Humans - advanced species or a parasite?

Why do we think of ourselves as an advanced species?
We are one the few creatures on the planet that destroys itself and it's own enviroment.....
We abuse our resources for our greedy 'neediness' now, rather than think about the future of our civilisation, never mind the other lifeforms that exist on this planet with us to...
We spread like a cancer across the land and sea, using every available resource and leaving a trail of destruction behind us without a care in the world.
And now we are trying to extend off our planet to others - if we are allowed to!!
If we where really advanced we would live in harmony with the things around us and co-exist, instead of exhibiting the characteristics of a Virus or Parasite of some sort.
And we have the nerve to think we should be considered to be among the advanced civilisations of the Universe!!

Other social animals, especially ants (regarded as the most advanced form of insects), operate much like humans do. The difference being humans can overcome or create obstacles.

Social animals like ants and bees will go to war against other members of their own species over territory just as humans do. Army ants in particular tear a swath of destruction over the landscape they traverse killing anything in their path. Sound familiar?

Life has no set ideas for right and wrong. Its only goal is the contuation of life regardless of what effect it may have upon other creatures and the environment. Around 99 percent of all species that have ever lived on this planet are now extinct. That is without human intervention in causing them to die out. Many plants & animals that go extinct become that way as a direct result of another more advanced organism wiping them out. Its not just humans that can be blamed.

Parasitic creatures and diseases simply are doing what life created them to do. Considering them wrong is a human idea placed upon those forms of life.

I see nothing wrong with how humans currently operate given their specifications. There are environmental breaking points that may be crossed. If that does happen, there will be a natural culling process that will remove a portion of the human population and allow for some environmental regeneration.

[Edited on 27-9-2003 by heelstone]

I see your point... I have no right to decide what is a 'good' or 'bad', 'simple' or 'advanced' lifeform - by doing so I am going against what I believe in. If the purpose of a lifeform is to make it's species the most dominent and hence ensure it's survival, then we are doing quite a good job of it, for now at least............

My ideas and other peoples of what is advanced are only opinions - who is to say what is right or wrong?

Maybe the answer to everything is there is no answer - it just is...

Humans operate on a very large scale, we destroy whole forests, polute seas, create gigantic ozon holes, kill millions.
But what also separates us from animals is a complex brain and conciousness, which constantly ask "why?", "how is this possible?" . We create on a larger scale too, we create very complex things,and we are explorers, of our planet, universe and our mind.

But are we the last evolutional step? Is there more to come after homo sapiens?

Easy question, we are both parasites and advanced creatures at the same time.

way back in my university days I read the theory ( somewhere) that the planet is a living organism , complete with immune system.

The diseases, natural disasters etc that we have are the immune system of the planet kicking in to rid itself of humanity, which it registers as a virus or a disease....

I cant find a link to that theiry, maybe someone else has heard or come across it?

Those who claim to be the powerful and the elite are actually the parasitic element of humanity,they reverse that with the media and technology to make it seem that they are the powerful ones,and turn all of the advanced ones against one another with ignorance,the truth is that those who claim to be powerful and in control are more dependent on the ones they feed off of than the ones they feed off of are on them,that's why they need to hire security and have armies.
I know that doesn't seem to make sense,but the truth is almost always stranger than fiction.
Look in the opposite direction that you are distracted into looking,there is always something going on behind you while you have your back turned.
The bastards are tricky,that's how they get ahead.

yeah mbbs, thats the Gaia Hypothesis. I think it's been scientifically researched or supported in some way. Bascially, it's taken a meta look at organizations larger than humans (econsystems, economies, etc.)

if the earth is a living organism, we probably turned in into a dying organism, or will soon enough.

I agree with THENEO. The human is clearly an advanced species... And it is a parasite at the same time. An advanced parasite species

[Edited on 28-9-2003 by AntiSystem]

Truly we are an advanced parasite species,

but more shocking is that we have such species living on our backs too and we are for the most part unawares,

the earth will destroy us before we destroy it,

but the self correcting system is bigger than any single planet but it is galactic in scope.

the universe has ways of renewing and regenerating itself it is just that our recorded history only encompases a very limited time line.