A world without tigers (1104 hits)
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Submitted by ampersand (View user info) at 2007-04-27 14:18:44 EDT
A while ago I wrote a post on the point of life. With the help of Dickens, I reached the conclusion that "if you can honestly say that to yourself at the end of the day, that you really made even one person's life better, you're doing all right."
Since then I've lived a whole lot of days in which I didn't make a single persons life better in any way shape or form, and I've decided that I'm alright with that. Partly because most of those days no one else made my life better in any way shape or form either. But mostly because I realized how bad my logic was. If it's your purpose to make my life better, and its my purpose to make your life better...then what the fuck?
How bout instead of sticking our noses in everyone else business all the time, I keep my sticky little hands off your life, you keep your greasy little fingers off mine, and we'll both tend our own lives instead? Since I know more about my life than you do anyways, it stands to reason that I'll be better at improving my life then you will as well. Really, the only person who can make me happy is me. You could make me happier, but not if I don't make myself happy first.
Birds don't sing when they fly, they're far too busy flying. They sing when they're trying to attract a mate and they sing when they're stuck in a cage. The bird that sings in his cage will leave it if you open the door for him. The bird that's silent might just stay there. The only person who can make me happy is me.
If my value is intrinsic in yours, and yours is intrinsic in mine...then do we have any value at all? No, we don't. We're each just an extremely elaborate structure of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen oxygen and a few other things too. The value and equality of human life are post-industrial concepts. In Greek thought (perhaps not in the thought of a common Greek, but of many philosophers at least), the body was a prison of the soul. In Mesopotamia, Egypt and Shang China servants, even very highly ranked ones who lived well in life, would gladly commit ritual suicide when their master died in order to have his protection in the afterlife (though this practice didn't last all that long in any case). Many middle eastern civilizations practiced king-killing, theorizing that their king was a manifestation of their main deity, the felt that as he got old and weak he was not as effective and must therefore die for the sake of his people.
It wasn't until the renaissance that even a spark of the idea that life was in and of itself valuable, but even then, it was only the life of certain people, ie certain wealthy people. The plebes were left to their own (meager) devices as they always had been, and life for them was awful as it always had been (witness the French Revolution). But, as living organisms, we grow and adapt and respond to stimuli whether we like it or not. So we might as well like it.
So why did the industrial revolution bring about this suddenly PC view of things? Because the industrial revolution killed Darwinism. Human life wasn't inherently valuable before because it was weak and easily extinguished. He who was valued, be he Julius Caesar or Michelangelo Buonarroti, was valued for being exceptional, not simply for being. They were gods among men, men among boys, tigers among rats. But then antibiotics came along, Pasteur came along, hospitals came along and the rats stopped dying.
I would far rather be a tiger then a rat myself, but if there's one thing I know it's that there will be rats in this world long after the last tiger dies (thank the industrial revolution for that). A single tiger is strong; a single rat is weak. But while rats as a species have never been better, tigers as a species, pushed aside by the colossus that is post-industrialized humanity, are almost gone from this earth. And if there are two things I know, it's that there will one day be a world without tigers. And if you know anything about ecology, you know that removing a keystone predator from an environment is a very bad idea. Get rid of the tigers and the rats run wild.
The last bell tolled for Rome nearly 300 years after the civilization hit its peak. Fortunately, its eastern offshoot lasted another thousand years after Oadocer decided the title imperator just wasn't really worth a damn anymore. And fortunately there were other civilizations in the world besides the Romans.
I can get from where I live to basically any other major center of population in the world in a day or less. There is only one civilization in the world today. Where will Constantine go when it falls?
User Reviews
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2007-05-18 13:48:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by no1hasdis (user info) at 2007-05-18 13:39:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by LisaD (user info) at 2007-05-18 13:37:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by hoojAmAphut (user info) at 2007-04-30 15:21:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I like the idea behind it... liked the thought you were going for...
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2007-04-29 11:17:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I initially read that title as "A World Without Niggers"
I may need to go on some kind of course...
Submitted by TuTs (user info) at 2007-04-29 10:36:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
And of course everyone on uber thinks that they are a tiger.
Submitted by DCWoody (user info) at 2007-04-28 16:04:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
interesting, not really accurate, but interesting.
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2007-04-28 13:50:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by ampersand (user info) at 2007-04-28 13:35:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
hi method.
Istaros--All that is fair enough, but the point I was trying to make was that in virtually every one of the 'original' complex societies (a category to which the greek do not belong) the afterlife was the highlight of existence, as opposed to the present life (witness the burial practices of the Egyptians). They had no qualms about sacrificing people who did not want to be sacrificed as well. Christian Europe held the same principles (regarding the afterlife, not sacrifice) until the renaissance started to mix things up a bit. I dont know as much about Islamic societies as I would like, but I imagine as an extension of Christianity, they hold similar ideas regarding the afterlife.
Its also a natural human trait to proscribe your own beliefs onto others. Those people were more different from us then you might imagine.
"Those who practice philosophy in the right way are in training for dying" (Phaedo 67e)
Submitted by Istaros (user info) at 2007-04-28 09:47:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
the only problem with this is you're using very specific criteria for 'value,' which is by its nature subjective.
human life has always been valued. most societies just didn't see alien societies as fully human. as for your examples; in greek thought, the soul was valued, which didn't generally lead to self-mutilation but rather expounding on how to live better. in the example of the servants, sponsorship and loyalty were valued. in the middle east, the greater social good was valued. today? life itself.
but the thing is, all of these are things that serve to further humanity's -at least, your own society's specific chunk of humanity- success as a species. we're not any more open-minded and tolerant today than we have been in the past. it seems that way, but it probably seemed that way to those cultures too. it's a natural human trait to see yourself, and your people, as distinct from the rest of the world and its history. but it's a bit of an illusion. we value life because we're better off, as a species, for doing so. and it's the exact same reason that any of those other behaviors were taken.
Submitted by Method (user info) at 2007-04-28 09:26:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Hi.
Submitted by messmind (user info) at 2007-04-28 06:29:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by bart (user info) at 2007-04-28 00:41:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
wow, that was awesome
Yes it was...
Submitted by bart (user info) at 2007-04-28 00:41:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
wow, that was awesome
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2007-04-27 22:07:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Teeph: http://www.ubersite.com/u/JohnGalt
HAR HAR IM AN ASS
Submitted by Teephphah (user info) at 2007-04-27 20:34:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Who is John Galt?
Submitted by messmind (user info) at 2007-04-27 20:08:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by ampersand (user info) at 2007-04-27 19:29:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Obviously you havent heard that I have three pet tigers whom I use exclusively to hunt rats (and sometimes for transportation, you wouldn't believe some of the tickets I get for that though). As far as I know in fact these are the only tigers still alive in the world, so my metaphor is perfect. PERFECT!
Submitted by MidnightToSix (user info) at 2007-04-27 17:36:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
YOUR DAMMIT
Submitted by MidnightToSix (user info) at 2007-04-27 17:36:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Obviously you've never heard of land shark.
Anyway, citing "They were gods among men, men among boys, tigers among rats." you were using these metaphorically. Would you rather I have said weasel? Or if you didn't know, tigers really don't care about rats at all, so you're metaphor breaks down upon application.
Maybe, domesticated cats is what you were going for?
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Submitted by ampersand (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:08:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
i'm not sure how to break this to you, but sharks live under water.
Submitted by Director (user info) at 2007-04-27 17:22:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by shitfuck (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:14:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I got head from a shark twice.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2007-04-27 16:27:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It occurred to me while I was reading this post that the problem with striving to make other people happy is that you can't always know what will make another person happy. Everyone has to find their own path.
I was going somewhere with that but I got distracted when the woman in the next cube had yet another one of her slam the phone fights with her husband. I don't get the feeling that it is a happy marriage. In fact I'm pretty sure that they are staying together for the kids, or rather for the help with the kids. Today's argument is that she's going to have to work this weekend. Not that she has to, in fact I'm pretty sure she doesn't but she wants to because on Friday afternoons when everyone else is talking about what they are going to do this weekend she seems to derive some sort of pleasure by crawling up on her cross because she is the only one in the entire corporation doing any work and specifically any work this weekend.
As I'm typing I can hear her sighing in that melodramatic way she has when she doesn't feel like she's getting the proper accolades for all she does around here.
Now the thing is, she does work a lot. By that I mean that she typically is at her desk around the time the rest of us are dragging ourselves out of bed for the day - not kidding I have seen e-mails with time stamps of 6:00 am on a regular basis. Then she usually leaves about the same time the rest of us do so clearly she's logging more hours than we are. She also screws around a lot while she's here.
I recognize the irony of my saying that while sitting at my desk clearly screwing around and not working, but I'm not the one making loud melodramatic sighing noises about working this weekend.
If this were anyone else in the entire office I would pop over there with my friendly, helpful face on and ask if I could do something to help out so she wouldn't have to work all weekend. I am not going to do that though because she doesn't want any help. She never wants any help. If someone helped her out then she would lose the little bit of pleasure she has in life by being more important and harder working than the rest of us.
Besides, if she didn't have to work this weekend she would have to spend all weekend with her family and she certainly does not want to do that. No doubt she will hole up in her den at home warmed by the blue glow of her computer screen grinding out reports of some kind and biting her husband's head off if he so much as suggests that she do something other than hole up in the den.
Me? I'm going to the mountains this weekend. We're taking the bikes and will probably also do a bit of hiking. THAT is what makes me happy. If it makes her happy to work all weekend then who am I to judge.
And now I must away. People are gathering around the water cooler. I'm off to shoot the shit for a few minutes and then I will walk out and not even think about reports or audits or queries until Monday morning.
Submitted by Zampano (user info) at 2007-04-27 16:06:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I don't know why...I really don't...but I somehow went into this thinking it was going to be a Calvin & Hobbes tribute.
What I read instead was very well written...but pretty much what Zebra said.
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:52:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Constantine will have more time to deport half-breeds back to hell.
self serving prick...
oh sorry, good post, well said.
Submitted by icarus1987 (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:43:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
There'll always be another tiger. With any luck, and with the lack of convenient, portable sources or renewable energy, humanity's going to get wiped out in the next ice age. Then it's just a few tens of thousands of years until the next major feline predator comes along.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:37:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Where will Constantine go when it falls?
------
He'll go on American Idol, naturally.
Submitted by EmissionImpossible (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:34:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yeah, an intellectual post on an interesting subject instead of the same old Iraq subject.
Refreshing.
Submitted by AsshOly (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:32:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Now that I have actually read this, I just want to say that this is an absolutely fantastic post.
Submitted by rob_berg (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:28:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was excellent. Very well written.
... and pretty much what Zebra said.
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:25:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
What Zebra said.
Submitted by Hilarity_Ensues (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:23:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I really liked this. Very nice post to read on a Friday afternoon before getting off work. Thanks :)
Submitted by AsshOly (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:22:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
is a world i would not want to live in
Submitted by beeltea (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:19:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by ampersand (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:08:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
i'm not sure how to break this to you, but sharks live under water.
Submitted by Zebra (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:17:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Very nicely written.
Although, in terms of humanity, I think there will always be tigers.
While I don't agree with your philosophy, this type of post is lovely to see.
Submitted by EmoJean (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:16:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
There was a special on TV about how Yellowstone's trees were not reginerating and they traced it back to the 30's. The 30's also represented when the last wolf was shot in Yellowstone. They since reintroduced the wolf and the areas are regenerating again. Its a long explaination but essentially without a major predator the circle of life within an ecosystem becomes unbalanced.
Submitted by shitfuck (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:14:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I got head from a shark twice.
Submitted by ampersand (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:08:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
i'm not sure how to break this to you, but sharks live under water.
Submitted by MidnightToSix (user info) at 2007-04-27 15:06:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
For every tiger there's at least one shark. When your tigers are gone, the sharks will feast on the rats.
Submitted by St_Jimmy (user info) at 2007-04-27 14:36:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Humanity desparately needs a predator.
If you haven't seen it yet, you should rent Idiocracy. That movie shows what the world will be like without your tigers.
http://tinyurl.com/2gw8wz
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2007-04-27 14:35:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Me too.