Why are humans so unkind? (snakes, snake, dog, evolution)

[claudhopper]

I would have said it's because we are ruled by fear, but this story says it's something else. Power over someone or something else?

A college student in South Carolina set out to determine how to help turtles safely cross the road. He ended up getting a glimpse of the dark side of human nature.
Nathan Weaver of Clemson University put realistic-looking rubber turtles in the middle of a road. Then he got out of the way and watched over the next hour as seven drivers swerved and deliberately ran over the animal.
Several other motorists apparently tried to hit it but missed.
To seasoned researchers, it wasn't all that surprising.
One psychology professor says sometimes humans just feel a need to prove they are the dominant species on this planet by taking a two-ton metal vehicle and squishing a defenseless creature under the tires.

College student's turtle project takes dark twist - Yahoo! News

I will not harm an animal if I can avoid it, I don't understand this at all. Perhaps this is a reason why we need religion, to teach us to be kind and considerate of all beings.

[Grandpa Pipes]

Study the primitive human brain ,and the behaviors it controls, to get a better understanding of why people can be so savage and brutal.

I think you will find that humans have not advanced that far beyond the trees.

[springfieldva]

It's surprising to me that 10 motorists would either hit or try to hit a turtle in the road. I would actually expect that many (if not more) to get out of their cars and carry the turtle to safety - in fact I've witnessed people do things like that over the years. I've also seen plenty of people stop for ducks crossing the road and I've seen people hold up traffic to get dogs off the street.

But to actually swerve and try and hit an animal. That's just really sad.

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by springfieldva

It's surprising to me that 10 motorists would either hit or try to hit a turtle in the road. I would actually expect that many (if not more) to get out of their cars and carry the turtle to safety - in fact I've witnessed people do things like that over the years. I've also seen plenty of people stop for ducks crossing the road and I've seen people hold up traffic to get dogs off the street.

But to actually swerve and try and hit an animal. That's just really sad.

Yeah some humans treat cruelty as a joke. It's tempting to want to run these people over myself, but I'd end up in jail for it lol.

[aquietpath]

Originally Posted by claudhopper

I would have said it's because we are ruled by fear, but this story says it's something else. Power over someone or something else?


College student's turtle project takes dark twist - Yahoo! News

I will not harm an animal if I can avoid it, I don't understand this at all. Perhaps this is a reason why we need religion, to teach us to be kind and considerate of all beings.

I have come across too many "Christians" who treat animals horribly, with their justification being the bible that says man has dominion over animals. Somehow I doubt religion is the answer.

[AGG1659]

While this doesn't surprise me, I can't say I don't know people who would crash a car to avoid an animal, me being one of them. There's a young Buck who makes a point in standing in the road every morning on my way to work early in the morning, I have only seen him on the weekends. Very Strange.

People are sick, there's no denying that, but I'll never stop believing there is good in people. Call me crazy, maybe I can't come to terms with reality, but I just don't believe it doesn't exist.

[gouligann]

People are mamals. All mammals, in fact, all living beings have certain characteristics of their genetic makeup.

Once old enough, our brains (unless we are sociopaths), know the difference between right and wrong, how to be cruel or kind. It is the character, being sick in the head, or a learned (twisted) behaviour of each individual that decides to be cruel to animals or other humans.

Personally, like Trimac20, I'd like to run people over if I saw them purposely running over turtles.

As for religion, some religions are more cruel to animals (sacrifices) than non-religious people. I have very religious "born again" Christian neighbors who don't give a flip about their animals. He shot their dog for getting into porcupine quills, (too cheap to take it to the vet)but shooting it didn't kill it. He left it to suffer until his other neighbor found it laying on a dirt bank beside the road and took care of putting it out of its misery.

[anondragon]

Originally Posted by claudhopper

I would have said it's because we are ruled by fear, but this story says it's something else. Power over someone or something else?


College student's turtle project takes dark twist - Yahoo! News

I will not harm an animal if I can avoid it, I don't understand this at all. Perhaps this is a reason why we need religion, to teach us to be kind and considerate of all beings.

I have been in such situations and have actually almost killed myself trying to avoid animals on the road.
So this does not apply to all of mankind.

I would say, it has nothing to do with the idiotic belief that "Evil" exists in the world.
At the end of the day, its all about culture, upbringing, and education.

For us, swatting down a fly seems normal.
To the tibetans, it is so shocking they will start to pray and cry when they witness such an act.

Interesting but aweful to think about. Some people are just more civilized than others. Simple as that.

[Pretzelogik]

Originally Posted by claudhopper

I would have said it's because we are ruled by fear, but this story says it's something else. Power over someone or something else?


College student's turtle project takes dark twist - Yahoo! News

I will not harm an animal if I can avoid it, I don't understand this at all. Perhaps this is a reason why we need religion, to teach us to be kind and considerate of all beings.

Chimpanzee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia We share 99% of their DNA and they are very aggressive also.

[3DogNight]

I have read a similar article/ study at work (job related), only the glaring difference was it was black snakes. Almost all of the people in the study made a concerted effort to hit snakes for sure. The fact that there are even a few turtles that were avoided in the other study makes me understand 2 things:

1. People have the compassion level of garden variety slugs and must be taught compassion which is a huge hit to the theory of evolution (IMNSHO)
2. If the creature was even remotely perceived as being "cute", the offending jackoff driver gave it a 'pass' and 'granted it the right to live.'

At least that was my perception of what I read between the two studies.