Change places with what animal?
Jan 29, 2021 9:21:38 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Jan 29, 2021 9:21:38 GMT -5
Change places with what animal
Just recently, after a brief conversation concerning sentience, the person I spoke with claimed that he wouldn't mind being a bear or a wolf despite their being less self-aware than humans. After giving the idea much thought, I wondered just how willing he would be to change places with other animals. So I responded in the following manner:
My Response
Would you mind being a snake? I would. Having to swallow things whole and having to crawl on my belly all my life are not particularly high on my agenda. Also being a creature stuck in the sea, such as a whale, or dolphin doesn't appeal to me. Especially if I am on some predator's, such as a white Shark's hit list. An ant? Well, might as well make me a mindless machine since they are entirely led by instinct that responds to chemical signals.
A wolf or dog? One thing that a canine has against it is its extremely limited lifespan. You see, each of our years are seven of a dog's. That means that a dog reaches the age of ten in one of our years and reaches extreme old age very quickly. For example, in just ten years, it reaches the 70-year-old stage. From age twenty to 79, you could have owned six dogs all of which would have died from old age
.
But who would want to trade places with a turtle? Its a life of waddling around in the sea, crawling around on land, and basking immobile under the sweltering sun is not exactly what most of us would consider exciting. Lugging that shell on my back doesn't look too appealing either.
Well, some life forms survive by eating rodents, so that disqualifies them right there. So in order to avoid having to kill to survive, and eat raw meat, I guess I would need to choose among herbivorous animals.
Another factor is self awareness. Some life-forms like amoebas, and clams and plants, are simply existing. So since I do value a certain degree of self awareness, I would need to avoid those. Living all day in water doesn't appeal to me. So the animal would have to be a land dweller.
That narrows it down quite a bit. Ok, If I wanted to conserve some degree of human physical appearance, I guess I would need to choose among the great apes. I don't like chimp societies and their tendency towards violence. I don't like the way that the orangutans look with their pot bellies and red hair, and their spending all that time in trees. So I guess my choice would be a silverback gorilla.
A wolf or dog? One thing that a canine has against it is its extremely limited lifespan. You see, each of our years are seven of a dog's. That means that a dog reaches the age of ten in one of our years and reaches extreme old age very quickly. For example, in just ten years, it reaches the 70-year-old stage. From age twenty to 79, you could have owned six dogs all of which would have died from old age
.
Compare that to the turtle that can outlive humans by a very significant margin.
In 2006, Li Chengtang, head of the Aquarium in China, said that the oldest sea turtle onsite was “about 400 years old, as determined by a shell test by a taxonomic professor.” Another news report of an elderly sea turtle in the Philippines stated that a sea turtle close to 200 years old was discovered in a fish pen and brought to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
www.thoughtco.com/sea-turtle-lifespan-4171338
In 2006, Li Chengtang, head of the Aquarium in China, said that the oldest sea turtle onsite was “about 400 years old, as determined by a shell test by a taxonomic professor.” Another news report of an elderly sea turtle in the Philippines stated that a sea turtle close to 200 years old was discovered in a fish pen and brought to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
www.thoughtco.com/sea-turtle-lifespan-4171338
My response to a similar question on Lichess
Well, some life forms survive by eating rodents, so that disqualifies them right there. So in order to avoid having to kill to survive, and eat raw meat, I guess I would need to choose among herbivorous animals.
Another factor is self awareness. Some life-forms like amoebas, and clams and plants, are simply existing. So since I do value a certain degree of self awareness, I would need to avoid those. Living all day in water doesn't appeal to me. So the animal would have to be a land dweller.
That narrows it down quite a bit. Ok, If I wanted to conserve some degree of human physical appearance, I guess I would need to choose among the great apes. I don't like chimp societies and their tendency towards violence. I don't like the way that the orangutans look with their pot bellies and red hair, and their spending all that time in trees. So I guess my choice would be a silverback gorilla.