I'm not sure how far down the rabbit hole the asker wished to delve. My answer is simple: we are responsible for ourselves, and for our children (because they can't have self-responsibility yet and need nurturing.)Others have made good points about how personal responsibility extends to all of our various actions and interactions because the consequences can affect others.I think there's a limit on how far our responsibility extends. Mark Palmer talked about the Butterfly Effect, but that seems heavy handed. To me, our responsibility can't really extend beyond what we are able to know or reasonably predict. We should certainly make an attempt to understand the consequences of our actions, but we can only extrapolate so far, and there's the possibility of being innocently wrong (as opposed to negligently wrong.) Another consideration: at what point in the causal chain does another person's self-responsibility supercede the responsibility of he who initiated the chain? For example, imagine that a drunk driver hits another car. Impacted driver dies, dead guy's passenger survives. Six months later, the passenger who lived is still so traumatized that they commit suicide. The drunk driver is responsible for causing the trauma, but are they responsible for the suicide? Or does suicide fall under the "jurisdiction", so to speak, of the aggrieved (meaning that the suicidal person bears the responsibility for preventing that action)? Do both people have responsibility?I don't have an answer for that. I'm just thinking out loud.
If there were no living creatures, Would there still be space?
A living creature is a collection of atoms that function according to the laws of quantum mechanics just like any other collection of atoms. If the living creature is seeing the universe, then it is making an observation and thereby changing the state of the universe that it sees. The observer is not some isolated privileged entity. When it makes an observation it becomes a part of the system that it observes. It's rather involved, but there would be no particular universe unless a persistent observation has been made. If universes existed "prior" to the current one, and no record exists of their existence then they did not exist in any definite state. Ask this in the philosophy section, for some even more abstract answers. I gave you a star for an excellent question.
Do we have RESPONSIBILITY over all other living creatures on Earth....?
I loved your question plenty. Makes me imagine. it truly is too undesirable, all we are able to do is speculate. If the earth is well-known with, she could observe in a fashion that we gained't understand. might want to or not it truly is that she's the only responsible, and she or he has been this entire time? possibly she led us to "pollute" the earth? i have continuously considered the idea that possibly we're not rather destroying the earth. What if we are coming up those form of unusual new supplies, that would want to finally help existence to evolve. supplies to act as a catalyst. imagine about what existence varieties may stay the following in 20,000 years! The reliable, and maximum adaptable creatures will live to inform the tale, yet they're going to surely live to inform the tale in a mode overseas to how we presently recognize them. How might want to we ever totally comprehend information? we are able to attempt to comprehend our own information. we are able to evaluate how different creatures are conscious. How does a bumble bee adventure the international? And a kangaroo? And a blue whale, and what about micro organism and bats and butterflys? some creatures comprehend each thing to be vibrations, others see colours we gained't, nevertheless others use sound to visualise the international. Is the earth conscious? may be.
I’m going to throw a little bit of Buddhist philosophy at you, you can’t take it or leave it but please consider the points.-All living creatures are exactly like us. Not in the way you’re thinking. No, all living creatures aren’t exactly like humans, they may have lower intelligence, no voice to tell us how much they want to live, etc, but they are just like you and me in the sense that all they want is to live a good life and be happy.When you and I wake up in the morning, we both have different goals and motivations, different lives and thoughts, but what binds us together with the rest of all living creatures is our will to live (the opposite is an extreme that I acknowledge, but stems from the same issue of just wanting to be happy) and to live a good life.Also, from a more environmentally sensitive point of view, every creature has a purpose in their ecosystem. Bumblebees are incredibly important, and so are all of the other creatures who work together to support everything else in an ecosystem.The Economic Importance of BumblebeesFacts About Bumblebees“All beings tremble before danger, all fear death. When a man considers this, he does not kill or cause to kill. All beings fear before danger, life is dear to all. When a man considers this, he does not kill or cause to kill. He who for the sake of happiness hurts others who also want happiness, shall not hereafter find happiness. He who for the sake of happiness does not hurt others who also want happiness, shall hereafter find happiness.”- Dhammapada 54Source: Buddhist Ethics: Compassion for All: Animals (the article isn’t the best, really, it’s just where I got the quotation)Also, why do you feel such a strong urge to kill other living beings? If you think about it, you’ve already wasted more of your time killing creatures and asking this question, then reading through all of the responses, when you could just go on with our day and give the creature the gift of life by not killing it.
Here's a philosophical question: What does it mean to have free will? How do I recognize if someone has free will? Let's suppose a person is faced with a particular situation. They assess the situation and make a decision and move on. If they make the decision for a really good reason is that consistent with having free will or being deterministic? Let's suppose we can repeat the situation over a bajillion parallel universes. Suppose we observe the person makes the same decision in every universe. Does that mean the situation is deterministic, or the person has free will and just makes the same free decision in every universe when confronted with an identical situation? Let's suppose we repeat the situation over a bajillion parallel universes and the person makes one decision in half of them and another in the other half. Does this indicate free will? Or does it indicate that the person is random and effectively flips a coin in their head? Now this is important. Because if you are flipping a coin in your head and doing whatever it says, you do not have free will, but you are acting in a purely random way. So the idea of being "unpredictable" or "being able to make alternative decisions" does not necessarily equate to free will.
Why are creatures of todays world so small compared to millions of years ago?
that's all due to evolution which made us to live securly on this earth. The wide range of evidence of common descent of living things strongly indicates the occurrence of evolution and provides a wealth of information on the natural processes by which the variety of life on Earth developed. This evidence supports the modern evolutionary synthesis, which is the scientific theory that explains how life changes over time. Fossils are important for estimating when various lineages developed. As fossilization is an uncommon occurrence, usually requiring hard body parts and death near a site where sediments are being deposited, the fossil record only provides sparse and intermittent information about the evolution of life. Evidence of organisms prior to the development of hard body parts such as shells, bones and teeth is especially scarce, but exists in the form of ancient microfossils, as well as impressions of various soft-bodied organisms. Evolution with common descent also provides the best explanation for a variety of facts concerning the geographical distribution of plants and animals (biogeography), especially island biogeography. Comparison of the genetic sequence of organisms has revealed that organisms that are phylogenetically close have a higher degree of sequence similarity than organisms that are phylogenetically distant. Further evidence for common descent comes from genetic detritus such as pseudogenes, regions of DNA that are orthologous to a gene in a related organism, but are no longer active and appear to be undergoing a steady process of degeneration. Since metabolic processes do not leave fossils, research into the evolution of the basic cellular processes is done largely by comparison of existing organisms. Many lineages diverged at different stages of development, so it is possible to determine when certain metabolic processes appeared by comparing the traits of the descendants of a common ancestor.
Have you ever wondered why God created us, when we're all going to have to die anyway?
The Bible tells us why we are here in Genesis 1:27-28. "And God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. Further, God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.” That was our job to be caretakers for the planet. A&E were made perfect. It would not make sense for God to place as punishment for breaking their 1 law as death if that is what was going to happen anyway. A&E did not have any kids while perfect and inside Eden. So they passed on their imperfection to the kids, us. Romans 5:12 shows that is why we die. "That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned." The main theme of the Bible is how God's name will be made known by restoring earth to the original condition and people with it. "God himself will be with them. 4 And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and DEATH will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:4)
What is the reason why people continue to live under capitalism?
You know there are some great medications that might help you calm down a little. Capitalism is why this country flourished. Capitalism is why it was great. How can rewarding those who don't work with the fruits of those who do be good for the company. Get a fifth grade history book. Read about the first settlers who tried the whole community pot mindset. They starved. The next year John Smith showed up and instituted a everyman for himself policy. They colony thrived. There was an excess is supplies and trading began. But if it makes you feel better to believe the pediatrician should have to give the guy who sweeps the floor his money, go ahead. BTW, the poor are greedy too. That is what fuels wealth envy
Why do people turn to God when there's no explanation for a particular matter?
ummm... faith exists. there is no doubt about it. everyone has faith in something, so the question "does faith exist" is an irrelevent question. ive said this before on here about God and wether or not he exists. im sure you believe that the wind exists, right? how do you know? have you seen the wind? no you havent, but you see the effects of the wind. it blows the trees and moves the clouds and other stuff. you know it exists because you see the effects. and bad things just happen. it isnt necessarily a "punishment" from God, thats just life. if bad things never happened, this would be heaven and the afterlife would be a joke. just like the things that we consider "good". sometimes they just happen and sometimes the dont.
Can someone please give me an intelligent answer on why Islam radicalists feel the need to blow stuff up/kill?
1. It is not ISLAM that causes this stuff, it is a particular interpretation of islam that is fueled by a particular world view. Casting all Moslims into the same basket is prejudice and ignorant. 2. Islam had nothing to do with the boston bombings. Are you aware the younger brother was secular and non religious? Sometimes bad stuff just happens. 3. Islam is at war with itself. Just as there are many types of Christians, so to are there many types of Muslims. And just as the different types of Christians fight amongst themselves as to who is right and who is a true Christian, so to do Muslims do the same. This is what happens when people take fantasies too far. 4. The Qu'ran details, just as the Bible does, that one should go forth and spread the religion, by force if necessary. Just as fundamental Christians hate the idea of the country they live in not being considered a "christian nation" and not living by the laws they consider to be those of "god" (even though they aren't, but that's a different answer to a different question), so to are fundamentalist Moslims the same. 5. All around the world the USA is killing innocent people, directly or indirectly through sponsorship, in the hundreds of thousands. Are you aware the pre-twin tower USA was bombing and shooting missiles at civilian structures in afghanistan, iraq and egypt? Killing women and children? One mans terrorist and another mans freedom fighter and vise versa. 6. This is a hugely complex issue that requires an answer much bigger than would be appropriate on Yahoo Answers.