Humanity the dominant race? Page 2

Started by Talon January 26th, 2014 1:14 PM
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Talon

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Some of your responses have been completely foolish, not saying your wrong by any means, it's your opinion and you do with it what you want, but I have to disagree.

I do not believe that we are the dominant species.


If cheetahs became sapient, and decided that they didn't like that human race and wanted it gone. We would die. Cheetahs would outsmart us, outrun us, and overpower us.

We are not the most populated species on earth, but does that make the dominant species? If so, then insects are dominant.
If it's by brute strength, then something like a rhino or bear or gorilla would be the dominant.
If it's by intellect, then it is not us. Dolphins are more intelligent than we, but our brains are more developed. If we took the intellect of the smartest animal, and infused it with a human brain, it may very well create the smartest and most intelligent living thing.
If you base it off of anything, it's not us. Other than the ability to use tools. But we are not the only species that does use them.
We are just average animals, whose brains developed faster than anything else. Our brains are still growing.

Your children will be smarter than you, almost guaranteed due to the development of studies and knowledge.

The human race is very foolish. Humans don't just kill each other over petty things, like some people were saying, some of them kill for the thrill of killing. They do it just to say that they have. We don't even think twice about it.
Other animals kill each other, but have more reasons. The Black Window will kill it's husband, but not for some petty reason. If they don't, all of the children will die, as the male will eat them. It's life or death for them.

The human race is not the most intelligent, it is the smartest race, but a Chimpanzee can learn faster than we can.

Scientists have tracked the ability of things from Apes, to Fish using tools. We are not the only ones that do. Some species of apes and monkeys have even been seen communicating in more human ways than ever before. They are evolving and learning in the same way we have. They are becoming more intelligent, and so are we.

Our intelligence will plateau eventually. We will know so much that the brain can not retain anymore information. By the time this happens however, apes and chimps will have developed into so called "Super-Humans". They are already stronger than us, and they will be just as smart as us, and they will become more like us. Chimps in specific, are almost identical copies of us.

The human an chimp DNA is so similar that they are almost certain to develop into something like us.

In my opinion, and after researching animals that are better than us in every way, I do with all my heart believe that we are not the most dominant races. One of the most dominant species, yes. But no the MOST dominant.
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Seen November 22nd, 2014
Posted November 21st, 2014
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ANARCHit3cht, I pose to you two simple questions: Out of the 7+ billion people in the world, how many would have fire arms just lying around? And how many out of the 7+ billion would know how to use said fire arms? Keep in mind there are some countries, like Japan and England, that do not even allow the possession of fire arms.

Simple fact of the matter is that you keep saying that our intellect is our natural ability, yet when faced with the situations I posed, you demand to give someone an advanced weapon instead of what occurs in nature itself.

I will admit that in our society, we are the dominant ones, because we carved a niche for ourselves, using technology as the base. And I will humor you with a scenario more to your liking. Let's say, as earlier, we drop someone of average intellect into the Sahara with the same water proportionate to the amount that the lizards and scorpions store. What are the odds of that person coming back alive? I will tell you: they don't. Given the same amount of water in proportion, a human of average intellect will still die. Why? Because the common human barely has a sense of direction anymore. And if you want, we will give them a compass, just for the hell of it. They would still not know which way to head in the sea of sand, and would most likely die from dehydration, simply because we do not have a built-in instinct of water conservation like the lizards and scorpions.

Or, as someone else stated, drop a person of average intellect into an ocean, with all the gear they'd need to survive. They would still end up dead, simply because the average person does not know how to use the equipment given to him. It does not matter if you know how, or if I know how, most people don't, which is why there are classes to teach people how to use the equipment. Our intellect does not mean we can look at something and instantly know how to use it, as that would take the intellect of a genius, and in this day and age, most people are not geniuses.

So, to conclude: Yes, as long as we stick to our niche in the world, we are the dominant species. However, if you toss the average person into the wild with the tools to survive but not the knowledge on how to use all of the equipment, they will die. You see, technology has made us lazy as a species. What do we have to fear as long as we technology?

And, just as a final statement to prove we are not as dominant as most would like to believe, I would like to point to some of the smallest organisms: parasites. Parasites are unintelligent, and follow a strict life cycle, and are looked down on by us because they seem small and insignificant. However, our bodies are full of parasites. Funny thing is that if you take away those same parasites from everyone in the world, there would be no one left to borrow the bodies. You see, parasites inhabit every living being, and are necessary for us to survive, because while some are bad for us, there are many symbiotic parasites that exist inside of us that allows us to survive.

So, the dominant species isn't mankind, its the parasites. We are their hosts, and while our relationship is symbiotic, the parasites can survive without us, but we cannot survive without them.


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ANARCHit3cht, I pose to you two simple questions: Out of the 7+ billion people in the world, how many would have fire arms just lying around? And how many out of the 7+ billion would know how to use said fire arms? Keep in mind there are some countries, like Japan and England, that do not even allow the possession of fire arms.
They may not, but they possess the capability to obtain a firearm and the ability to use if the situation truly calls for it. It might not be legal, but then again, this is survival we are talking about.

Simple fact of the matter is that you keep saying that our intellect is our natural ability, yet when faced with the situations I posed, you demand to give someone an advanced weapon instead of what occurs in nature itself.
Shall I then provide an example that does not use tools? Imagine you are being chased by a pack wolves. You can climb a tree and get up and out of the way because you know they can't climb. Then you could, let's say, lure them away from the tree using something as simple as a rock which can be commonly found anywhere on the ground, in case you didn't know. Or maybe the tree grows fruit that hits like rocks, and you can just stone the wolves to death from your safe vantage point on top of the tree.

I will admit that in our society, we are the dominant ones, because we carved a niche for ourselves, using technology as the base. And I will humor you with a scenario more to your liking. Let's say, as earlier, we drop someone of average intellect into the Sahara with the same water proportionate to the amount that the lizards and scorpions store. What are the odds of that person coming back alive? I will tell you: they don't. Given the same amount of water in proportion, a human of average intellect will still die. Why? Because the common human barely has a sense of direction anymore. And if you want, we will give them a compass, just for the hell of it. They would still not know which way to head in the sea of sand, and would most likely die from dehydration, simply because we do not have a built-in instinct of water conservation like the lizards and scorpions.
The scorpion has lived all its life in the desert, of course it knows how to survive in the desert. Take the same scorpion and drop him nim the Arctic. You can change the scenario all you want, but the fact remains that it creates an unfair conclusion when you are constantly changing the habitat. Of course a random person wouldn't be able to survive in the desert. Take someone who lives in the area, instead. Someone who has vast experience exploring deserts and surviving in the wild. Would they not fare nicely in the desert? They have had the training, so of course. I do not know much about desert survival, but I can go get myself trained in that regard. You can't take a desert scorpion and teach it how to live in the Arctic. It just wouldn't work. While they excel at surviving in their arid envrionment, they aren't great at much else. Look humanity as a species, we live in deserts, we live on tundras. We live in forests, we live on savvanahs. We live where it is hot, we live where it is cold. We live where it is dry, we live where it is wet. Are you saying that none of that counts because individually we might be able to survive as well in a desert compared to denizens of that desert whose bodies are adapted to live in THAT ENVRIONMENT AND THAT ENVRIONMENT ALONE?

Or, as someone else stated, drop a person of average intellect into an ocean, with all the gear they'd need to survive. They would still end up dead, simply because the average person does not know how to use the equipment given to him. It does not matter if you know how, or if I know how, most people don't, which is why there are classes to teach people how to use the equipment. Our intellect does not mean we can look at something and instantly know how to use it, as that would take the intellect of a genius, and in this day and age, most people are not geniuses.
As I said, we have the potential to learn how to use these tools, other animals do not. While they might at some point im time develop a capable enough intelligence that allows them do so, they currently do not have one.

So, to conclude: Yes, as long as we stick to our niche in the world, we are the dominant species. However, if you toss the average person into the wild with the tools to survive but not the knowledge on how to use all of the equipment, they will die. You see, technology has made us lazy as a species. What do we have to fear as long as we technology?
You must realize that we as a species have far greater capabilities than we are currently living up to. There are many, many things we can do that would set us on the right path towards growing more combat-oriented pheno-types. And again, why does the world always have to be about combat? Sure, a lion might be able to kill a human, but humans can wander long distances and move away from all threats, settling down in an area where they have no natural predators. How does that not in some way count for dominance? They solved their issue, they are still expanding and developing as a species. Just because they can't beat a lion in hand to hand combat doesn't really mean anything. What exactly does that prove but something I haven't already conceded? Yes, lions are stronger than us. I am glad you realize that a creature that can be up to 2-3 times the size of a grown man is stronger than us. Bravo.

And, just as a final statement to prove we are not as dominant as most would like to believe, I would like to point to some of the smallest organisms: parasites. Parasites are unintelligent, and follow a strict life cycle, and are looked down on by us because they seem small and insignificant. However, our bodies are full of parasites. Funny thing is that if you take away those same parasites from everyone in the world, there would be no one left to borrow the bodies. You see, parasites inhabit every living being, and are necessary for us to survive, because while some are bad for us, there are many symbiotic parasites that exist inside of us that allows us to survive.

So, the dominant species isn't mankind, its the parasites. We are their hosts, and while our relationship is symbiotic, the parasites can survive without us, but we cannot survive without them.

Congratulations. I think you've reached the point of spewing out unrelated information in the hopes of confusing me. Sorry, but it won't work. Would you care to explain how they symbiotic relationship we share with parasites has in anyway to do with dominance? Sure, it links us to a dependence on another species, but it is highly plausible that we will be able to replicate the needed parts of these parasitse without the rest of the parasite. Maybe not soon, but eventually. While we couldn't at this point in time live without them, they don't exert any significant amount of influence over the envrionment. If we truly wanted to, we could irradicate all parasites. They are here on our grace--because we choose to have them remain.

This is to both you and Low:
1.) I never said animals can't use tools. Merely that ours are at a far higher level of sophistication
2.) I never said animals can't pass up in dominance, either. Merely that we currently are the dominant species, and we have quite a lead in that regard. The moment we noticed sentience/intelligence on par with ours in let's say Chimps, it would be all over. We would either treat them as inferior life forms like the uncivilzied brutes we are prone to being, or poke and prod at them in a lab all day. But who is to say that over the time they developed sentience/intelligence on par with ours that humans haven't developed a phenotype that better suits them for combat? Since that seems to be the only thing allowed to classify dominance in your head.

And Low, how do you know we will plateau? Who is to say that the apes wont plateau before us? Or that neither of us will? You want to know something funny? There was a time, c 1900 when many people predicted that we reached our peak of greatness. They were dead wrong. They were also professionals, and I doubt you are.
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Damn Anarchitecht, I hope you like going to prison for arson and causing grievous bodily harm because those guys just got BURNED! I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said, now i'll try and explain it to the other posters in a clear and concise manner.

Right now humanity is the dominant species upon Earth. We are so because of our undisputed intelligence that has allowed us to literally subdjugate the natural order and bend it to our will, our unparalleled social structure and versatile bodies that have allowed us to craft tools far beyond the bodies capabilities. There is no way you can discount that from our species. And let's say all technological advancements from the last few millenia, your ancestors proved humans can survive and reproduce in almost every environment imaginable with some sticks, a rock, fire and their bare hands, otherwise you wouldn't exist. There is no animal on Earth that has been able to threaten our survival as a species. Yes a human vs. a lion alone on a flat field means our species is little more than a juicy bag of meat, but the question isn't "Which species has the most raw power". Individually they may be physically superior but the fact that lions in no way threaten threaten the existence of humans today or even long into the past speaks for itself. Hopefully i've shut down that avenue.

At the moment we dominate, that hasn't always been the case. It used to be dinosaurs ,(don't say anything BadPokemon, the case of Science v. Religion is for another thread) until (theoretically) a cataclysmic event wiped them out. Whether you believe this actually happened in the past is irrelevent, let's just say the conditions on Earth radically changed for whatever reason, huge temperature swings, limited oxygen, no sunlight, rising sea levels, whatever. Now we would enter the contest of what form of life would most be suited to survival if conditions were different then it would probably NOT be humanity in a worst case scenario. Probably some anoxic, microscopic little organism that can survive huge temperatures and requires only basic chemical sustenance and reproductive techniques. Such a creature would win dominance in the "hardiest form of life" category. It's irrelevant though, we are still masters of our cozy little domain, the hardy little creatures are dormant, not dominant, until something bad happens and all the humans die.

I've ignored most of the admirable features and achievements of humanity because it's circular thinking as omgitscathy put it, although in my eyes we have done some pretty cool ****. All I'm going to say is this is the Human era right now, superbly intelligent and resourceful beings we may be but survival wise I think it's folly to assume our dominance will last forever. A good case could be put up for dominance based on sentience but if a meteor hits that won't help too much, unless we can break the constraints of Earth and engage in deep space travel, spreading life to other parts of the universe.

We certainly weren't destined for domination, because "hurdurr god made us in his image". If something happened in the planets formation, say the Earths surface was purely aquatic then maybe Dolphin people would be the dominant species, lol. We're lucky monkeys who developed a few extra brain cells. Sorry BadPokemon, couldn't resist ;)

I'd like to say all life is amazing and beautiful, how varied it is for survival and reproduction, who even knows why...

Hope this was a more interesting read than my usual emo whining.
Ok, all evolution arguments aside, we are the dominant species. Put us in a rain forest, we may not make it out alive. How did we build all these buildings? We destroyed forest, deserts, and swamps. How are cheetahs smarter than us? They aren't. If they decided, "I'm going to take over the world today", they would be squashed immediately. Why are some predatory animal species endangered? We killed them and sold their body parts. If they were so smart, I think that wouldn't be happening. We have the power to destroy that cheetahs home. Without its environment, they would die. We do need a thread for evolution or creation. Hopefully it wouldn't be closed do to flame wars and very heated arguments. No offense taken by your post. :)
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I very much agree, we humans are a dominant race.
Our minds are greatly developed. However, despite humans being a dominant race, I still hate humans, and myself.

Humanity is pathetic, and that's all I can say for now.
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Which is funny, because I was moderately attempting to offend you. So, domination is holding life or death over other things, not for our own survival but just because we can? I won't say that's untrue, but I don't know if it's all important. Still, no wonder Lowvyr is so despondent considering humans are bent on abusing their power. Morality is a human concept though, so I wanted to look at things objectively.
Well, I'm not going to go burn down a forest just to show I'm the dominent species. If weren't the dominant species, we wouldn't have such a high population.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that who ever believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - John 3:16

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Well, I'm not going to go burn down a forest just to show I'm the dominent species. If weren't the dominant species, we wouldn't have such a high population.
It's not a population thing by any means. A species that has a population of two can be dominant if they are of a great sentience and intelligence that allows them to exert their influence over the masses more efficiently than mankind. Did you know that there are roughly 10,000,000,000,000,000 individual ants alive on Earth at any given time? While high population is a factor that CAN contribute to your dominance, it alone is not a deciding factor.

TBH, reminds me of a Ben 10 Omniverse episode where Ben is talking Rook and Rook makes a comment about ants being the dominant species upon Earth. If you watch the scene, it's clearly like a "Wait, what did he just say? That's not right!" type of scene due to the nature of Rook being slightly off Earth customs and ideals.

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Yup, humanity is the dominant race. They have been since the beginning of time, and I believe that they always be. The only exception is that we might some of type of life form outside of our planet whom is more developed and advanced than us. It is possible, and it may happen. Humans are more dominant than animals, we eat animals and "enslave" them. Let's hope that we are never enslaved ourselves.
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Considering humans are possibly the species with the most living population,excluding the "tiny" animals that we outmatch in size so much that they wouldn't even have a prayer against us physically, and the fact we are bar none at the top of the food chain, I think it's a safe bet humanity is the dominant race. Ignoring that Aliens could exist, our biggest fear would probably be inventing (as seen in the movies) self aware robotic "people" which would be physically and mentally superior to humans.

I guess you could also suppose that other species will evolve into intelligent creatures, but by then mankind will most likely either A) Be so much more intelligent that they are still animals in comparison, or B)The Earth's resources have nearly been consumed to the point where mankind could possibly no longer exist.
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Humanity is pretty clearly in charge. Is that dominance fragile? Yes. Are we going to destroy ourselves? Probably. But look at things this way.

Yes, other animals use tools, but nowhere near the complexity and frequency that we do. Yes, there are plenty of other intelligent animals, but none of them have developed into global, complex societies like humans have. Yes, there are more numerous creatures on this planet, but those more numerous creatures have yet to stop us.

We outsmarted the faster, stronger creatures. We figured out ways to deal with small, numerous organisms like insects and bacteria. We rose from the ranks of the other animals to become something the likes of which this planet has never seen before. Oh, and we're the only species in the known history of this planet to ever create tools that could leave Earth, bring us away from Earth, and proceed to set us down relatively safely on another celestial body. I haven't seen dolphins, ants, or hawks doing anything like that recently.

We are far from perfect, but our potential is huge. We are capable of more than any other species that currently exists. Whether or not it will still be that way in ~1 million years is anyone's guess. Right now though, I would definitely say we're in charge, at least right now.

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Well yeah, we kind of are. But only if we take it in the sense that in the world of the sentient we're the dominant race, and that nature itself could wipe us out whenever it wants.
Now then, as I said, in the world of sentient beings. Being the only ones kinda makes that easy doesn't it? Sure. But still, that's proof enough. We've evolved to allow ourselves to exist. We've not only grown to be able to question nature, and explore it, but also allow the control of it. Evolution itself has become something we've had our hands in, leaving no animal species undomesticated. We are literally the rules of this planet now, so of course that means we're dominant. But like I said, nature can still hand wave us for something else in the future.

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