Value of Life?

Reldar

Reldar

Reldar

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Joined
6 Feb 2010
Posts
353
A few weeks ago at work there was a moth in the room, a young lad grabbed it, stuck it to some tape and placed it on the wall.

I asked him "Why did you do that? It's cruel."
He replied "Who cares it's JUST a moth."
JUST a moth? This is one example of many.

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So what is the value if life based upon?
Size? Intelligence? Looks?

Why is it that 99% of people would feel next to nothing for killing a fly. But at the same time feel extremely guilty for killing a cat?
They're both living creatures, they're both one life. What's the difference?

When people discover an ant nest on their property, they may attempt to destroy/kill the ants without a second thought.
Pouring boiling water down holes causing the suffering of hundreds of ants. Yet most people don't care.

If they had a cage full of dogs and had to pour boiling water on them until they died it would be a entirely different story.
 
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I think it's because they see flies and ants as pests so they try to get rid of them rather than keeping them there, Having a Dog or a Cat you get closer to them as they are a part of your life everyday whereas an Ants nest is just a pain to be there.
 
As above. Cats and dogs aren't see as pests/vermin. Moths are.
As you've said, he's young. Years ago I would have thought nothing of killing flies,ants etc. Now I don't do it, I've become soft :p
 
Because some animals are more similar to us than others, like a cat or dog eats and drinks similarly to us, bugs just eat other bugs (i think).
 
Taping a moth to a wall is probably a sign of a personality disorder. But there is no injustice in it being OK to kill ants and not dogs. Intuition says that a) ants die almost instantly b) they will probably suffer far less than a dog c) there is an actual need to kill them.
 
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Intelligence. The kind of intelligence that will one day deflect killer asteroids, get us off this planet to a new one, etc.

Darwinism on a cosmic scale. The kind of intelligence that survives planetary extinction events.
 
Depends on whose life we are talking about. My childrens lives are more value to me than anyone who posts here, however people who post here are have more value than someone in a 3rd world country.
 
I wouldn't kill anything just for the hell of it. I'd kill a fly for buzzing around and causing a nuisance, but only after first trying to usher it outside.
 
Intelligence
Length of Life
Infestation/Pest Control
Empathy

I generally don't kill things except things that infest your house, like flies and ants, or things that can sting, like wasps. I leave spiders because they kill flies, as long as they're not freaking me out.

I think it's mostly to do with pest control - that's why you kill it.

The reason you don't care about killing it is it only lives for hours/days anyway, and is really stupid, and dies instantly, and you can't empathise with it - it can't express itself.
 
Yateszy said:
Because some animals are more similar to us than others, like a cat or dog eats and drinks similarly to us, bugs just eat other bugs (i think).
Click to expand...

Insects are quite likely to eat vegetation, then again they may be parasitic/blood sucking aside from just eating bugs.

However you're right in that the ability to identify with other creatures influences what value we'd place on their life. In a legal sense there's a scale of what value is placed on human life according to age/job prospects etc.
 
Everybody has there own value of life. "Life" has no inherit value, its worth is derived from others or its effects, either direct or indirect. Depending on the perspective you wish to assume, the value of a human life or that of any other lifeforms changes, usually drastically.
 
I never tried Lobster, the way they kill it is horrid & that is why I will never eat it. Nothing, should be boiled alive. If I am going to eat it, it has to be dead before I hear about or see it.
 
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