Quote:
Originally Posted by livi
No reason to believe our species is any different than all the other organisms on this planet. When push comes to shove it is every individual for himself, resulting in cruelty, war and a complete lack of care for the next man. Sad but true.
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Have to agree; we're big brained mammals w/alpha males leading their packs in perpetual territorial disputes. By that definition, pushing and shoving will never abate and resultant warfare at one level or another will inevitably remain a constant in the human condition.
I believe our only hope lies in our abilities, unique in the animal world, to use language and to reason at a high level of abstraction. Wars of words/ideas are not lethal. Lethality results when words fail, opposing ideas are held to be immutable and primitive physical agression is employed to dominate.
Unfortunately, to dominate is not to "win". True victory is only achievable when differences are resolved to the reasoned and humane satisfaction of all parties involved.
More unfortunate still, it's not the nature of fanatics to communicate with the goal of peacefully resolving differences, but only to communicate that they shall "win" at all costs. The world had Atilla, Hitler and numerous others and now has suicidal true believers who must be murdered before they murder us.
Soooo...lets all have a pleasant evening
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