305
I knew the furries were right all along
The Furries saw the truth and transcend.
"I am cringe, but I am free"
That's literally my mantra, and I'm waaaaay more happy since I accepted it
We still have this notion and hubris that we're above animals, and animals are below us who are alright being stepped on and abused. I noticed that in a lot of cultures, their insults and profanities is being compared to an animal (in Europe, the profanities seem to be generally sexual).
Also, for the religious, admitting we're animals is definitely an insult and denial of biblical teachings that god created humans. When Charles Darwin's theory of evolution first became a mainstream sensation, some cartoonists drew him as a monkey. I debated with a religious before who believes in conspiracy theories. After pointing out about evolution, I was called a monkey. I wasn't even insulted though because, yes, that is basically what I'm trying to say. But technically I'm not a monkey, I'm an ape. Humans are apes. The monkeys are our cousins. Religious folks don't like to admit we're animals because it contradicts their beliefs.
Religious folks don’t like to admit we’re animals because it contradicts their beliefs.
Their religion is based on the idea that we're special somehow. It allows their followers to feel better than the 'lesser' animals, and the 'lesser' races/cultures. They teach that we're the chosen ones with our tools, and language, and emotion, and thoughts.
The fact that we're all equal, and that other animals have all of those qualities is a threat to their power.
To be fair, if I took my cats values and morals there would be a bloodbath.
You and me baby ain’t nothing but mammals so let’s do it like they do on the discovery channel
This is called speciesism, the believe that your live is worth more/you are better simply because of your species.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Pretending to be an animal doesn't solve much either but it's fun from time to time.
If we pretend to be other animal, sure isn't helpful. Is not about pretending to be this or that, but to stop the antropocentris and start to see ourselves as part of something, not something apart of everything else.
I love people who are like "we need to return to nature!"
Like, I get the sentiment and we should definitely try to coexist with the rest of the animals since were smart enough to, but i think its important to remember that we are nature. We cannot separate ourselves from it. Even skyscrapers are natural. Just ask a termite.
Yup. Pollution is natural. It's not about what's natural, but what keeps our environment in a state where we can thrive.
load more comments
(1 replies)
If aliens were to visit Earth, human vs. not-humans (aka sentient vs. not) would be the single biggest thing to consider. Far more so than male vs. female, plants vs. animals, even alive vs. nonliving (rocks), humans can literally send nukes in their direction while they hang in outer space, while literally nothing else can. We light up the night sky... on purpose and could stop it in a moment if we wanted.
We're kinda a big deal.
Although now computers (e.g. Skynet) could do it too, so it's humans and those highly specialized rocks together on one side, vs. literally everything else on the other.
So humans are not "just" animals, like computers are not "just" rocks.
So, what we are then?
(And, at the risk of sounding harsh, what's with the constant duology? Why the mania of dividing everything into "this" and "that"?)
We are humans. We are animals. And we are more than that. Perhaps we are also lesser than that at the same time?
The duality was how the idea was presented to me - this is not my OC, or perhaps the words are but the concept I first heard told by an atheist apologeticist (if that's a thing) Daniel Dennett speaking out against Intelligent Design (which at the time was still a thing that people bothered arguing against). I believe he was relating it to a binary classification scheme such as machine learning approaches are often built to follow. Anyway it's just a vehicle for the conveyance of the idea - obviously nuances exist irl, yet there is some value in keeping things simple too, especially at first.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
I don't know that taxonomy is our biggest problem...
There's psychology that goes along with it, it's not just scientific classification. It's also about ego.
The view that we're better than the rest of the life on this planet is likely one of the drivers behind climate change. It's used to justify the destruction of entire habitats. Habitats other beings feel is their home.
A lot of folks may know that they're animals, in a scientific sense. But they don't feel it in their bones or really empathize. Folks are often raised to think of animals as potential food, after all. So, it runs a bit deeper than taxonomy. And is more like a cultural habit of feeling better than, because we often eat animals and don't have many predators to worry about other than each other.
No. The biggest problem with climate change is that people are profiting off it. That's it. Nobody needs to pretend that they're better in order to care only for themselves.
And profit is based on the idea that I deserve more than other people do. Again hubris.
I've been meditating on this stuff and studying Buddhism for almost a decade. Pride is the root of a lot of dysfunction in our species.
load more comments
(4 replies)
Humans could all be grey blobs and people would still argue they are greyest and blobiest. They love to feel special.
Hey, I recognize a The Fairly OddParents reference when I see one. That's good taste, fella 👌
Jonathan Swift had the same showerthought.
Overall, he preferred horses.
And who wouldn't? They are neat.
That's why furries were invented
We don't pretend we are not animals. We pretend we are the ONLY animals, and all others are merely objects.
load more comments
(3 replies)
We may be animals but we sure arent animals.
In what way we aren't animals? (And please, don't mention technology or civilization, that's an easy one)
Being concious of and being able to critically look at what we are and how we act would be one answer. Sort of like what you did when you made this post :P
The cat outside isnt arguing about ethics, doesnt think about the consequences and decide not to act on some base desire, etc
load more comments
(1 replies)
You might be interested in looking into Cynic philosophy and into the sparse but colorful stories surrounding Diogenes of Sinope
load more comments
(1 replies)
You must be high. That made no sense.
I was already expecting this type of comment to appear at any time lol. Ok pal 👍
load more comments
(1 replies)
The only animal capbable of destroying the earth and creating stock exchanges. And vaping. And sending a message to the universe.
Plus the 1969 Chevrolet Corvette.
Ha! Suck it, trilobites!
load more comments
(1 replies)
What would it mean to you, to stop pretending to edit: NOT be animals?
To "Stop pretending we are not animals" to me is to stop the antropocentric way of seeing nature and the universe.
For example, is not that certain animals have "human-like" behavior, but rather that we, as animals, share the certain behaviors with other animals.
And I'm convinced that, if we understand other animals more, we would understand ourselves better.
But like, practically, what does that mean?
I ask, from a philosophy point of view, that this is a perennial idea.
Generally through history, where this usually goes, is that a defined set of behaviours get classified as "natural". Cats hunt mice. It's natural. There are no ethical concerns with a cat hunting a mouse.
Anyways, near the end of the philosophical exercise, people realize that a TON of behaviours which are without any meaningful counterargument "natural" are actually fucking terrible. Theft, murder, rape, etc.
And that's usually where the wheels come off. We're animals. We have animal urges. They're informed by parts of our brains designed for survival in an environment that no longer exists, because humans have crafted our environments into something unrecognizable to what the human animal evolved to exist within.
We're animals transplanted outside of our evolutionary environment. We can recognize we're animals for whom our animalistic instinct and urges clearly don't suit our reality. This is what puts such strain on trying to connect ideas of "natural" and "acceptable" and limits the practical value of any models which try to relate the two.
This isn't a new idea. I can't stress enough how old and recurring an idea it is. It just, under careful consideration, is found to be much less useful a model than imagined once the leap from conception to application is made.
Well, you have explained it as concisely and clearly as I never EVER could. Thank you.
load more comments
(3 replies)
The people following Abrahamic religions do anyway, their magic books tell them so.
Speak for yourself. I'm a filthy mo fo
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2025
305 points (100.0% liked)
Showerthoughts
30644 readers
339 users here now
A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted, clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts: 1
Rules
- All posts must be showerthoughts
- The entire showerthought must be in the title
- No politics
- If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
- If you feel strongly that you want politics back, please volunteer as a mod.
- Posts must be original/unique
- Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct
If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.
Whats it like to be a mod? Reports just show up as messages in your Lemmy inbox, and if a different mod has already addressed the report the message goes away and you never worry about it.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS