like an anti-playoff beard, and added incentive/reminder to lose weight. I don't recognize myself anymore. It's so strange. hopefully you shaved your beard AFTER the weigh-in and not before. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 2 minutes ago, MathMan said: hopefully you shaved your beard AFTER the weigh-in and not before. Totally - think it dropped my by .1 lb, but I'll take what I can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theJ Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 1 hour ago, NS922 said: Also, my niece is "graduating" from kindergarten tonight and somehow it's gonna look bad on me if I don't show up??? It's KINDERGARTEN. I just posted a quick rant about the human race on a football forum, but I'd rather not put down my own family. It's tuesday night. You have anything better to do? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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