I human, the Ultimate Parasite.

[Jonti]

I may be able to help explain the English expression "glass-half-empty".

It concerns optimism and pessimism. The idea is that a cheerful optimist will, on seeing he has consumed half of his beverage, notice that the glass is yet half full. But the gloomy pessimist in the same position will see a glass which is half empty.

It's a bit obscure, but it is a common English expression which practically every native speaker (in Britain, at any rate) understands.

 

[weltweit]

I think humans are parasitic on the earth in a similar way to which Ivy is parasitic on the trees in a wood.

There cannot be more Ivy than the trees in the wood can support, the ivy population is limited by that, likewise humans who, with the exception of China, make little effort to control their populations will in due course (perhaps you could argue economics limits human pop a bit) be limited by the planets ability to support them.

Climate change is likely to change the parts of the planet that can support large populations of humans.

Dictionary - Parasite: an animal or plant that lives in or on another.

So no humans are not parasites in the strict sense of the word, but human life is dependent on conditions.

 

[Aldebaran]

I may be able to help explain the English expression "glass-half-empty".

Thank you for the explanation.
I think I'm seeing it as totally, profoundly empty but then... I'm also aware of it that I am giving into my cynical mood.
Doesn't make my OP any less relevant in my view but possibly if I now try to find some sleep as I should have done hours ago, I shall see the glass half-full in a few hours when I wake up. I can't give any guarantee...it can get worse...

salaam.

 

[Aldebaran]

Dictionary - Parasite: an animal or plant that lives in or on another.

So no humans are not parasites in the strict sense of the word, but human life is dependent on conditions.

Humans are living by digging into the Earth's living and non-living resources by all means they can invent and also live litteraly on them.
That is exactly what I refer to.

salaam.

 

[Jonti]

To describe humans as parasitic does sound a bit odd, but in a sense, all animal life is parasitic on plant life. Animals feed off plants, but plants make their own food.

And some attempts to define what is meant by "life" turn out to apply not just to what we'd see as individual organisms but also to ecosystems as a whole. That's not so surprising in a way, for no organism exists in isolation -- they only occur within an ecosystem of some sort.

We should be just a part of the Earth's ecosystem ("Gaia"), but our numbers are so vast, and our demands so greedy, that a disproportionate amount of the ecosystem is being co-opted to feeding us and processing our waste. The Earth is like a body infested with too many microorganisms to function properly.

So yes, you can make a good case for saying humans have become parasitic on Gaia, the Earth's ecosystem taken as a whole.

Time for bed, I think

 

[J77]

I put something along the lines of my views on this in another thread:

Looking at how fast the human race has evolved - particularly over the last 100 or so years - I don't think we'll be around forever.

Greed and ambition to succeed are destroying the planet.

I think it's just in human nature to have a certain selfish drive to succeed - and the easiest way to succeed as a country seems to be through industry.

I don't blame countries like India and China from going hammer-and-tongues towards industrial life - I can see that from their view point, the West did this to succeed.

And if we want to be less parasitic, who are we to stop those which are trying to climb the ladder?

This may sound slightly contradictory to what I've posted about the environment in ''general'' today... mainly because my ramble has gone over to the question of superiority - which I find as bad as denial in environmental issues.

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

the sickest thing would be if another mammalian species became totally self-aware and started getting all technological and linguistic and shit. competition

mate seeign as chimpe have just learned to use spears int he last few years it hink this is going to happen... then we'll have the mokey wars

 

[Aldebaran]

To describe humans as parasitic does sound a bit odd, but in a sense, all animal life is parasitic on plant life. Animals feed off plants, but plants make their own food.

Not all life is feeding on plant life. There are parasite plants. There are carnivore plants.
Overall you have a point with saying that "plants make their own food". (A process I still find fascinating)

So yes, you can make a good case for saying humans have become parasitic on Gaia, the Earth's ecosystem taken as a whole.

Much, if not all, of this catastrophic evolution is induced by what humans so much like to refer to as "progress".

salaam.

 

[merlin wood]

Humans aren't parasitic - some of our behaviours are parasitic, some symbiotic (weltwiet clearly taking the 'only big species count' route when thinking about human behaviour). Take a look at the ecosystems that have developed in tandem with agriculture, or the nascent ecosystems developing in cities (bearing in mind the modern city has only been around about 2/300 years) in which a variety of flora and fauna are finding or carving out new niches.

At present you can confortably argue that we're on the wrong side of many aspects of environmental behaviour - but then nature is more than capable of wiping out entrie ecosystems and species in one fell swoop all on it's own.

All this 'parasite' business is unwarranted - we need to change and redically, but nah, a parasite?

I'd call the maltreatment of animals we use as food for commercial ends definitely parasitic: such as especially battery chicken farming.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Was there ever a species on earth as agressively parasitical as the human species?
Was there an other species that within such a limited time of its evolution (less then a nanosecond in the history of the Earth) left such a destructive, changing, irreparable footprint on the planet – and beyond - everywhere that species breaths?
Shall the Human manage to further parasite this planet until he fully and irreparably destroyed the habitat of all other species?
Shall this then automatically lead to the distinction of the Human or shall the Human be able to survive the catastrophe of his own existence.

What are your thoughts?

salaam.

It's a giant load of crap. Only a religionist could have the sort of 'separate from nature' worldview that would allow for this sort of arrogance.

 

[SpookyFrank]

All i know is that if one were to consider the Earth to a be a single living organism then one would be forced to acknowledge that cities are cancers- sucking in valuable resources and spewing out toxic waste; perpetually growing and destroying their surroundings; and even stimulating growth of new networks to supply their vast appetites, just like tumours do

How do we save Britain? Chemotherapy- pump toxic chemicals into London's water supply until the cancer cells can no longer survive. If Gaia had a brain it's what she'd do, trust me.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

What is the perfect condition of Gaia? The way it was fifty years ago? Fifty thousand? Fifty million?

 

[Jonti]

Philosophy 101 for JC2

How does the fact one can identify sickness imply there is such a thing as perfection?

 

[Aldebaran]

Philosophy 101 for JC2

I can't read his posts, he is on IL. Looks like as if I don't miss anything, as expected

salaam.

 

[Aldebaran]

I'd call the maltreatment of animals we use as food for commercial ends definitely parasitic: such as especially battery chicken farming.

Not only that. Humans managed to invade and occupy the most remote corners of the planet and the groups that manage to live in harmony with their natural environment become more and more rare.

salam.

 

[8ball]

What is the perfect condition of Gaia? The way it was fifty years ago? Fifty thousand? Fifty million?

10.20am GMT 5th March 1994.

While I was getting my first blow-job.

<goes misty-eyed at memory>

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

I can't read his posts, he is on IL. Looks like as if I don't miss anything, as expected

salaam.

Of course you have me on ignore. It's because you're afraid to answer my questions about Islam.

Intellectual cowardice is an unseemly trait in a 'scholar'.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Philosophy 101 for JC2

How does the fact one can identify sickness imply there is such a thing as perfection?

Who taught you philosophy: Donald Duck?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Not only that. Humans managed to invade and occupy the most remote corners of the planet and the groups that manage to live in harmony with their natural environment become more and more rare.

salam.

But the 'new harmony', is the ability to adapt to the presence of humans.

 

[8ball]

I really can't see the point of the ignore list.

I've tried using it but it's like putting one person on 'mute' in a group conversation where they can all still hear each other.

Weird it is.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

I really can't see the point of the ignore list.

I've tried using it but it's like putting one person on 'mute' in a group conversation where they can all still hear each other.

Weird it is.

I once invited some poster I cant remember to put me on ignore. Aldy leapt on it, and put me on ignore. He couldn't wait. No more tough questions for Aldy!

 

[Jonti]

JC2 insults and disrupts, but does not answer. To me, his style looks trollish and cowardly.

Again, in response to JC2's post #42, how does the fact one can identify sickness imply there is such a thing as perfection?

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

JC2 insults and disrupts, but does not answer. To me, his style looks trollish and cowardly.

Again, in response to JC2's post #42, how does the fact one can identify sickness imply there is such a thing as perfection?

The identification of sickness implies wellness.

 

[Aldebaran]

I really can't see the point of the ignore list.
I've tried using it but it's like putting one person on 'mute' in a group conversation where they can all still hear each other.

Why would that bother you if you are not interested to pay attention to the mute's sign language.

salaam.

 

[Jonti]

The identification of sickness implies wellness.

... and wetness implies perfection?

 

[8ball]

Why would that bother you if you are not interested to pay attention to the mute's sign language.

salaam.

Because it's like listening to half a telephone conversation.

 

[Jonti]

I find that threads sometimes make more sense with one or two participants switched off, especially if they're in the habit of confidently spouting nonsense.

I guess it's because the nonsense doesn't make sense -- but the rebuttals do!

 

[Aldebaran]

Because it's like listening to half a telephone conversation.

If you can hear those you want to hear, why do you care what those you aren't interested in hearing have to say?

salaam.

 

[8ball]

Because they're interacting with the people I do want to hear and half a text conversation often doesn't make very much sense.

 

[Aldebaran]

how does the fact one can identify sickness imply there is such a thing as perfection?

Sickness is only validated by and within its relation to the - subjective - idea of health.

Perfection incorporates existence of imperfection, but exists independent thereof.

salaam.