bill..this is a beautiful post..merle Mike,
In defense of Merle's defense of my statement... I think her feeling expressed in 'how beautifully they live' is indeed human - the 'beautiful' part. What I think she is saying is she recognizes they are living according to their nature, which is not necessary human nature. I'd also say your preference for intellect over instinct is anthropomorphic. Like I said we can 'transcend' or 'override' our instincts with our intellect, but that produces both good and bad things - from a human perspective. Surely you're not saying a spider eating a fly or a fox eating a chicken is 'bad'. I don't think either a spider or a fox has an intellect which produces a moralistic dualism of good/bad. In other words and using Judea/Christian mythology, spiders and foxes have not 'eaten the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil' so they are all still living in the 'Garden of Eden' in direct communion with 'God' - living in an original, natural state unlike humans. These are some of my thoughts on this topic anyway...Bill! --- In [email protected], uerusuboyo@... wrote: > > Merle,<br/><br/>>how many folk rise above their instincts and > desires?...<br/><br/>You keep missing my point. By being born human we have > the _potential_ to transcend our instincts and desires - something no other > organism consistently demonstrates. We are much more fortunate. In > Buddhist/Hindu terms, being born human is akin to falling off a ship and > rising to the surface to find a wooden yoke directly above us. <br/><br/>>the > other organisms that you say are trapped by instinct... <br/><br/>Are you > saying they are not?<br/><br/>>how beautifully they live..as bill says free > from attachments... they just are.. <br/><br/>"Beautiful"? I'd say that's a > very anthropomorphic term. You're a gardener. Ever seen a vegetarian spider > or a fox help a chicken cross the road?<br/><br/>>we ..us humans strive to > be...the other organisms just are..<br/><br/>They just "are" includes being > driven by blind instinct. We can transcend that, even though many > don't.<br/><br/>>no wringing of hands and wrestling with philosophies, > religions psychology.... free to be........ <br/>how good is > that?...<br/><br/>It's not a question of being superior to other animals, but > that we are unique - at this stage of evolution - as self-transcending > beings. <br/><br/><br/>>let us take a leaf out of these organisms books so to > speak,.... <br/><br/>Everything is our teacher.<br/><br/><br/>> by the way we > are those organisms..<br/>have you not met in your travels the human > reptile?.... <<br/><br/>Many times. How many times have you met a reptilian > Jesus or Dalai Lama?<br/><br/>Mike<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Sent from Yahoo! > Mail for iPad >
