01-04-2011, 10:07 AM
I don't think it's a whole different issue, I think it's the issue. We are just another species. Nothing less, but nothing more. Like every other species we make use of the genetic advantages we have and our numbers increase until they become unsustainable and then they decrease, and we reign as the dominant lifeform on earth until another lifeform replaces us.
It's ridiculously egotistical to consider ourselves to have surpassed nature. We are not Gods. We can do whatever the fuck we want, and we can tell ourselves that that thing is our "purpose" but the fundamental purpose of life, of all life, is perpetuation of the species. That over-rides even self-preservation (as any praying mantis will tell you).
[Incidentally, perpetuation of the species isn't exactly reproduction--most bees for example, never reproduce.]
It's ridiculously egotistical to consider ourselves to have surpassed nature. We are not Gods. We can do whatever the fuck we want, and we can tell ourselves that that thing is our "purpose" but the fundamental purpose of life, of all life, is perpetuation of the species. That over-rides even self-preservation (as any praying mantis will tell you).
[Incidentally, perpetuation of the species isn't exactly reproduction--most bees for example, never reproduce.]
"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool."