Why are animals made to be instinctively cruel? The food chain is a horrible idea, or was Darwin right?

Answer 1

What is so cruel? Catching and eating other animals is necessary for survival, so I don't see what's cruel about it. If they caught other animals solely for torture, that'd be cruel. Only humans do stuff like that.

Answer 2

calling the food chain cruel is not right, calling it cruel indicates that there is some sort to premeditation to it, or planned murder. the food chain is nature at it's core. all beings on this planet have one common instinct, survival. you eat fast food or go to the grocery store. everything that comes from either place was at one time eating for it's survival, the same as you do. if it came down to it and you lived in the wild, you would also kill an animal smaller/weaker than youself in order to eat and survive. you might think that you are above it and would just find something else to eat, but fruits and nuts will only sustain you for so long. after that you might switch to insects, but this is still the same thing you would be a predator preying on smaller animals for survival. whether it is a beetle or a bunny all creatures on this planet eat for survival. even some plants are carnivorous. and if you refuse to kill other animals and you died, you body would release nutrients into the soil as it decays, then the plants that you tried to live off of would in turn suck all of those nutrients out of the ground so they could survive. the food chain is not cruel, it is survival, it is nature, it is beautiful. the small bunny killed by the eagle loses it's life to ensure that the little eaglets will live. the eaglets grow up and lay eggs that feed a scavenging snake that later dies and feeds the very plant life that the original bunny ate for survival. nature is an amazing thing and calling it cruel is hypocritical since you too share the same instinct of survival.

Answer 3

technically this is not philosophy, and technically, animals are not made to be instinctively cruel but instinctively protective males instinctively protect females against predators, and other males of the same species and females instinctively protect their young until their maternal instinct goes (then they either chase them away, or turn on them and eat them) Males and females
generally both hunt/forage for food but chasing down a lettuce would e easier than chasing down a deer, wouldn't you say? Also, animals scavenge, this isn't cruel, its just an energy saving way of procuring food to eat... someone else catches it for you, and because you are bigger, you can chase them away.

Answer 4

Animals a cruel only in human eyes, and even there they are cruel only to be kind to themselves, and to their little ones; they are wise in their own way, as the general nature has its own fixed laws that never change or alter. Whereas, human nature can accommodate in the mind all sorts of things: hesitations, doubts, guilt, sympathy, consequential concerns and alarmingly huge talent for worries and apprehension; animals do not have to have this crap. Besides, animals are smart, adaptable, skilful, instinctive, powerful, patient and consistent in their nature with ever realising all these things – the have all their mind reserved for being what they are and thus for doing what they got to do … whereas human beings are never certain even about themselves.

Answer 5

It's nature, honey. Darwin was horrified at what he discovered, and the way you write the question is like you believe someone 'made' the animals ... in nature it's either eat or be eaten, consume or be consumed and become part of whatever consumed you. If you have to, you adapt.

Answer 6

Whether any animal (humans included) is cruel depends on whether they are the seeing things as the hunter or the prey. Hunters are only concerned with obtaining their food for today so that they can survive. Prey are mainly concerned with survival so that they can go find their food for today.

Answer 7

It's not only humans that are cruel. Cats often play with mice/frogs/small animals for hours before killing them. They do this partly for practice, and partly for play-time. There's nothing "humane" (sic) about the way cats kill their prey a lot of the time. We're also not the only animals to have killed for fun. There is a significant amount of evidence that suggests that some dinosauria, including velocoraptor, killed even when not hungry - although this is only theory.

Some other primates have also been reported to have killed animals, and then walked away, not interested in eating the kill.

What is about nature? Red in tooth and claw? True.

Answer 8

Animal cruelty is inevitable. It is a form of survival.. but what what most people misinterpret is the saying "Survival of the fitist" Darwin was not talking about survival of who ever is the strongest. The idea is a little more focused on the concept of survival.. not of youre own but rather of ur offspring. He was talking about survival of that species. Who ever is able to multiply the most and pass on their traits into the gene pool is the one who is the fittest.. they are the ones whos species survived

Answer 9

How else would the planet survive. Every living organism on the planet is here for a reason, whether it be to feed other animals or to feed of other animals. It's all about the circle of life. You are born you feed off of others, you get eaten yourself or die and then your remains fertilise the earth.

Answer 10

if you raise a dog and you always feed vegetarian food to him
since he is young.....soon or later he will become vegetarian dog too......animals will never know what is cruel mean , they only know how to survive....if you think carefully, even plants also living things too...if you eat the plant, you eating life too...so why eat meat is sin and eat vegetable has no sin?
Darwin try to tell the world is every part of the world has all kinds of living things, they are meant to live and adapt to the environment they are suitable to.....that's why all have different look and sizes.....he further more asking is can one person after change new environment will change his look and sizes too? answers is YES...but it took few generation to change.........

Answer 11

an instinct is a learnt behaviourial trait hardwired into the dna of an animals parents??????????????
(i think so maybe???)
so perhaps cruelty is an asset if you believe in Darwin.
If you believe in some form of God then thats another kettle of a fellow creature killed and boiled needlessly and thoughtlessly just because he /she bears the name 'fish'.