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Re: Morality In Insects - LINK

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Posted by H on March 6, 1999 00:10:32 UTC

: I saw a documentary the other day that showed how some types of wasps reproduce. A female wasp lays a hundred or so eggs and leaves them to hatch. When the first male is hatched, it then goes around and kills every one of it's brothers that hatches. It then has sex with each and every one of it's sisters as soon as they hatch.

: Did God create these insects? Did they choose somewhere in history to go down this 'immoral' path? ---------------------------- Thats funny, I thought the society was matriarchal and Queen based. But thats besides the point.

From the most basic of organisms, the "prime directive" if you will is survival. Human beings live up to this directive just as other creatures do. Are we cruel? You better believe it. If we feel our survival is threatened, by perhaps another nation obtaining weapons of mass destruction, we bomb them to set them back. Knowing full well innocent civilians will be killed. There are plenty of examples. We have created societies with different moral and ethical codes. For example, in many ancient cultures it was perfectly acceptable to kill your wife (or one of them) if they are disrespectful. You can get away with this in some countries today.

To say we are somehow different than animals because we have a sense of "right and wrong" seems obsurd to me. Our sense of morality depends on how morality has been defined in our life by our society. My moral code is most certainly different from people of different cultures. Many people depend on religion for moraity, I do not. This is not to say I think its OK to "Steal" or "Kill".

Insects are perhaps a bad example, because they don't have a complex brain. I think mammals such as Chimps and other primemates prove that the classical thought on animals is wrong. Many documentaries on TV have convinced me that many of these creatures have a sense of "death" and feel sorrow for fallen comrad. If you ever get a chance, watch the special on Discovery about the "Temple Troop". Its about a troop of monkeys, their structure, and their lives. Very interesting. Chimps use basic tools to open various types of nuts. Rocks as hammers. Their DNA is 97% matching to that of a humans.

H

Check out this link. I found it very good reading.

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