i think higher animals .. chimps .. feel empathy.

there was a special (on jane goodall i think) who studied them and saw an older male take care of an orphaned baby.

he was an orphan himself. Definately a case for empathy there ..


without the personal barbs and retaliatory shots ..

i think its fair to say both sides have very valid points - but it comes back to one thing ..

We CANNOT compare the 2.

Cheeba still likes people .. I'm sure Vod wouldnt widow his wife for a rat with a 3 year lifespan .. and MD liked animals and people ,, but she likes to stir up shit by making absolute statements ..

you cannot compare animals to people .. we are very similar in some ways .. very different in others ...
We love both for different reasons ..

Protecting your young is a matter of survival, every living thing has that. Not empathy...

:D

*Sigh....*

The art of metaphor is apparently lost these days.

Because you need things spelled out, and because comparisons mean nothing to you, i will explain this in literal terms:

the statement was made outside the bounds of reality. I consider the life of my pets important, and therefore would be willing to place myelf in danger to help/save them. Obviously, i would not willingly die in a hopeless attempt to save ANYTHING if that means leaving my pregnant wife behind to live and raise our child alone. I would have thought the symbolism was obvious.

This brings up something else:
My wife wants to be a cop. She has wanted to be one since she was 8. Being a cop comes with it the possibility of her not living to see out kids graduate from high school, so does that mean that because she wants to be a cop , she doesnt love me or our kid? She wants to help other people, she wants to hunt down bad people and put them away. Does she therefore love other people more than me?

No.

Things are not as black and white as that. Literal is very rare in real life. I have more experience with people who take every little statement in life as the literal meaning than i care too. they are without fail small-minded and believe their opinions are the end-all-be-all.

Okay, so urge said it in simpler terms than i did :)


Arguing for the sake of arguing is pointless mental masturbation. It's an irritating waste of time.

Survival for who ?......and to be able to protect a another being you have to "feel" something for them...I would even go so long to say that empathy is part of the instincts...

Saying you'd jump under a bus to save a rat isn't even a metaphor, so don't even try calling me small minded. Take your "art" and shove it back up your ass.

Saying comparisons mean nothing to me and then comparing your wife willing to risk your life to save other people and sacrificing yourself life for a rat?

Please, I wish I could get my head that far up my ass. Everyone knows I can get it in there, but I guess I just don't have the neck strenght to really drive it home.

sometimes it's mental excersise...

and whats wrong with masterbation ? it's only irritating if you start to chafe :)

It was, actually.Words have much more to them than their literal interpretation.

And i never called you small minded, i merely implied it.

I was wrong, apparently you can read into things, when you want to.

One of these days, I'm going to take that high road. :p