There are terms such as inhumane but what makes us human?

Many religions and some rationalists believe that humans have more worth than animals but why is that?

horned1 made me think about this a lot. What makes me or you any better than a rat?
Isnt the emotional bagage we carry around is mostly more of a failing then a quaility?

humans are bigger than rats...

Somewhere back in prehistoric days, perhaps even before the evolution of today's Homo sapiens, a prehuman picked a flower out of admiration of beauty, not for any practical end.

humans versus rats. Humans are self aware. Humans are aware of time, humans have different levels of relationships, humans can learn and change their minds, humans use brains more than instincts,

Could an alien species be considered human if they could train and dominate other creatures; create advanced machinary; have religions; capable of feeling?

Humans kill and feed on cows and goats and say that its okay cuz they are dumb animals. If a much more advanced species than us exist then would it be ok for them to kill and feed on us cuz to them we are dumb animals too?

They might not be considered human no.
We would fight back at them, I`d sure as hell revolt at my postion on the cosmic food chain.

Is the things that we do other than instinct worth our time at all though?

I wonder what those anal probes are for... to sample our delicacies?



I wanna eat an alien. what do mexicans taste like?

humans are stupid..

Humans are sapient. They are the only meat eating creatures who would question the right or wrong of killing for food. That's why alot of people are vegetarians. It's also why a large enough number of people quit eating tunafish that the tuna companies changed the way that they fished the tuna. The idea of eating a sapient creature hopefully would be universally repugnant to any intelligent creature.

However, if a more advanced species tried to use us as a food supply, we're also 'dumb animals' who can organize and co-ordinate our own defense.

Kat

velvet: how about all those people taking their weekly fishing trips, bringing the kids and all. have you ever heard of a more inhumane (no pun intended) way to kill your prey than with a hook, followed by slow suffocation? that must be utter pain...

Nope, actually I hadn't. But then, I wasn't commenting on eating meat. I prefer that my meat comes in nice tidy little packages from the supermarket, but I will eat the venison that my dad hunts every year, and I will eat and enjoy fresh caught fish. Personally, now that I think about it, I can't think it would be any more painful than when then a hunting cat catches a deer by the throat, disembowels it with it's claws, and then suffocates it by biting the windpipe closed, til it crushes it. It's simply a way of life, for a carnivore. We use hooks instead of claws, because we've used our intelligence to compensate for our poor design as a hunter.

As I'd said previously, humans are the only beings we're aware of who consider things like the pain our prey is in. This is a sign of conscience, or intelligence, or just the awareness of death, presumably, which is what makes us sapient. I didn't presume to say that we were 'better' than animals. I actually admire vegetarians, and their morals. Unfortunately, I'm primarily carnivore. I like meat more than any other food group, except perhaps chocolate. So I simply try not to consider what's needed to get my food to my plate.

Kat

Thats why I prefer deep sea fishing. Most of the fish are fairly large, and some of them are outright dangerous if allowed to flop all over the deck. So instead they're clubbed to death while hanging off the side of the boat on a gaff hook...much more humane than slow suffocation and a great stress-reliever.


Shadowborn

LOL that must be an awesome therapy...hehehe...i wish i could try that once...preferrably with my sister-in-law hanging from the side...damn bitch.

to be human means.....hmm...i'll have to think more about that...its like one of those life questions....you know where someone goes define life....maybe there is no reason.

i'll get back to you on that.

I think that to be human, you have to be able to think that you have free will. I (honestly) don't think humans have free will; I think everything that you and i and everyone else ever does was predetermined. But that we weren't meant to know that, otherwise we'd never do anything because we'd never have the sense that what we were doing was our own doing, so there'd be no guilt, which (I think) is bad. SO hhmmmmm.... to be human? is to do all things you do. Like the Tao says, to be is to follow one's way of being. It's an oldie but a goody "Does a Tiger kill because the prey keeps him from being a tiger? Or does the tiger kill because killing MAKES him a tiger?" I wish I were a tiger.

Can you prove that every other animal on Earth isnt sapient though?

I want to be a cat.

No, of course not, just like i can't prove that humans don't have free will.
Oh, and i think dogs are actually the best animals on earth.

hmmm...i was just wondering...several people has now stated the common belief ' animals has no compassion for others pain'. or something similar. but do we really know that for a fact?

i'm back it took me a while...i also like to give this credit to my friend's girlfriend...she thought the same as i did.

what does it mean to be human as opposed to animals?
Nothing. You are an animal. I am an animal. Any animal than can survive using reason and logic is the same as you. As it stands, you are the only animal that can survive with reason and logic as opposed to simple force and instinct. That need not always be the case though, so on the basest level, nothing.

Perhaps it can't be said to be fact, but have you ever looked into the eyes of a lioness who has her jaws clamped down on the throat of a struggling wildebeest? There is no compassion there that I can see...

I also have never seen a member of a race of carnivores that turned to eating plants because of compassion for the animals it killed.


Shadowborn

I was upset once and my cat comforted me it always did, always more attentive when I was down.

Other than humans. Although, more appropriately, I suppose I should say that members of this race of omnivores have turned themselves into herbivores out of compassion for the animals they feed on..

Kat

That's just it, we are surviving using logic and reason, traits that seem only apparent in humans and some primates. By and large, most animals live in a nonlogical world in which it is unecessary to form theories or find patterns. And (though I know this will be argued against to no end) I hardly disagree when monotheistic religions say that we are "God's most beloved creation" the only way in which I separate from that is that I believe that we, as a race have vaingloriously abused our fatalistic favor.

that might be because the thought has never occured to them. they dont know that its possible to live on plants alone, and for many species it isnt.

besides, how much compassion do you find at mcdonalds..?