What’s wrong with purposely causing the extinction of animals?

reply to post by andre18


Bull Ants extinct ??

Um....I was at my sisters place over Xmas at Kinglake (if you live anywhere near Melbourne, you know roughly where it is)...

And as it has been every year for the last 10 yrs, bull ants a plenty ?

Explain yourself, please Andre...

Firstly, when you post stuff like this, do your homework...Either based on your own observations,or the observations of someone who has a previously established credible opinion on the matters at hand, or a mix of these two and your own INFORMED opinion...

All we have had thus far is uninformed opinion...ATS deserves better than this

Originally posted by andre18



The Mosquito…The African Bee and Bull Ants…..

Well I would get rid of the Sydney funnelweb before any of these, that is something that definetly needs to go. You could probably get rid of bull ants without much effect as well.

You mentioned snakes before, these I am not so sure as they eat lots of small rodents and if it's one thing you don't want is an explosion in the population of small rodents... if this happens you need to call the pied piper and he can be a real ass to deal with...

reply to post by Rilence


Don’t be like that you know what I mean…..lets say tomorrow these three types of insects become extinct…..our way of life…our society will still go on regardless…

reply to post by andre18


Until you multiply the situation you are talking about over a couple thousand years, then we have problems...

If you're interested in being selfish and only interested in what happens in your lifetime, good for you...

But don't be surprised if a majority of ATS members argue against what you say at every point...

Many of us are as much interested in what happens to the Earth after we die than what happens when we are here...

Just the way a lot of this board is, thankfully...A lot of us give a damn what happens after we're dead and gone

Peace

Am I really reading this stuff? Surely I've fallen into some crazy parallel dimension. This is really, really dangerous talk.

Why do we have to think of everything in terms of what it does or doesn't do for us? This is anthropocentrism of the highest order. Even the people in this thread standing up for the creatures are doing so from the perspective of 'if we kill them, it will have devastating effects on the human race'. That's wrong. Planet earth doesn't belong to mankind. It is not our place to sit here and judge what species does and doesn't deserve to exist. It doesn't matter what effect insects have on us. What matters is that this is their home as much as ours. They're not tenants we can evict when we feel like it. And if you think the earth belongs to mankind, don't forget that the reptiles were here long before we were, and will be here long after we've perished. We share this planet.

The harsh truth:


If anyone really gave a (…..) about animals….they wouldn’t be going to the local shop to buy a kilo of meat….chicken, fish, lamb, cow etc……we kill them everyday….we hunt them for sport….we do lab research on them.

And yet nobody seems to care….just take the next simple step and eradicate them for good…not every single one…just the irritating ones that we really, really, really, don’t need…..look….to me it makes perfect complete sense…..if you want to be a nature loving hippie…go save the Amazon jungle…now that really needs saving……

I'm not going to entertain the troll, I'll entertain myself.

If you want to kill the hundreds of trillions of spiders and ants and bees and snakes and whatever else your mind can think off, go for it.

I'll be long gone by the time your great great crazy grandchildren following in your failed footsteps realize that the sure volume that these creatures reproduce is far to high to eradicate...

but I'm not gonna bother arguing with you just go for it.

your great great grandchildren can let my great great grandchildren know how it went...

Hell while your at it just get rid of all those annoying sharks, I mean its become a real problem those lil bastards sprouting legs and walking onto land and attacking innocent people... i mean who do they think they are coming into our territory...

[edit on 16-1-2008 by C0le]

reply to post by Cythraul


Amen Cythraul

You got it right...Every single living creature on this planet has every right to co-exist with every other creature...

The only time this becomes a problem where one species threatens the existence of another...

In this case we leave it to the Mother to sort things out...

This is the only reasonable way to sort it...Save for reintroducing endangered species, humans are not reliable in deciding which species live or die...

Until you multiply the situation you are talking about over a couple thousand years, then we have problems..

Logically think about the animals…the insects…all the creatures that have already been extinct in the last year…..I don’t see how we are going to be ultimately doomed in a few thousand years because of a few extinct bugs…

This is the most twisted thread I have read in a long time. Mind blowing.

I don't particularly dig insects and as a gardener there are some bugs that I do kill as a matter of course (vine weevils be damned), and there are times when I squeal like a girl when I think something is crawling on me (earwigs yuck), but as I choose not the use any chemicals I learn to manage. I have grown to love wasps because they feed on mosquitos, on lace wings because the see to the aphids, Ants because they tidy up the insects that get squished from time to time and loosen up the soil.

Personally, I would never, ever in a million years even consider moving to Oz because there are poisonous insects and I have my limits. I am sure though that the aboriginals have a far more enlightened attitude to the native bugs, often a vital source of protein in times of food shortage.

It is not the insects that have to go, simply our bad attitude to them that needs adjusting. Every form of life (except vine weevils perhaps) has a purpose, even at a push, humans.

reply to post by andre18


Someone seems to have a problem with those who disagree with his own ideas...the thing is, Andre, you posted your disapproval in the most emotional way, which won't win any hearts or minds...

If you want to argue a position on an issue like this, it has to be factual, but it also needs to have a "human" touch to it, something emotional which will appeal to the lowest common denominator if you need to...

But largely, it needs to be popular, it needs to appeal to most of the people at the time you are arguing it...

You missed your mark...You argued your point cos some mozzies or flies or rats got your goat at some barby....

If your going to post stuff like this, do your homework please...Lest you end up looking very silly like you have...

Likely nobody will take anything else you say here seriously from now on...

One silly rant can break you...

Peace

What’s wrong with purposely causing the extinction of animals?

Advanced AI, if and when it becomes sentient, will inevitably ponder this same question regarding humans. Imagine how it will feel to be judged by beings in a postion to better exercise their free will. If that feeling is undesirable then you've answered your own question.

What's wrong with it? Everything, unless you're willing to experience it yourself.

Jeez people….I’m not talking so much as killing off…..millions of insects and snakes in the world…..just the venomous ones…the lethal ones….the dangerous ones…..

Say next year every single “venomous, lethal and dangerous insect was extinct by the simple effect of nature….what would be the difference between that and us doing the same damn thing…..


[edit on 16-1-2008 by andre18]

Was just doing some research and couldnt believe this its horrid:


due to human activity, there has been an increase in the numbers of animal species becoming extinct:

* 1601-1700 AD: 7 species became extinct
* 1701-1800 AD: 11 species became extinct
* 1801-1900 AD: 27 species became extinct
* 1901-1966 AD: 67 species became extinct


Looks like we need to quit killing off all the animals thats a huge difference in 65 years. Sort of makes me wonder how many species we have killed off since that last one.

Hilda

reply to post by andre18


Mate...Please from now on, you'll run everything you post thru spell check...

Please ???!!!

We aint for ya or against ya , Andre....Most of us here are for what is good for the whole planet...

This is such a delicate balance we are able to live in...If you start taking away large quantities of as you said "venomous or pest critters" if we could run a sim to show you how much the environment would change if this were to happen...

I'd be surprised if we didn't change your mind...

Alas, Me personally, I don't know of such a sim...I can only listen to biologists and microbiologists when it comes to what happens if certain species die out...

Trust me Andre, we ain't attacking you dude...It's just your idea could cause all of us a lot more harm than good

Peace out

Tony

I don’t think anyone is attacking me….

You know…. I used to be like some of you people…..save the earth…..yay….

Until I saw this….

George Carlin - Saving the Planet
www.youtube.com...


[edit on 16-1-2008 by andre18]

Good luck trying to kill of those dangerous insect pests. Even Monsanto, who has managed to completely dominate Western agriculture and pest control still haven't been able to eliminate these insect. Heck, even four of the five extinction level events since the rise of the arthropods you so despise couldn't wipe them out. What makes you think you (or us humans) could do any better?

Besides, the way life works, once you've gotten rid of those dangerous insects, something else will just come in to fill in the blanks. Often times something hardier. Or more dangerous. Case in point -- the depletion of fish stocks. Guess who filled that niche previously taken by fish? Jellyfish. Is that better?

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.
I dunno why she swallowed that fly,
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly -
Perhaps she'll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd, to swallow a bird!
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly -
Perhaps she'll die

Don't mess with the eco system these things are way too intricately balanced to comprehend. Mother Nature takes care of the Earth and we are just a small thread in that gigantic web.
I dont think there's any need to knock over one of the dominos and see where they all lead to. It's just asking for trouble.

After reading all the posts on this honestly understandable thread, I ended up with a picture in my mind of all the venomous spiders, snakes, the flies, ants and anything else you're suggesting we kill off, all sitting in one room (clearly none of them are hungry, or they'd all be eating eachother) talking about those pesky "humans" that seem to be everywhere. The humans that indiscriminantly kill them at the very moment they're seen. The humans that are taking over their habitats and are now talking about eradicating yet even more species.

If I were those bugs, I'd be getting some serious pre-emptive strike plans up and goin'.

The thread is understandable because flies ARE annoying, and venomous snakes and spiders really do pose a danger to us. Countless times I've been "bugged" by flies and just cursed their very existence. But seriously, killing them off would be a tragedy. Even if you completely ignore the ecological damage it would do (which you seem to be ignoring quite well), it would be very very sad to lose all these species, they're just so fasinating and beautiful!

At the risk of sounding like one of those "hippy-types", don't you just look at nature sometimes and marvel at it? One of the most important things Aussie kids are taught is how important and wonderful the environment is. Where were you when these lessons were on?

We can't just go around killing off animals because they get on our nerves sometimes. Get yourself a can of Aeroguard and enjoy life.

I can only imagine what Steve Irwin would have said had he seen this thread. I imagine that he'd be disgusted and very upset by it, and as an Aussie that should mean atleast something to you.

I stopped reading after the first few sentences, because it's just ignorant and ill-informed. The Earth is a biosphere that has a system set up to continuously replicate itself and to change. Things like spiders eat other things like roaches. Roaches have for millions of years scavenged food from waste areas(man made or otherwise biologically created waste matter). Ants and worms burrow, allowing air to actually flow into the soil. Very important task don't you think?

I don't want to be rude because I feel you posted this with all the best intentions to understand why we have these things. But it's a subject covered in life sciences in most school systems. Starting at around 4th or 5th grade. Please, if you have a question such as this, try to realize the absurdity of it, and do some actually research on the matter. Start with wikipedia.org. And think before you post.