Out of nowhere a big beautiful hawk came swooping down from out of the sky.
Maybe it thought we were a giant white mouse on wheels.
Seconds later we heard a sickening thump.
The hawk was no more.
We looked for a safe place to pull over and then assessed the damage.
There was no sign of the hawk, but it did break something on the roof of the Sprinter Van.
Maybe the hawk is still alive......
Yeah, and maybe Elvis is still alive.
We both felt terrible and didn't really know what to do.
We talked about how bad we felt that we (inadvertently) snuffed the hawk but probably wouldn't feel so bad if it had been a pigeon.
I know if there was a squirrel crossing our path, I probably would've accelerated.
Are some animals more equal than others?
P.S. Here's a little video on youtube of this incident:
Are some more equal than others depending on what perspective?
ReplyDeleteObviously us humans tend to like the "cuter" animals just like we tend to be nicer to "cuter" humans (saw some experiment with this on some TV show awhile back, damned if I remember what show, though).
But the human perspective isn't necessarily the "true" perspective, even if we do think we're the Shit. What gives us priority over other animals? Why do we get the authority to judge (well, perhaps because we're the only ones that care and think about this issue)? Most of us are idiots, anyways...
But I digress. The point is: we probably feel some are more equal but we're so incredibly biased towards what the current culture's standards of strong or cute are (it's like the ancient peoples admiring naked fat, gigantic women whereas in our time, we'd just want to gouge our eyes out with icepicks--someday we may like the squirrel over the hawk). So what kind of answer are you looking for? Do you want to know if they're actually objectively equal or not? That's probably something we'll never figure out...
I guess you could have just answered the question with an "I don't know."
ReplyDeleteTell that to any philosopher :)
ReplyDeletePhilosophers "don't know" anything but does that stop them?
It's important to analyze, perhaps, why we don't know and back that up, then at least we have some sort of starting point-- knowing the problems is a starting point to figure out even how we should phrase the question appropriately! Kind of like how phenomenology started with the question of "what is being?"
Hey D, Sorry. I guess I came across a bit smug.I appreciate your point and it's a valid one. I do analyze (too much sometimes, I fear) questions but I'm used to doing it in my head. I agree with your example of what society deems as cuter. It's a fact that white kittens get adopted at a much higher rate than black ones (I, personally, have one of each). So, do I now begin to wonder which one I love more? That's the part I don't get. While too much analytical thinking may be a good thing in some cases, in others I think it's a waste of time.:)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNo, don't worry about it. I agree that my analysis was probably a waste of time but... I do it anyways! He asked the question so I figured I'd answer, even though I knew it'd make him regret asking, ha.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I am "D;" I changed my name but can't figure out why it doesn't change on my old posts. I guess it never will.