Hello guys. I came across a thought that I wanted to share.

So, how come no(Or at least not many) sane human could kill another, yet we nail harmless flies all the time? I know that they are vexatious, but shit, that just goes to show that we don't see all life as equal.

Okay^ that is not very interesting. What about humans? Are we all equal? Is the life of a murder as valuable as one of a priest? Is the life of a scum as valuable as the life of a king?

How about a puppy? Is a puppy as valuable as a child?

I don't really need a lot of pages, just a few answers, I want to hear what you think.

Value isn't a property of an object in itself, unlike weight, form, or color.
Value is a subjective construct, so different agents will give you different answers concerning the value of something.

Many (especially religious) people spout the notion of "sanctity of life", seemingly oblivious to the fact that life encompasses infinitely more than human beings and cute puppies: it also includes syphilis and parasitic worms. Our very bodies are equipped with immune system which automatically kills a wide array of microscopic life that wanders in - allowing us to survive.

Long story short: most people will tell you that a human child is more valuable than a dog's child, but is it really surprising? Our empathy is naturally stronger towards our own kind. Anthropocentrism and what have you.

If you want to look for reasons for "objective" value of humans, there is no shortage of authors that invent them offer some.

Pretty much that.
Every person has different relations with each other. People are more valuable to some then others. But sometimes value does come into place. For example, If a kings country is about to go to war and someone had to die. Kill somebody on the streets rather than the king himself, he is much more "valuable" to that cause.

You're a hundred percent correct, wasn't what I was looking for, but this is ery true and eye opening.

all forms are soppused to be equal but due to selfish ness ,humans belive tham selves to be
more complexe and more deserving beings , its kinda sad

not much people stick to this. some people use the cute/repected animal DOG as a slang. All lifeforms should be the same animals make no differance.

I have a hard enough time trying to think of other people as equal to me, how the hell am I supposed to grasp the concept of all living things being equal?


From a moral perspective; we don't kill people because society tells us it is bad, which arises from an unspoken agreement "don't kill me and I won't kill you". The benefit of not killing other people is not getting killed yourself. There are no negative consequences in killing a fly (except maybe "ew bug splatter on my hand/newspaper/shoe"). Killing a puppy or kitten is seen by society as bad too, since puppys and kittens are 'pets', and thus gain additional protection as compared to a wild animal. Furthermore, wild animals are treated with respect (ie not killed) by most people because society tells us that what makes us apart from animals is mercy, and killing things needlessly is pretty bad. However we do accept that killing them for food is fine (food > need to be merciful, which is why its OK to eat your tour guide if you get stranded on Everest). Hunting is a bit of a half/half, and is often a fine point for debate; some saying it is for food and thus merely an alternative to the supermarket, others saying it is a barbaric sport (of course sport hunters brought that argument on themselves).


But as I said, from an individual point of view, you are the only one that matters, and if the situation arose where it was more beneficial to you to kill an animal or other person then to not, you would.



NB: Yes, people = mechanical.

Obviously we hold human lives above animals. If we didn't we wouldn't be on top of the food chain. That's simple, we do, and most definitely should hold ourselves above other life forms.

The other, tougher topic to get into, is asking about human lives; are there different values for different people?

As was asked before, would a murderer be worth the same as a doctor? (switched out priest to take away the religious tone)

I would say no, a convicted criminal is not worth as much as a doctor. Why?
A doctor saves lives, makes people happy because their family members get to live to see another day, where as a murderer takes lives, making people sad to lose a member of their family.
For one person to provide happiness and pleasure, and another to provide pain and sadness, I would pick the one giving out happiness.

Sure there are gray areas, such as picking out of two people you've never met before, but that only comes into play if they're just that, strangers, then they are equal. It is only when the potential pleasure or pain they can bring into the world can you make a decision saying which life is worth more.

mankind likes to think mankind is special, that's about it.

Well we've sure done enough work to prove it.
We've fought our way up the food chain, becoming the dominant species of Earth, for a damned long time. I say we deserve praise for it. What other animal has even attempted that?