Are you anthropocentric? Do you think humans represent the "top" species, and what does it mean to be the top?

Question

Many people look at the earth as a treasure chest there for them to exploit. Genesis in the Bible reaffirms this idea. Do you think human beings have any responsibility for the earth, or is it just here for us to pillage?

Answer 1

The Earth got along quite happily for billions of years without our influence. We are the only species who has really damaged the Earth. Sure animals have died out, and a few were helped to extinction by other animals, but mankind holds the record for how many species have been killed off. Now we could be changing the very climate, and then there is all that pollution we are responsible for.

Is Global Warming the Earth’s way to get rid of this infection called humanity? If you believe that the Earth has a spirit then maybe so. We should learn to get along with the Earth and not work against it.

If you think that the Earth is there for mankind to take, then we should still take care of the Earth or we will lose plants and animals that we need to survive, we will succumb to global warming, and end up killing ourselves off.

I am somewhere in between. I don’t want to go back to being a naked caveman. I enjoy some of the customizations we have made to the Earth (like roads and lights), but if we are not careful then we could seriously damage Earth, and if we ruin the Earth then we ruin ourselves. A volcano may dump out a lot of gas and ash, but in a few years it will clear out. We have been increasing the carbon dioxide level every since we learned how to start a fire. Unlike the volcano we have been working at this for +3,000 years, and our pace is increasing rapidly. Global Warming is real, wither mankind is the cause or not is debatable, but we are adding to it and making the situation worse.

Answer 2

I don't care if we are the top or bottom or whatever.
But I feel like i owe allegiance to my species, though.
Therefore i put humans first and foremost in front of any other animal. Why should i care about other species for THEIR own sake.
However, this does not mean that we are free to pillage the planet. The reason for this is that pillaging the earth will eventually harm HUMANS.
However if i could have a scientific 100% correct proof that killing all animals will help humans live longer i will have no gripe about doing so.

Answer 3

Since we are the species that has wiped out more other species than any other species - it took a major asteroid impact to make a similar dent in the planet's life before - then I'd say we are the 'top' predator species in the planet's history.

But your question is are we pillagers. No, we are neither 'pillagers' of nor 'guests' on this planet. The evidence is conclusive that we came from here, so this is our home - one cannot pillage nor be a guest in one's own home. What we are is home-managers (Did you know that the word 'ecology' comes from Greek words meaning 'knowledge of the home'?). We can be either skilled or incompetent home managers. We need to acquire the skills.

Answer 4

At this particular time in the History of the world...Yes. We are on top and have no more "Responsibility" for taking care of the planet than T-Rex did when He was king.

1 - Do You think T-Rex cared what he trampled/defiled/crapped on in his search for sustenance/Mating?
2 - Do You think T-Rex cared that He was eating the last Poor Brontosaur?

Yes..they became extinct..as..perhaps someday so shall Mankind, but MY job as a Man is to protect and procreate MY species..and all others be damned!

Try arguing with a Hungry Lion to just eat You and not Your newborn Babe..Good luck.

Answer 5

.no they don't ,only Christians do
they claim that their God has put all the animals and nature there for them ,to fack up as they please and to kill what they want .and as much as they want.
but they will pay for all that .

only domestic animals belong to people .Nature and the life within are complicated Eco systems and belong to Gaia

.to utilize any of that ,must be paid for
Pagans have always known that..and sacrificed to appease the gods .sometimes with the best of their own if necessary.

Genesis is a criminal book
we are Natures Guardians ,because it provides us with the opportunities for our own existence and we need it.in healthy conditions.
to be without Nature will mean our own destruction.

And those who live here on this planet have the responsibility and supposed wisdom to take care of it
.
those who do not are Earths Enemies and should be utilized them selves as compost to make up for all the destruction by irresponsible and greedy agriculture expanding populations and industrialization .

so traitors to Gaia beware the Pagan Dawn ,when the skies will run red with Jehovah's blood,(the anunaki who presumptuously called himself a god)
we are the Pee Pees
the people of Pan
we care for our Planet
where ever we can
they beat us ,they robbed us

they rendered us weak
but we will be back
for we are the Meek

boom boom

Answer 6

"Are you anthropocentric?" is an odd way of putting the question. It should better be, "Do you propagate an anthropocentric view?"

Well, I do not. I have sought to reject the Biblical view in this regard in some of my writings. We must get wedded to the cosmocentric view which is propounded in the Indian tradition. It sustains all of us peacefully till pralaya (destruction and dissolution) comes in the natural course. Anthropocentrism invites pralaya to come before it is due.

Answer 7

Humans are like a fetus and the earth is a cosmic egg. Soon we will leave the Earth and populate the universe.

Answer 8

We share the Earth with so many other types of lifeforms. How can we just get permission to take advantage of it? I mean, take advantage of it, use it for our purpose here in life. But we can't treat other things like they're lower than us. We do, though, but we shouldn't. We're all equally ALIVE. That's my point.

Answer 9

Humans are disgusting creatures. We murder without need.
We eat more than we should.
We pollute the land we live on.
We abuse the resources we have.


We're vile creatures. We're worse than the rats we kill. We should be ashamed of ourselves.