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Originally Posted by Khayman
Where did you get the point about a species recognising itself in the mirror? I can't see that anywhere in the article. I can see someone trying to protect an animal that has no rights, indeed less rights than a houselhold pet. Just because it doesn't extend to other animals does not make it less vaild, or arrogant. If someone came out with a law in the past to stop dogs being abused, or puppies drowned, would you have objected on the grounds that flies should be included?
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It's a metaphor.
When YOU look yourself in the mirror, do you see yourself? Do you see your reflection? Do you see rays of light? Do you see the image upside down? No? But you do see it "flipped" horizontally? What exactly do you see?
Self-awareness, instinct, mind, neuron, hormone, knowledge, wisdom. To recognize a Chimpanzee as special and priviledged on the ground he should have more self-awareness than a fly, or a dog, is like paying 1 million dollars for one of his paintings.
There should be one law only, to protect each and every animal, if great apes are not as protected as Tazmanian Devils, then why the fuss about a new age? What would be so enlightening as elevating gorillas to the condition of dogs? To me, it's humiliating, pathetic, an insult to human intelligence, not simian. To make a circus out of it is no different than a proper circus where apes get cruel treatment. Apes are being used as objects, just like a chair, in this case, it's more like a ladder.
Skybird, come back to earth, call Dick Cheney and ask him to shoot off your wings, both feet on the ground now. This has nothing to do with your cosmical flight.
It's about eroding the legal system, creating a priviledged class, it's not a frontal assault, oh no, don't be silly, it's about eating the Rule of Law by the border, one bite here, one nib there. Confusion, mess, disinformation, good will, kindness, help. With the excuse of helping the weak, the helpless, the needed, the very foundation of universal protection is attacked, and it feels like it's the right thing to do.
Great Apes kill, massacrate, practice their own little genocides. In their natural enviroment Gorillas can be ruthless, not recognizing the rights of the "other", they respect no other species, no laws, they make justice with their own hands. She insist on comparing them with human children, but the fundamental difference is never remembered:
The difference from all animals to children is that babies grow up. Great Apes can only go so far, feeling fear is different from understanding fear and dealing with it.
From a non-human point of view, if things were inverted, they'd be just the same, if not worse. But that's because I watched Planet of the Apes.