What makes human life so valuable?

[Coyote]

I thought I would start this thread, given some of what was discussed in the abortion thread. Recently, I listened to a fascinating show about dolphins on the radio.

Exploring The Wild And Haunting World Of Dolphins NPR and Are Whales And Dolphins Cultural Beings 13.7 Cosmos And Culture NPR

Writer Susan Casey tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies about an instance in which a scientist who was watching dolphins hunt noticed that they suddenly bolted for deeper water. He followed them and found that the dolphins had formed a circle.

"In the center of the circle there was a young girl floating with a suicide note," Casey says. "And she was very close to dead, but she wasn't dead. ... The girl was saved."

Every time we seek to define what is unique about humanity...we end up adjusting the goalposts because some new finding indicates other species have attained the mark.

What makes human life in and of itself better or more worth preserving than any other life?

 

[westwall]

In general nothing. Other than the ability to think, reason, and improve things. I always loved George Carlins take on Mother Nature. "What if Mother Nature decided she wanted styrofoam? Maybe she made man to make her the styrofoam she desired"

Obviously I'm paraphrasing but the one thing that man can do, that would benefit all of the critters on this planet, is build an asteroid defense system. At least once in the past all life came very close to being snuffed out by an asteroid impact. Man is the first creature to come along, on this planet, that has the ability to prevent that from occurring again.

All that the global warming BS has done, is steal money from scientists who actually could do something to avert a catastrophe the likes of which we will likely not survive.

 

[Derideo_Te]

Great OP topic!

There is scientific data that demonstrates that animals can reach spiritual trance states similar to our own. Healing animals such as dogs visiting the sick have helped raise spirits and shorten recovery times.

With that in mind it strikes me that human life is not better or more worthy of preservation that any other species.

What we lose sight of is that we are as much a part of the planetary ecosystem as all the other life forms and yes, we are altering the ecosystem for our own benefit at the expense of other life.

No, we don't have a "divine right" to harm the planet's ecosystems because we are merely the custodians holding it in trust for the generations to come of all species.

Anyone who has every interacted with another species comes to the realization that there is intelligence that exists that is unlike our own. Simply because we can't understand it doesn't mean that it isn't there.

So no, we don't have the right to put ourselves on a pedestal and claim that we are better or more worthy of preservation that any other species IMO.

Peace
DT

 

[JQPublic1]

In general nothing. Other than the ability to think, reason, and improve things. I always loved George Carlins take on Mother Nature. "What if Mother Nature decided she wanted styrofoam? Maybe she made man to make her the styrofoam she desired"

Obviously I'm paraphrasing but the one thing that man can do, that would benefit all of the critters on this planet, is build an asteroid defense system. At least once in the past all life came very close to being snuffed out by an asteroid impact. Man is the first creature to come along, on this planet, that has the ability to prevent that from occurring again.

All that the global warming BS has done, is steal money from scientists who actually could do something to avert a catastrophe the likes of which we will likely not survive.

I could almost agree with everything you said with the exception that man improves things. I think man has caused more harm than good to the environment and the entire biosphere. Pollution is everywhere and human kind is suffering from it. Entire swaths of radiation contaminated ocean and land imperils life.

IMHO man's nuclear capability is more of a looming threat than an asteroid. technology serves man, it does not serve the earth!

 

[Statistikhengst]

Outstanding OP topic.

If I understood the story correctly, then those dolphins displayed a huge amount of - humanity, perhaps more than many humans.

Is indeed food for thought.