why are we so special?

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Expect to hear these 2 things most prominently, I don't know and the bible told me so.

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We are special because........

The wheels on the short bus just go flat
just go flat
just go flat

The wheels on the short bus just go flat

All the way to school

We get lost on the way to special ed
special ed
special ed

We get lost on the way to special ed

oops I crapped my pants

Don't you feel special?

We are special because there's we are cultured. That is, each generation is different because the one before taught it something different.

From this comes the difference of technology, we're the only one to change our capabilities with machines (guns, medicine, farming etc..)

From this also comes our unique ability of destroying our environment and replacing it with our own.

That last part is by far not unique, (depending on the point of whats leftover, but thats not what I'm talking about) As has become somewhat cliche, but still true, we share the total destruction trait with most viruses and diseases, destroying hosts and resouces, even eachother. We are also given different physical and mental tools, opposable thumbs and larger more dynamic think boxes. Other animals share one or the other if either of these traits, but we are the ones with both.

I think there have been some fascinating achievements espescially in comparison to our distant relatives and other animals, but I look around and see rotting buildings on the graves of trees. I see nature less and less, and more of a steel and concrete jungle, like a shell or layer of waste forming across the globe, even ringing the planet in space, and do you realize how much waste we produce as a species, dear god, its insane. I can't imagine what waste management is like in China. And look at China, we bitch cause how bad vermin bread, We better be special because we are gonna need some serious room or something once things get like China everywhere. I like bringing them up on this topic too because as on other threads I've mentioned the difference in outlook on the value of individual human life when living in an overcrowded area to that degree. Sure, china isn't tiny but its the cities that overcrowd first and it gets crazy.

Why do we think we are special, because that drives us to live and survive like little else, it appeals to our most basic and vigilant instinct, survival. That and with things like religion or self obsession, these worshiping type practices, also provide natural highs and compulsive outlets.

Us "realists" as some of us are called, although we don't necessarily think we are special, because we know we don't know, but we tend to hope we are, or more appropriately, hope we can be, because if this is special I want a refund, with all the death and killing and lies and deciet, all wrapped in the fuzzy trust me love me that appeals so strongly to the desire to believe, while encouraging the natural instinct of denial, with all that they can take their idea of special and cram in their ear.

A god that both does and allows for the horrible torturing, suffering, and maiming of any man woman or child, a god that throws threats of eternal damnation if we don't believe what a bunch of beings seemingly incapable of telling the truth tell us to believe. What kind of crap is that.

Viruses destroy the host,yes. But not the environment. IE, they may kill whoever they are in, but they always maintain a high enough number of animals to infect so they can sustain themselves.

You are right, rats do wipe out other environments. But no animal does it as systematically as man. Because man changes far far faster then his environment does.

We have very different life spans than most viruses bugs and even vermin, Plus we are higher on the food chain, and we even dable in internal medicines, all of which has expanded our life spans and protected us from nature, we are not as susseptable to as many dangers as they.

Viruses aren't designed to affect environment, nor are they physically capable that I'm aware, a host is their environment, and we covered that. They don't make sure of anything I don't think, its just a battle of immunities and evolution.

A lot of things in nature we've learned to control or destroy, to keep from harming us any a species threatening manner. Well, with us being so easily linked to such things, I wonder what's to stop us? We tend to believe that our life if important over all other. Well, to our credit we do a pretty good job at keeping our numbers down just through human's or natures natural nature of violence.

But I think, unless we do become able to ascend to pure energy or control all threatening forces in the universe that either one of 2 sobering realities will occur, 2 versions of the same thing actually. Either some random astrological or terrestrial "disaster" will occur officially ending tea time, or some egomaniacal lunatic of a violence and hate prone god is gonna come down and lay judgement upon all.

Either way we would be no more than a passing fart in a solar wind.

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Keep our numbers down? We were less then 1 billion 200 years ago, we are 6 billion now.

I think our numbers will eventually stabilize but we're not doing a terribly good job. We have far and away overpopulated the earth, in the sense we can no longer pursue a "natural" (hunter gatherer) lifestyle.

I was making more of a joke than anything, I don't think our numbers will ever balance short of consistent war or disease or famine.

Nonesense! What about the idea everyone is a western capitalist richdemocracy with anemic population growth?

I'm not sure what you meant by that

The West, when a country becomes a rich, capitalist, liberal democracy. The birth rate goes down down (communism has a similar effect).

Look at Europe, Israel, USA or Japan. Crappy demographic growth, USA only keeps its numbers up through immigration. If we make the assumption the rest of the world will eventually become rich, capitalist democracies (say within 200 years?). Well then, we wont grow on forever!