Abandoned Forum

[hamster]

Half the world is fascinated by the bizzare world of ants -- these little darlings keep aphid cows, fight wars and even grow fungus farms.

The rest of the world thinks they make a very nice sound as they are crunched underfoot.

Why is that?

[Pimienta]

Because half the world can not fathom the depth of the creatures that surround them

[Math_nerd]

what half are you on?

[Pimienta]

well I used to burn ants before I realized their complexity

now I em undecided

[hamster]

well I used to burn ants before I realized their complexity

now I em undecided

Does complexity always deserve respect? The flu virus is also complex.

[Math_nerd]

Major animal rights issue right there. Is the complexity of the animal importaint, or just that they are alive that gives us our "inalienable rights"?

[hamster]

Major animal rights issue right there. Is the complexity of the animal importaint, or just that they are alive that gives us our "inalienable rights"?

It is interesting. A dead bug by the sidewalk catches no one's attention. A dead squirrel makes a few people sad. A dead St. Bernard warrants the attention of the Animal Control Dept. A dead human brings the whole neighborhood to a halt and inspires a police investigation.

[Pimienta]

that's how some things work
I think it's because we fashion ourselves to be important

[hamster]

that's how some things work
I think it's because we fashion ourselves to be important

We are important. We humans are the only creatures on Earth who will be capable of transporting life to some other planet when this one is about to sink into the sun. Of course, we need to pave and plunder a little less in the meantime.

[thesinofmylips]

Does complexity always deserve respect? The flu virus is also complex.

I think that the flu deserves respect, as it has the ability to survive in conditions we probaly never will be able to survive in and it reproduce at an alarming rate. i suppose it depends what you mean by respect. respecting something (in my view) doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing.

[hamster]

Does complexity always deserve respect? The flu virus is also complex.

I think that the flu deserves respect, as it has the ability to survive in conditions we probaly never will be able to survive in and it reproduce at an alarming rate. i suppose it depends what you mean by respect. respecting something (in my view) doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing.

The flu survives inside chicken cells. We humans survive by eating chicken cells, preferably seasoned with honey mustard sauce or rosemary. Maybe we are not that different after all.

[nil]

It is interesting. A dead bug by the sidewalk catches no one's attention. A dead squirrel makes a few people sad. A dead St. Bernard warrants the attention of the Animal Control Dept. A dead human brings the whole neighbourhood to a halt and inspires a police investigation.

If you look from the bug's point of view (say, assuming we are one of the bugs in Bug's Life), we would surly see things the other way around. A dead bug might means the pass away of some war heroes or pioneer explorers. And any other dead organisms only means there will be a big feast around the neighbourhood.

[thesinofmylips]

to hamster,
And of course humans are important, but just to be padantic, by the time the sun has run out of helium and therefore started to swell up into a red giant and consume our planet, the sun will be close enough to vapourise most of the other planets and the remaining are impossible to live on, especially without sun warmth, we'll just freeze. and even if the sun didn't explode, the momentum of the big bang which causes every thing to spin will wear off (there are some space particles that cause miniscule amounts of friction that slows the orbit of planets) and the gravitational pull of every thing will overcome the kinetic energy of the big bang and every thing will crash into each other and potentially cause another big bang, out of the big bang comes a spinning cloud of gas, molecules will collect at certain points and build up overtime to create planets, and a completely different universe will develop. that's the theory anyways.

[trumpetprodigy]

In my opinion, with regards to the ants, I must agree with "survival of the fittest". We are more fit, and can squash ants, and to bad for them. I use to like ants. I would observe their behavior and thought they were really cool. Then I got bit.

[Math_nerd]

to thesinofmylips: but even then, the matter would eventualy loose all energy and you would have nothing packed vary tightly.


To trumpetprodigy: and then you squash them. interesting view