Tables turned on Humanity

[Totenkopf]

They'd probably tell you that ignorance was no excuse and progress waits for no man(kind).

[Inyri]

Lets say something evolves to get to a higher status than humans. If you don't believe in that, then lets say Aliens appear who are stronger than humans. If not even that, then lets say demons or angels appear who are stronger than humans.

 

Take a pick or make one up, but it all leads to the same question:

 

How would you convince advanced Aliens that it was morally wrong to kill humans?

You probably wouldn't. If they're superiorly advanced to us, there's not much likelihood of successful communications (it would seem 'primitive' to them, like cats and dogs seem 'primitive' to use, although they actually have a very complex system of body language and animals probably understand us much more than we do them, because we're too arrogant to try).

 

Lets look at a few things:

-We will hunt on a full stomach to get a trophy.

That's a silly human trait, to be certain. I always say the smarter someone is the less common sense they have; this seems to fit with the entire human race fairly well. We do some really stupid things for really stupid reasons.

-We will mass slaughter animals for food.

We've lost the inefficiency of the wild because we have 'evolved' so much that we no longer need to try to be 'superior' to other creatures. Tools are really going to be the downfall of mankind; it's the same as if you let your cat out in the wild and expected it to survive out there. It couldn't, because it's spoiled. Humans are indeed spoiled as well; take away our tools and we'd probably not even match up to ground squirrels (they'd kill me for sure! Damn squirrels... ).

-We will gas and trap bugs and critters in our houses to clean up.

I don't kill bugs, but I like to think I'm smarter than the average human. I mean... what kind of silly person is scared of something a fraction of their size? Be scared of something with teeth; don't be scared of something that's not big enough to even bite through your skin.

-We will destroy ecosystems and species to further our own aims.

Certainly what we do to the environment is not for our own survival. I can't imagine anyone with half a brain would suggest it would be. Human being are fully capable of surviving -- and surviving quite easily, what with our advanced adaptability and intellect -- without destroying the environment. We simply do it because it's easier, not because we need to.

-We are seemingly at the top, so even many of our religions have put us above animals.

I'd say that's an illusion. We think we're at the top because frankly we no longer interact with nature. We simply destroy it, but that doesn't mean we're at the top of the food chain. Just imagine: human vs bear. Who's going to win? Even if you had a gun, the bear would still probably win unless you were very skilled with your human tool. Odd... the bear doesn't seem to need any tools to rip your arm clean off.

 

Thats just how humans work. Now, what if the tables we seemingly controlled were turned on us? Aliens come out of the sky, and see us as just another rat in the attic. Just another spider on the wall. Just another animal worth hunting and/or eating. They seemingly care as much about us as we care about the random ants we happen to step on while walking down the street.

 

These Aliens or whatever are sentient. They can, for the sake of argument, communicate with us. They may, or may not have already killed humans with as much care and thought as someone ordering a steak. They choose to talk to you.

 

How would you convince advanced "unsympathetic" Aliens that it was morally wrong to kill humans?

Would you risk using a human religion? Would you explain natural rights? Would you tell them that they would have no right too? Would you explain that it was immoral to kill things?

 

"I'll just fight back with my nukes!" Is not an option. For the sake of argument, these Aliens make our nukes look like water droplets. Fighting back is not an option at all. If it must be done, all military facilities on earth have been destroyed or are being held by the invaders.

 

You have this chance to save yourself and possibly humanity, otherwise you will be killed with as much sympathy as an exterminator spraying roaches.

I assume since you're talking about 'turning the tables' on humans, you're guessing any 'advanced' race would treat us much the way we treat the rest of the world (and if that's the case, I find it very amusing indeed). As a result I think we'd probably get treated much the same way we treat other 'inferior' races: with disdain and indifference. I still doubt a drastically advanced race would even want to bother communicating with us. We didn't even bother trying to communicate with Africans when we first encountered them, and they're the same species as we are! We'd be sooo screwed if we were invaded by brilliant aliens.

[Tommycat]

Well as someone who hunts, I hunt on a full stomach so that the growling doesn't scare the prey

 

They may want to keep us for that reason. Same reason we have hunting dogs. We can track. We can kill without eating the animal. So that they can eat and we can live off their scraps. We can also be a good prey should they decide to hunt us for fun. We're crafty. We're adaptable. We might actually be a challenge(same reason some people hunt bears).

 

They might want to keep us around for the same reason we keep monkeys around. Testing stuff on us that they wouldn't want tested on one of them.

 

Of course there is the off chance that they will look at the world and end up killing off the felines and canines. so that we may serve them as we did our old canine and feline overlords.

[Inyri]

Well as someone who hunts, I hunt on a full stomach so that the growling doesn't scare the prey

I don't think stalking around the supermarket counts as hunting.

[Corinthian]

Besides, we have comparatively massive supplies of fissile materials. I always knew the Arms Race would pay off in the end.

[Tommycat]

I don't think stalking around the supermarket counts as hunting.

Shows how much you know.... My wife goes to the supermarket.

 

I hunt and fish(though hunting is still a bit of a new hobby for me, and I'm ok at it). And if you think either of those are easy, I suggest you try it for a while. Especially using a bow(that's really new for me).

[DeadYorick]

I'd say that's an illusion. We think we're at the top because frankly we no longer interact with nature. We simply destroy it, but that doesn't mean we're at the top of the food chain. Just imagine: human vs bear. Who's going to win? Even if you had a gun, the bear would still probably win unless you were very skilled with your human tool. Odd... the bear doesn't seem to need any tools to rip your arm clean off.

 

The bear may be stronger. But this isn't the question about who would win in a fare fight. Its who's species is stronger overall. Basically humans are more intelligent, have more of a population and could wipe out the entire species of bears if they really wanted to. Humans aren't threatened by any animals. Really animals are threatened by humans.

[Corinthian]

Uh....no, Inyri. The bear would lose in a fight against a human armed with a modern gun just about all the time, unless he was fighting a vegan or an idiot. Or both. Now, yes, we would lose if unarmed, but we don't fight unarmed that often, that's WHY we're at the top of the food chain.

[Arcesious]

As corinthian said. We're smart, creative. We can ousamart animals. If we're unarmed we could just make a trap out of what we can find.

[Corinthian]

Precisely. The fact that we survived long enough to reach modern civilization proves our superiority over the less intelligent ones. And we've been out of any serious danger from animals for thousands of years, short of a massive animal uprising which is impossible since they aren't intelligent enough to form an alliance and even if they were, Hellfire missiles work wonders against the Bear Battalions.

[Totenkopf]

...Humans aren't threatened by any animals......

 

Just animal rights advocates.

[Corinthian]

Who are traitors to the human species.

[Inyri]

Uh....no, Inyri. The bear would lose in a fight against a human armed with a modern gun just about all the time, unless he was fighting a vegan or an idiot. Or both. Now, yes, we would lose if unarmed, but we don't fight unarmed that often, that's WHY we're at the top of the food chain.

Unless the guy shot the bear in the head, it'd have the shooter's arms ripped off before the bear bled out. You don't seriously think bullet = instant death, do you? Let's be realistic.

[Totenkopf]

Bullet doesn't necessarily equal instant death unless the aim is true, and in the case of the bear, the load powerful. If the bear is too close, it may have the advantage. Shoot enough rounds at the bear before he reaches you, he might just run off. They ain't sentient, but they're probably not too stupid either.

[Inyri]

I daresay the bear is smarter than the man. I daresay most animals are smarter than us. Especially the folks up a few posts who have the deluded idea that humans are superior to other animals. I'd like to see them survive out int he wild. Then they can tell me who's superior and who's just cheating off of the inventions of the few exceptional specimens of our species.

[DeadYorick]

Bullet doesn't necessarily equal instant death unless the aim is true, and in the case of the bear, the load powerful. If the bear is too close, it may have the advantage. Shoot enough rounds at the bear before he reaches you, he might just run off. They ain't sentient, but they're probably not too stupid either.

 

This is why man created the semi automatic rifle. So he could down the bear easily in less time.

[Tommycat]

Haha my buddy went bear hunting. He had been hunting deer pretty regularly. When he saw the bear and shot it, the bear just got REALLLLLLY ticked off. Ya see with a deer, its aim for center of mass. With a bear... kill shot, or don't bother.

I daresay the bear is smarter than the man. I daresay most animals are smarter than us. Especially the folks up a few posts who have the deluded idea that humans are superior to other animals. I'd like to see them survive out int he wild. Then they can tell me who's superior and who's just cheating off of the inventions of the few exceptional specimens of our species.

Actually, man is smarter than a bear. Yes I can survive in the wild. In fact I can survive with only my own two hands. But then I've also been trained to do that. It doesn't take much to build a pit fall trap. I have yet to see a bear do that.

[Inyri]

This is why man created the semi automatic rifle. So he could down the bear easily in less time.

Thank you for demonstrating humanity's stupidity by bringing up the "let's hunt with a semi-automatic weapon."

Haha my buddy went bear hunting.

I can say with confidence that your friend has got to be a moron to go bear hunting.

[DeadYorick]

I daresay the bear is smarter than the man. I daresay most animals are smarter than us. Especially the folks up a few posts who have the deluded idea that humans are superior to other animals. I'd like to see them survive out int he wild. Then they can tell me who's superior and who's just cheating off of the inventions of the few exceptional specimens of our species.

 

It is highly debatable about how intelligent animals are. But animals survive in the wild since they evolved in the wild and were taught to survive in the wild. Humans haven't made it to the top of the food chain by just their brains but their ability to use logic in situations and their knack of not letting anyone stand in their way. Humans aren't just smart. They can use resources to their advantage

 

For example a human out in the wilderness meets a very angry bear. The human has no weapons at all. What he decides to do is climb a tree and make a stick-like weapon which lets him kill the bear with. Conclusion the human uses resources to his advantage while the bear just uses brute strength

[Totenkopf]

C'mon, IF, next you'll say that fish are smarter than people b/c they can exist in a watery environment better than the average human. If people were "bred" to live in the wild, you'd probably still have many of them living off the brain power of the brighter/wilier ones, but still having adapted to their environment. What makes the human smarter is his ability to adapt his environment to himself and not merely the other way around. And b/c, as Rakata points out above, man is able to adjust to his weaknesses by compensating for them. Can a bear do that?

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

I always knew the Arms Race would pay off in the end.

Holy ****. I don't even know what to say.

[Tommycat]

I can say with confidence that your friend has got to be a moron to go bear hunting.

And you prove your ignorance.

[Inyri]

And you prove your ignorance.

Hardly. Anyone who feels the need to hunt bears needs to reevaluate their life. I would say you prove your ignorance, but gee, that's needlessly agressive.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

Hardly. Anyone who feels the need to hunt bears needs to reevaluate their life. I would say you prove your ignorance, but gee, that's needlessly agressive.

I have to concur with Inyri.

 

Also 700 GET for Inyrikins

[Corinthian]

Naturally, because hunting has no purpose except for food. I certainly can't imagine that people might, for example, hunt down a wolf that had been slaughtering their livestock.

 

Anyway, it doesn't matter how big and tough the bear is, a decent caliber round with a jacketed hollow point will inflict a near-mortal wound. Three direct hits and that bear's going to either run, or die. Or both.

 

Jmac, if you don't know what to say, why say anything at all?