Man or animal?

Well, I realize that. But if bacteria started to compete with us for some resource we considered vital - like uranium or something - we'd waste 'em.As for disease, like Schraf mentioned, maybe I'm just optimistic, but if we found a disease sufficiently threatening as to threaten humanity, we'd bend a thousand brains to the task, and I'll give damn good odds we'd win.Ultimately our own growth will be our biggest threat, but even that's unlikely to be our ultimate end. I'm much more afraid of a planet-killer asteriod than I am of humanity being wiped out by germs. Not even the ones we make ourselves.

'Ultimately our own growth will be our biggest threat,'Or our violence."I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -- Albert Einstein

One interesting way that I've seen proposed to destroy a single species is through recessive "greedy" lethal alleles. While it probably wouldn't work on humans, as we'd probably establish draconian genetic testing laws if it became a threat, they would probably work on most other species if distributed properly. One proposal has been to wipe out mosquitoes that commonly cause malaria (they're doing an environmental impact study)."Greedy" genes (I hope I'm getting the term correct) are a rare type of genes which, instead of having a roughly 50% chance of being chosen during miosis, have a chance that approaches 100%. As a consequence, these spread throughout a given population. The proposal that I read about was to, in all such mosquito populations in the world, release mosquitoes engineered with greedy recessive lethal genes. What this means for a population is that, in short order, the percentage of mosquitoes with at least one greedy gene steadily increases, until almost all mosquitoes in the population have at least one such gene; at which point, successful mating becomes almost impossible. In simulations, it works out to extinction in most circumstances, although it requires a rapid and extensive plan to make sure that all populations get "infected" at roughly the same time.Again, though, due to technology, I think that humans would recognize what is going on if it were to happen to us, and employ draconian testing and reproduction measures to stop its spread.------------------
"Illuminant light,
illuminate me."[This message has been edited by Rei, 10-14-2003]

There are selfish genes I think. This is simply the idea that genes use organisms to replicate themselves. To get a 100% chance for selection, a gene would simply have to reinforce a behavior that would cause a selection of a mate that had the same genotype. Not sure if that's a good strategy. Best cases are usually seen in heterozygous advantages like sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis.Oddly enough, selfish genes can be shown to reinforce altruism through inclusive fitness.------------------
Bringer of fire, trickster, teacher.

Ah, thanks, it's been a while. "Selfish", not "greedy". Let me look up an article...Popular Science Homepage | Popular Science"Burt's blueprint for genetically engineered extinction hinges on homing endonuclease genes (HEG), selfish genes found in sea anemones, algae and moss that thwart the laws of inheritance and natural selection. Normal genes have a one in two shot of being passed on to the next generation, but HEGs duplicate themselves from one chromosome to another, a trick that can increase their chances of being inherited to 95 percent, even though the genes confer no survival benefit."------------------
"Illuminant light,
illuminate me."

When since the verse you cited says downward to the EARTH, I think you answered your own question.------------------
-chris

You would then agree that animals have souls correct?

Personally, I have to agree with some of the Creationists and say humans are superior.
Lists of Things other species haven't done:
Talk, (although they do use other forms of communication)
Gone to the moon (although, I'm sure bacteria or something has)
Created written documents of almost anything
Only mammal that walks upright
Have schools
By requirement of law (in some countries) are forced to attend schoolOk, I'm kinda getting off topic a bit. However, just because an animal has the capablity of flying, and we can't without aid of something, doesn't mean they are nesscary superior.
You can't honestly tell me that when a deer runs across the street, and is stunned by the brightness of your headlights, and gets killed, just because it was stupid enough to just stand there, for some reason you still think this animal is "equal" to you? What about a squirell that jumps in front of your car? Flys that get stuck on fly tape? Humans have the upper hand on everything on this Earth.
*now waits patiently for some replies to her post*

So if I as an individual can run rings around you intellectually then am I superior to you?

Only if you produce children that can do the same thing.------------------
Bringer of fire, trickster, teacher.

It means you are intellectually aware of your potentiality through the process of baked beans. - This can be observed through the excess gaseous ommissions after the beans intake.

Ok, I see I am wrong here, so they have souls/spirits that do nothing, that essentially die with them, strange.------------------
-chris

The problem with you list is that you picked things that humans are good at.What about being able to survive in temperatures around the boiling point of water?
What about being able to live in radiation that will kill almost anything else.
What about flying?
What about not needing schools since all that is needed is built in at birth?Of course humans look superior if you pick things they are good at. Come back in a few million years to see if it all matters at all. The only good bet is that the bacteria will still be all pervasive.

quote:

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Ultimately our own growth will be our biggest threat, but even that's unlikely to be our ultimate end.

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Actually, we may not see the predicted exponential growth we fear. The growth rate has slowed quite a bit and the population is shifting. Armegeddon may be fought by a few dozen octogenarians wielding canes.From a site: 404

quote:

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Two main trends - increasing life expectancy and falling fertility rates...

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Bringer of fire, trickster, teacher.

Have you ever read the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'
by Douglas Adams?There's a somewhat relevant paragraph in it that is about subjective
assessment of superiority ... I won't quote it verbatum (though
some-one else may ) but it basically goes:Humans thought they were superior to dolphins becuase they
had created lots of neat technology, while all dolphins
ever did was swim around playing.Dolphins thought that they were superior to humans for
exactly the same reasons.It's the point that comparison with a beetle is alluding to.Superiority can only be based upon some set of criteria ... and
if you choose them right you can make anything appear superior
to anything else.Biologically we are animals ... but I wouldn't say JUST animals.
Animals are quite remarkable ... astounding even.Intellectually -- who knows? How do we really know what goes
on in the minds of other creatures ... maybe oak trees contemplate
their ultimate fate by some mechanisms that we cannot even
recognise -- how would we know? Our understanding of human
intelligence is pitiful at best, let alone trying to understand
other creatures in that regard....and is intelligence an approriate criterion for superiority?
That suggestion can lead us down a slippery slope into a whole
other kind of elitism.We are one of a vast array of species that inhabit the planet,
we should accept that we are no more or less important than any
other ... read pretty much anything by H.G.Wells if you want
some other opinion on humanity's arrogance