"Without our intelligence and the abilities that gave us to use nature we wouldn't be in this position. It also gives us the ability to see what cost our expansion as a species is having on the rest of the planet."
So are we a part of nature or not?
"Best of all it lets us reason to the extent we can judge right and wrong as individuals, although that's an area easily distorted with enough peer pressure."
We've been at the right/wrong question since the year dot with zero progress, all we have are conflicting opinions.
"Compared to us other life is innocent."
Shark eats man, innocent? Man eats shark, innocent?The concept of "guilt and innocence" is a human construct, along with rights.We haven't even established the basics if we can't get past that.
"You can distort it all you like but we have a responsibility to behave better than we have and are."
Who's doing the distorting? I just question your assumptions.
"The rate of increase might well be slowing, there's not much left to for it to feed on."
If that were the case then we might expect to see growing poverty at the very least, greater hunger etc. Do we see that? Or do we see rising living standards worldwide?
"You know full well that a drastic and rapid population reduction would be a huge mistake. It needs to be slow and orderly, much slower than the expansion of recent times."
I thought that the so-called population crisis demanded immediate action, not just when we get around to it. Those who call for action on this alleged problem all call for action now. Where do you and they differ ? To use the term "you know full well" comes across as quite arrogant, and a little premature when the topic being discussed isn't settled in the first place.
"That can be achieved through incentives to keep families to a reasonable size. Just the awareness and need to conform to the needs of a changing society might be enough?"
Perhaps in western countries where birthrates are falling anyhow for other reasons. It seems affluence and industrialization is the greatest contraceptive of all. What about China/India/Africa etc, where the greatest population increases are likely to be? Countries with strong traditions of big families.World population is likely to keep rising albeit at a slower rate.How are you going to make them reduce their populations and would that be racist? "Quite happy with racist thanks, it's more easily identified with bigoted views. We are after all, the human race."
"Bigoted views" what the??Is that another term you just read in PC WeeklyLOL.
OK, practical animal ethics question for you now seeing that we are talking of human/animal interactions/rights/anthropomorphising etc. I am typing this with one hand as in the other I have an injured guinea fowl chick. My silky terrier attacked him this morning and gave him a bit of a chew before I dragged him off. Q1/ Should I have denied my dog some fun as it is in his nature?He wouldn't eat it,he would just like to kill it. Was I wrong to intervene and would I be a "bad" person if I didn't?
Q2/ It is injured, though still chirping but unable to walk? Should I kill it as it wouldn't survive in the wild in that condition? Should I just put it outside and let it take its chances(=almost certain death, but natural)?
