anon6789

anon6789, 10 hours ago

Without more specifics to your scenario, let’s say you’re talking about we make a commutation device for gorillas and cetaceans since they are pretty intelligent, so the most likely to be the first ones we can talk to and understand each other.

Do we still have dominion over them?

Can we come into their homes and take things and trash the place? Do we compensate them?

Do we force our standards of behavior on them? If animals can fight for food and they want to eat your pet and for them might makes right, can a gorilla beat you up and take it? If not, why not?

If we learn they have feelings, a sense of family, or have beliefs where some plants, animals, places are untouchable, do we abide by that?

I think we open this door, we will not be ready for it. I feel it will be like if we discovered a resource rich planet full of sentient creatures with the intelligence of 6 year olds. How have humans done in those scenario before when they have come across those weaker than them? Will we have learned anything?

On a brighter note, if you have not heard of David Brin’s Uplift series of books, you may want to check that out if you’re a reader. I only read The Uplift War, but I enjoyed it.

anon6789, 3 hours ago

As a sci-fi fan, I think there’s an infinite number of great things that could come from it. I mentioned Uplift War, which has humans taking responsibility for raising primates up to be a space faring race and dolphins flying spaceships in water filled suits. The dog race from Fire Upon the Deep learned to communicate, develop Medieval tech, and pass on generational knowledge. Snow Crash has the cybernetic guard dogs. So many cool possibilities exist.

But I don’t know if our race is ready to deal with another intelligent species able to communicate with us as equals or near equals. If we learn the true feelings of one animal, and they tell us all animals have thoughts and emotions like we do, can we eat any animal after that? And after we develop animal communication, if we learn plants are sentient as well? Again, in Fire Upon the Deep, there was a plant race that existed on a time scale we couldn’t grasp because their lives were so much longer than humans. If we learn eating animals or plants now is about the same as eating your neighbors, what do we do?

We have people now that will abuse animals. Not everyone of all races values all animals the same. Much of my animal research involves owls, but they’re a bad omen in some parts of the world so people kill them. Some countries really seem to not value dogs. There’s Japan with their whaling. Do these become new international disputes? Do we help or take in animal refugees?

Who gets to make the determinations about animal “personhood” to determine the new animal rights or how we interact with them. Do we end up with animal embassies? Can an animal press charges against someone abusing them? Can a mouse sue a cat for eating her husband?

As for if aliens would treat us badly or even have no regard for us whatsoever as if we were ants is one hypothesis for the Fermi Paradox. Life could be hiding from a galactic murderer or most have already been wiped out by them. And again, look at our history of what we’ve done to other groups of humans we’ve come across. We’ve had millenia to do almost whatever to all life on this planet, and not everyone would go along with a change this massive.

I just look at all going on around the world and it seems we haven’t even learned to deal with our own species properly. I just don’t think we’d be able to handle another just yet.

Pretty much any aspect of our daily lives or our spirituality would be affected if we had an intellectual peer. It’s fun to think about as a series of hypotheticals, but if it were real, I don’t know how we’d feel about ourselves. I don’t think a lot of species would necessarily be thrilled with us. I wouldn’t want to have to be the first person to speak to a bison on the Great Plains for instance and try to explain why humans did what they did to them.

anon6789, 14 hours ago

I came for the eybrows, but stayed for the eyes! So orange!

anon6789, 11 hours ago

The face has that air of legitimacy.

anon6789, 15 hours ago

Well, they all go in burrows, but only some can dance, otherwise they’d be the Dancing Owl. 🩰

anon6789, 23 hours ago

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/faefe684-0ff5-45f1-96c8-29997adede2f.webp

A visitor stops by.

anon6789, 8 hours ago

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/e542e281-aa94-40f9-8e7f-590dd745ddb9.webp

anon6789, 19 hours ago

I couldn’t find the actual video at the link, it seemed to want me to sign in, so I found it on Youtube.

That really took me on a much unexpected journey! 😅

anon6789, 18 hours ago

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/56080ed2-5b57-4b7a-a9d3-fef62ec6a63f.webp

No surprises here, it’s one of the hundreds of pictures of owls on my phone.

I suppose this one is unique in that it’s also a picture of a non-owl.

anon6789, 16 hours ago

Yes, much less intrusive than whenever I’ve gotten one! 🤣