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Just how civilized are human beings?
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| töbias |
If we look at the earth as a rock in the middle of nowhere with a variety of animals living on it, lets debate just how advanced, civilised our human society is.
Personally I think we are an extremely uncivilised bunch of animals.
We spend lots of money either killing each other, or trying not to be killed, we require large organisations to keep people peaceful, and some areas of the earth like the middle east and africa are a good 1,000 years or so behind the most civilised nations in terms of violence, equal rights and freedom.
So where are we on the civilised scale? say out of 10?
How much do our lives reflect basic human instincts and desires? |
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| Sunsnail |
| I think we're a 5ish. When the richest, militarily powerful nation on earth still executes its criminals... :wtf: |
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| CyberneticAngel |
What equals "civilized"? Nonviolent tendancies?
civˇiˇlized ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sv-lzd)
adj.
1) Having a highly developed society and culture.
2) Showing evidence of moral and intellectual advancement; humane, ethical, and reasonable: terrorist acts that shocked the civilized world.
3)Marked by refinement in taste and manners; cultured; polished.
This is the dictionary.com definition of the adjective form of "civilized"
1) This first form clearly is designed for mankind to come in first, we is the only example of a "highly developed society and culture"
2)This one is a bit trickier "showing evidence of moral and intellectual advancement". Many would argue that mankind's obvious cruelty and overall tendency to act with no regard for anyone but himself would preclude his inclusion. "Humane, ethical, and reasonable" many feel that man is none of these. On the other hand I personally feel that mankind has show a much larger propensity for "advancement" in these areas than any of the animals. As far as we can tell (except where there habits have been affected by humans) animals live the same way as they have for millenia.
3)Since mankind defines what is tasteful, cultured, and polished (yes to extended pinkies, no to poo throwing) one can hardly argue that mankind does not top this category. |
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| josh4 |
| this is too broad of a question for me to be interested in expelling the effort to answer |
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| shaolin_Z |
| pretty damn uncivilized. |
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| wolverine16 |
| I would say a 1 if I had just viewed another 200 post thread in music discussion that had "Armin" anywhere in the title. Probably somewhere over 5, since I think people are generally good in spite of the violence that occurs between people. News, for example tends to focus us on the negative, while many positives go unnoticed. |
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| George Smiley |
Humans are animals, therefore, and the facts prove it, we are all animals, in vicious bastard animals at that!!!
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| shaolin_Z |
| quote: | Originally posted by wolverine16
I would say a 1 if I had just viewed another 200 post thread in music discussion that had "Armin" anywhere in the title. Probably somewhere over 5, since I think people are generally good in spite of the violence that occurs between people. News, for example tends to focus us on the negative, while many positives go unnoticed. |
I think the fact that we don't see the better side of humanity much in the media probably should tell us something about our appetite for violence and negativity (to some degree, ofcourse that's not the only reason why the news/media creates a more negative). The media also caters to what the viewers demand (or should I say will watch?) |
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| George Smiley |
| quote: | Originally posted by George Smiley
Humans are animals, therefore, and the facts prove it, we are all animals, in vicious bastard animals at that!!!
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I think I meant to say 'act like animals' |
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| CyberneticAngel |
| quote: | Originally posted by George Smiley
I think I meant to say 'act like animals' |
I disagree, in some instances mankind acts better than animals, in some cases worse, but man continues to be seperated from "lower" animals because of the huge gap in capacity for reason and rational thought |
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| Michael19 |
| quote: | Originally posted by CyberneticAngel
I disagree, in some instances mankind acts better than animals, in some cases worse, but man continues to be seperated from "lower" animals because of the huge gap in capacity for reason and rational thought |
We have a huge gap in capacity for reason and rational thought yet a huge amount of us still act worse then animals....thats quite depressing really.
At least animals have an excuse, humans dont. |
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| Shakka |
| quote: | Originally posted by Michael19
We have a huge gap in capacity for reason and rational thought yet a huge amount of us still act worse then animals....thats quite depressing really.
At least animals have an excuse, humans dont. |
Are humans really that much more advanced that animals? I mean at our basic instinct level, we're nothing more than smart monkeys with less hair. |
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