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Not to argue it shouldn't be, but why do we see life as more "special" as opposed to say, rocks or gamma rays or fusing hydrogen atoms?
From a non-living perspective, it seems there are lots of forces/reactions/natural phenenon in the universe that are far more important and have a far greater effect on the whole. To a hypothetical sentient energy alien, life would be simply a chemical reaction gone a bit wild, hardly different than a metamorphic rock or crystals that have "grown" because of a favorable environment.
Not to argue it shouldn't be, but why do we see life as more "special" as opposed to say, rocks or gamma rays or fusing hydrogen atoms?
From a non-living perspective, it seems there are lots of forces/reactions/natural phenenon in the universe that are far more important and have a far greater effect on the whole. to a hypothetical sentient energy alien, life would be simply a chemical reaction gone a bit wild, hardly different than a metamorphic rock or crystals that have "grown" because of a favorable environment.
Because rocks or gamma rays or fusing hydrogen atoms aren't taxpayers and can't vote. It's why we can spay or neuter our pets, but not the worst of humanity. Or put animals out of their misery, but not grandma. If they have "something to offer the system," they need to be able to contribute as long as possible, either financially, or with further contribution to the tax-paying polulation.
A sense of determined "sacred-ness" stems from the ancient spirituality myth that we're somehow "special", that we were placed here "for a special reason", but mostly "to have dominion over this earth and it's lesser inhabitants...", via a carefully crafted and then specifically written directive from above.
So we've languished in that muddy, arrogant, hubris-soaked silliness for several millenia, but now we know so much better, don't we, Chango?
It's a wonderful liberating feeling (for me at least...) to realize that we're just another evolved organism who has, for the present at least, made it a bit futha up the IQ ladder (some might day that's to our detriment, and I might have to agree, since we seem to have left the common sense gene behind us a few millennia back...)
You know, can we imagine how those T-Rexs must have "felt" just a day or so before the Chixulub meteorite hit?
"Man, it's good to be at the top of our form! We'be dah man (so to speak...)"
It's interesting to think that despite the fact that we hold life in such high regard, the things that gross us out the worst are leavings and byproducts of life, like feces, dead and rotting former life, various discharges from living creatures, the insides of life, ugly or malformed life, ect ect.
I've never stopped to think about it, but this whole life thing is pretty nasty...
This is where consciousness comes in. We don't exactly know what it is, yet (Daniel Dennet has an excellent book about it called Consciousness Explained). We are all aware we are conscious animals, and we know how beautiful and wonderful life is. We know we're all affected by pain, for example. So if we understand pain hurts, why would we want to inflict pain upon another animal with the same consciousness as ours?
Sam Harris has a great lecture on how science can help us define our morals. He basically explains that we should strive to alleviate the suffering of conscious animals. This is humans, dogs, cats, etc. Anything that can feel pain and has the ability to experience suffering should be prevented from feeling so as long as it's within our power.
This is where consciousness comes in. We don't exactly know what it is, yet (Daniel Dennet has an excellent book about it called Consciousness Explained). We are all aware we are conscious animals, and we know how beautiful and wonderful life is. We know we're all affected by pain, for example. So if we understand pain hurts, why would we want to inflict pain upon another animal with the same consciousness as ours?
Sam Harris has a great lecture on how science can help us define our morals. He basically explains that we should strive to alleviate the suffering of conscious animals. This is humans, dogs, cats, etc. Anything that can feel pain and has the ability to experience suffering should be prevented from feeling so as long as it's within our power.
Quite simply, "we" refuse to believe other animals have the same consciousness as ours. That would make us too much like cannibals.
It's interesting to think that despite the fact that we hold life in such high regard, the things that gross us out the worst are leavings and byproducts of life, like feces, dead and rotting former life, various discharges from living creatures, the insides of life, ugly or malformed life, ect ect.
I've never stopped to think about it, but this whole life thing is pretty nasty...
Life itself is more wonderful than you could possibly comprehend.
If life is not sacred, none of us have the right to live.
I hope programmers remember to insert the idea that "life is sacred" into computers when they start building AI capable machines in the next couple decades... that one could come back to bite us if we continue to operate under the assumption that it's self-evident that we are "special".
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And then, it all ended! Sacred... smayk-red!
