And what are we pretending to be?
“Humans”.
And what are Humans?
“Not animals, that’s for sure!”
This is called speciesism, the believe that your live is worth more/you are better simply because of your species.
Speciesism is a great word and it uses all of the tools of our language in a way that makes sense.
But someone decided at some point we should call this “Anthropocentrism” instead
I love people who are like “we need to return to nature!”
Like, I get the sentiment and we should definitely try to coexist with the rest of the animals since were smart enough to, but i think its important to remember that we are nature. We cannot separate ourselves from it. Even skyscrapers are natural. Just ask a termite.
Yup. Pollution is natural. It’s not about what’s natural, but what keeps our environment in a state where we can thrive.
You’re so damn right! We can’t pull us apart of nature and neither everything we do!
I knew the furries were right all along
The Furries saw the truth and transcend.
“I am cringe, but I am free”
That’s literally my mantra, and I’m waaaaay more happy since I accepted it
We still have this notion and hubris that we’re above animals, and animals are below us who are alright being stepped on and abused. I noticed that in a lot of cultures, their insults and profanities is being compared to an animal (in Europe, the profanities seem to be generally sexual).
Also, for the religious, admitting we’re animals is definitely an insult and denial of biblical teachings that god created humans. When Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution first became a mainstream sensation, some cartoonists drew him as a monkey. I debated with a religious before who believes in conspiracy theories. After pointing out about evolution, I was called a monkey. I wasn’t even insulted though because, yes, that is basically what I’m trying to say. But technically I’m not a monkey, I’m an ape. Humans are apes. The monkeys are our cousins. Religious folks don’t like to admit we’re animals because it contradicts their beliefs.
To be fair, if I took my cats values and morals there would be a bloodbath.
Religious folks don’t like to admit we’re animals because it contradicts their beliefs.
Their religion is based on the idea that we’re special somehow. It allows their followers to feel better than the ‘lesser’ animals, and the ‘lesser’ races/cultures. They teach that we’re the chosen ones with our tools, and language, and emotion, and thoughts.
The fact that we’re all equal, and that other animals have all of those qualities is a threat to their power.
Humans could all be grey blobs and people would still argue they are greyest and blobiest. They love to feel special.
Hey, I recognize a The Fairly OddParents reference when I see one. That’s good taste, fella 👌
You’re on the internet, anyone here might not be human
The next stage of evolution:
Animal -> Human -> Porn Bot -> ???
We don’t pretend we are not animals. We pretend we are the ONLY animals, and all others are merely objects.
Uhhh I would strongly disagree with that being a mainstream belief
Do you consume non-human animals? Then you are probably psychologically dependent on ignoring all the ways they are the same as we are. You probably believe there are lots of things that distinguish us, as long as you never think too closely about it, that make it morally permissible or even morally encouraged to exploit their bodies and pretend that they don’t have a mind fundamentally like yours.
Being an animal means having animus. But we act as though we are the only creature having it; the only with interests, with thoughts and feelings, with desires and goals, that uses reason, that struggles with everything within us to live.
Do you actually have anything to say beyond, “I disagree”, or are you (like most carnists) just psychologically required to obstruct your own inconvenient thoughts whenever they arise?
The Apex Animal, the Uber-animal, the Sigma Animal 🗿
Speak for yourself. I’m a filthy mo fo
That’s why furries were invented
I am? [farts]
Would an animal fart like that?
You might be interested in looking into Cynic philosophy and into the sparse but colorful stories surrounding Diogenes of Sinope
I know my fella Dionegenes pretty well. He was based as fuck 🔥🔥
You and me baby ain’t nothing but mammals so let’s do it like they do on the discovery channel
Pretending to be an animal doesn’t solve much either but it’s fun from time to time.
If we pretend to be other animal, sure isn’t helpful. Is not about pretending to be this or that, but to stop the antropocentris and start to see ourselves as part of something, not something apart of everything else.
I knew someone from this instance was going to post. I knew it!
Agree we are animals…but not sure that is the biggest problem…
Like, yeah of course there’s a lot other things. Maybe I should should have say “one of the biggest”
I don’t know that taxonomy is our biggest problem…
The view that we’re better than the rest of the life on this planet is likely one of the drivers behind climate change. It’s used to justify the destruction of entire habitats. Habitats other beings feel is their home.
A lot of folks may know that they’re animals, in a scientific sense. But they don’t feel it in their bones or really empathize. Folks are often raised to think of animals as potential food, after all. So, it runs a bit deeper than taxonomy. And is more like a cultural habit of feeling better than, because we often eat animals and don’t have many predators to worry about other than each other.
No. The biggest problem with climate change is that people are profiting off it. That’s it. Nobody needs to pretend that they’re better in order to care only for themselves.
That view isn’t necessarily taxonomically based: We could still be like, “Ok, we’re apes, but we’re the best apes!”
Furthermore, not everyone holds that view.
The real issue is greed.
There’s psychology that goes along with it, it’s not just scientific classification. It’s also about ego.
