Bees lay down their lives for the good of their species. How much do you care for yours?

Question

Do you really care about the human race or would you not lose any sleep if the human race died shortly after you?

Answer 1

wouldn't lose any sleep if humans died out.. i think humans are the "cockroaches" of the planet..

Answer 2

Well, bees share about 75% of their DNA with other bees from the same hive, so it makes a lot more sense for them to die in order that their hivemates can live. Since human beings don't typically share more than 50% of their DNA with each other, it's understandable that they're not quite so self-sacrificing.

It's important to note that bees aren't doing it for the good of the species, they're doing it if it means that the genes they share will stand a higher chance of being passed on to the next generation, and you'll find that humans will actually sacrifice themselves in order to save siblings or children, for exactly the same reasons.

In answer to your question...I care about my species, but I wouldn't lose any sleep if the human race died shortly after me, because I'd be dead. I wouldn't sacrifice myself for some random person in the street, much as bees won't sacrifice themselves for bees they aren't related to. I would, however, in the words of the wonderful J. B. S. Haldane, lay down my life 'for two brothers or eight cousins'.

Answer 3

i care about the human race, yet at times i feel perhaps the human race doesn't care about me.
i would not trust that laying down my life would be for the 'good' of the human race for a start.
anyone that would ask me to do that, would be questionable.
why don't they lay down their lives instead if it's that important.

i can only relate to it personally, and say i would, in theory, and in an extreme circumstance like an accident, lay down my life for my child. but then who would care for my child? so does that even make sense to die for that? i'd make sure that my child were saved, or was safe, before me that's for certain.
i'd have to trust someone else will care for my child, when i'm gone.



if i died before the human race what would i care, i'm dead.
so i wouldn't be loosing any sleep being i would be dead. you know that's what being dead is.

i see humans as more like ants personally.

Answer 4

How much does the bee really care if the bee-hive died shortly after the bee? Bees are programmed to do what they do from birth. Is that what you want to emulate?

Answer 5

hmmm...that's a good question....
i don't necessairly care for the human race as a whole.. but i would care if it died shortly after i did. i mean the thought of all the people i know and could know dying isn't ot appealing.
i'm the in between vote.

Answer 6

I personally think humans are doing huge harm to the earth and I guess I would not lose any sleep at the thought of humans disappearing.

Answer 7

it's a fallacy think animals do what they do "for the benefit of their species"

for example, your bee example is an example of kin selection and not species benefit (because i don't see many bees helping out hives other than their own) and would only explain why i am more inclined to care (and protect) my immediate family as opposed a person living across town from me.

not to say that i don't care about people, animals, plants--life in general...but nature will do with us what it will; the universe has been around for a long time before we came along and it will be around for a long time after we're gone.

Answer 8

I would care because I care about my children (and the children they will one day have).

That's the way our species work - a little selfish but effective.

If you disagree check how much the bees rate our success at Bee-Yahoo!-Answers.bzz

Answer 9

Aw dude, that is deep. OK, so do i want to answer from the mind of a child such as, if i don't see it, it does not exist? if i die, does the world still go on? or was it all in my mind to begin with? then nope, don't care.
Then you have to look at it from the life after death point of view, if i die today, you bet your sweet bippy (yes i said bippy) that i would be around watching over my kids to make sure that they are growing and thriving, yes i will be the dead mom that rescues her kids from burning buildings/fatal car wrecks/and general bad situations. then yes i care, i care for my kids, for everyone's kids and all of their kids, no one deserves to die an untimely death. so yes i would care.
Then there is the whole catholic heaven thing. then yes everything that us humans and animals worked so hard to accomplish here on earth would seem so pointless, but we would all be facing judgment in heaven at the same time. it is going to be super crowded, so i guess what we did on earth did make sense since we will have to answer for it. so yes i would care, and i really feel bad for Jehovah's Witnesses, they have a maximum occupancy for their heaven.

Answer 10

You are ill informed. Bees do not die for the " good of the species ", but for their sisters, to whom they are related by a 3/4 coefficient. They are haplodiploidy. That aside, your question could better be addressed in philosophy.

Answer 11

I feel more for our planet earth than the human race. If the human race perishes because of depletion of resources it's their own fault.