Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Mahsa Shekarloo:

by Mahsa Shekarloo

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Mark Benecke: Somebody is shouting on the other table "Yes – Yes – Yes". Humans have every right they want because humans just make up their own rights. So, evolutionary, of course, we are programmed to think that humans are more valuable than other life forms. We are programmed to think that. It doesn't make a lot of sense by now, because a little bit of a balance helps us as a species to survive. But let's not forget that all these ideas about balancing out ecologically and balancing out with other life forms is only based on the fact that we found out that our resources are getting in a little bit of a difficult situation. And to restore this, we need to get a little bit more in touch with the other life forms. It's a culture clash between what evolution programmed into us and what we now economically and socially find out to be true. So if humans decide they want to disrespect other life forms, they do have the right to do it because there is no other right than the right that human beings take. I don't like it, but it's a matter of fact.

by Mark Benecke

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Martin Almada: According to the humanistic conception both human beings and other living organisms, animals and plants, are equally important. If we study well the composition of our planet we can learn to appreciate how wonderfully life is interlinked. There are millions of life chains invisible to the human eye. But each of them has made life on our planet possible. Every insect, every reptile is important to make life on earth possible. It becomes obvious when the balance is lost: when birds and insects get killed by pesticides or native trees are cut down by people or by deforstation. Another dramatic example is the destruction of conches and shellfish on a beach by petroleum and industrial waste. For this reason various ecologists from South America try to draw our atention to this problem and fight for the equality of all living organisms.

by Martin Almada

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Masami Saionji: No, I do not think that we have such a right, because I believe that all lives are equally precious. Therefore, one must not violate other life. I think it was wrong, that human beings encroached on the habitat of animals and plants, and acted there at their own pleasure. In past times people believed that they had such a right and persisted in this belief. As a result, the many kinds of problems emerged in the 21st century. That is, we (all human beings in this century) become the consequences of the self-centered acts in the past history of mankind. Therefore, we must change our action, that is, we should take care of animals and environments. If all of us come to appreciate the necessities of animals and environments and their harmony around the world, I think that such an egoistic idea must not emerge.

by Masami Saionji

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Masuma Bibi Russel: Every form of life is important. It complement each other. You cannot live if it’s only human being, there is not animal, there is not plant, there is not -- we cannot live. So I think it’s necessary to have every form of life. And, which is important to live in this world to complement each other, how could we live without plant, without animal, without other thing. So, I think it’s -- we shouldn’t consider this human being is the more valuable than other form. Every form of life is important. Every form of life deserve to live. Every form of life is important. We need that; we cannot live without each other. We need every form of life. I don’t know which one makes more valuable, everyone is like complement to each other.

by Masuma Bibi Russel

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Mayank Mehta: The answer is, of course, no. The truth is that's not the way human beings behave, so where do we go from there? It’s interesting actually to look at many aspects of this. First aspect is, why is it the way it is? Part of the answer can be found in ourselves, as you’re speaking about the previous question that all of us has a very strong desire for self-preservation with the eyes of the life. Even to make sure we don’t perish as individuals. And those individuals gathered together to make sure that, collectively, you make that us, and our cousins, and distant cousins, and our cities survive which is by in large fine too. But, when that gets into strange situations, one way being feeling threaten by the life forms, be them human or non-human. And they preserve that they oppose minutest of threat to us and our desire of self-preservation gets so out of control that we start destroying them. That’s one thing, and the other condition under which we start to destroy the life is when it is simply convenient. It is convenient to wear certain kind of leather or it is convenient to eat a certain kind of meat, because we are used to it, simple, and we haven’t thought about it. It’s good to know that are many religions, of course, in the world where that is not the case and there are some religions or cultures where it is suctioned. So, it is being done in some part of the world where people are less destructive of other thing and some other parts people are more destructive. So, the solution out of this, is to study those cultures and religions and figure out why are they less destructive compared to others? And can we import some ideas or thoughts from the less destructive cultures to more destructive cultures without, of course, assigning of any value judgment. Simply as an algorithm that is [inaudible] and we bring it and see if it works elsewhere too.

by Mayank Mehta

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Michael E. Tigar: Well, no, I don't think so, but I think that as humans we have a responsibility to all other species because first place, we are the only ones who are able to conceive and build systems of social regulations and systems to bring justice - justice not only to other human creatures but to all species on the planet. And second, because we as humans have the power - the power to affect the well being of all species that are living on the planet. So, how do we do that? How do we exercise our responsibility towards other species, even though we might believe, as I happen to, that we're entitled to eat some of them for our own sustenance? You may not agree with that but whether you agree with it or disagree that, we share this responsibility toward the planet as a whole; to use it responsibly. And it is, in fact, the irresponsible assumption that humans are entitled to take what they want, when they want it, directed by large political and corporate interests that has endangered the planet that we're now living on. So, regardless of our view about shadings of answer to that question, we share this responsibility.

by Michael E. Tigar

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Michael Laitman: First of all, we must realize that the general system of nature is built as a pyramid. At its base there lies the still level: the whole universe, all of the petrifactions, the stars and planets that are in it. This is the lowest part of the pyramid. After that there comes the vegetative part on earth, even higher—the animate part on Earth, and the top of the pyramid is the speaking level, man—not the animate part, not our body, but the speaking or human level in us. Therefore, of course man's life is more important than all other forms and levels of nature—not because we egoistically want this to be so, but because we include all the other forms of the pyramid in us. If we will have the correct attitude towards nature, then we will correct ourselves as well as all of nature as a whole. All of the global natural disasters and problems—the tsunamis, draughts, the harm we inflict on nature, the ecological catastrophes that come down upon us—in the end this is no more than a phenomenon that man projects upon nature. This is why obviously, man's life and his role in nature is the most important one. We will discover that we, with our egoistic attitude towards ourselves and nature, evoke all the disasters and misfortunes, just as in human society, so in all other levels of nature: the animate, vegetative and even the still level. If we will change ourselves, then by this we will also undoubtedly change all of nature as a whole. This is why we need to understand that the ecological disasters that are breaking out in the world today and the new ones that we will still see, depend exclusively on man's attitude toward the world. They do not happen because nature has suddenly come out of balance. Rather, we evoke the disbalance in nature with our thoughts.

by Michael Laitman

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Michael P. Totten: Certainly, we know we have drug problems, but I want to give you a personal story. I grew up in a very violent household with my father from the time that I can remember since being seven years old would beat my brother and myself and my mother, and it left me and my mother and brother in a state of terror constantly. What was remarkable was my father didn’t drink, didn’t do drugs, he was an outstanding citizen, a policeman in the community. But every time I felt he was coming to the room, I was in absolute state of anxiety. Well, it now turns out on research there are literally millions of examples of this, and scientists have been able to study that literally what happens biochemically is that certain neurotransmitters which are normally released to give you a sense of calmness in everyday life, those neurotransmitters actually shrink and cease from being emitted because we’re in a constant state of worry, and of the world giving us neurotransmitters that are keeping us in a state of alertness and awareness out of fear of threat or violence. So, I have spent my entire of life with a lack of certain chemicals in my body, and an excess of certain chemicals in my body, that makes me alert every waking moment of my life, worrying about some form of disaster coming about, as has my brother. So, I look upon drugs, those which are neurochemical drugs internally, that have caused external interactions with others in ways that don’t make it easy for me to say what kinds of drugs should we use and what drugs shouldn’t we use. Certainly, if I found a drug that was--[Audio ends].

by Michael P. Totten

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Mohammed Arkoun: We have to pay a lot of attention, to always pay attention to all forms of life. The hierarchy of forms of life can be a matter, but it should be threaten with infinitely many precautions in order to avoid given the man a privilege that he unfortunately gave himself in relation to other forms of life in the nature; and in relation to animals. We have animals for example that are very close to us and are capable of suffering like us, capable of feeling like us, but the desire for power precisely makes that the man probably haven't sufficiently defined a cautious and measured relation with a humanist perspective and a perspective of understanding to the other forms of life. The man despises other men like him, destroys other men like him, slaughters other men like him; therefore there is a deep matter that occurs here. Even within human beings which we qualified as equal to each other in rights and dignity, there are hierarchies we can note, and in which we are living and scandalous, unbearable and intolerable hierarchies settled in the life of men themselves. It simply means that the way we think today has not reached this level of humanism and liberalization despite all the progress recorded.

by Mohammed Arkoun

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Mohau Pheko: There is saying all creatures great and small, the Lord God created them all. Look, I think that the way that we were created by the Almighty, for me, to a large extent, shows me that while we have been given greater power as humans, it also means that we have a greater responsibility to take care of nature. But, I also like the fact that the Almighty did not say that we had to go out there and subjugate everything that is less powerful than we are. I think that it's essential for us to recognize that we have to live in harmony, in balance with everything around us, all creatures great and small. And I think that this is really the essential factor, we as humans cannot poach and kill for example animals in our midst for our own profit and greed and for purposes of not survival but just purely for greed. I think that it is absolutely critical that we preserve and we conserve not only the human spirit, but we create -- we also preserve all creatures because each and every one of them has a very specific role to play.

by Mohau Pheko

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Monira Rahman: In this planet, it is not possible to live without the other forms of life. Human beings are dependent on the other, even if it's a little form of life. It is important that -- everything is important in this planet. It’s equally important to have any balance and harmony for the social balance and harmony. It is important to - we care about any forms of life. We shouldn't consider that human beings are more valuable than any other forms of life, because we cannot live without each other. We are dependent on each other for a more beautiful world, to have more harmony and peace in this world. It is important that we care about each other from different form of life.

by Monira Rahman

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Nadja Halilbegovich: I think this is an incredible question. I personally have worked and still do work hard within myself to truly respect other -- all other forms of life, human and just animals, our planet. And I think this is really important because I think we are in big trouble when we as human beings see ourselves superior and more worth than other forms of life. In fact, you know, all form of life sustain us. So if we think that we are so superior and we can abuse them and use them I think that that creates an incredible imbalance and something that will inevitably lead to problems and it has led to problems. I myself in my own path of discovering and exploring myself as well as trying to better myself have decided a decade ago to become a vegetarian and that was a very personal and very important decision for me that I will stick with forever in my life, I believe, because I felt that -- I really have a huge respect for animals of all kinds and I read so many books and heard people talk about the abuse of animals in the food industry, the meat industry and the way they are treated when they are alive and the way they are killed and the way the meat is even, you know, the safety of the meat that we eat or that other people eat. And, so I’ve decided to become a vegetarian and another thing I do is I eat mostly organic food and I think that in that way I can support the ecosystems and the environment, our soil and our air because the organic farmers do not use any pesticides and artificial synthetic products to grow our vegetables, our fruits. And I think that that’s really important that sustaining the environment and sustaining the soil, not degrading it and not polluting our water, our drinking water and our soil. And thirdly, I really try to buy fair treat products when I’m buying food because they empower [audio ends]

by Nadja Halilbegovich

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Neela Marikkar: Not really, but by default man dominates the world. And naturally, just by the sheer fact that we dominate, human beings take precedence over all else. I think that it's a phenomena that we can’t change, because we have a world that is controlled by man, by human beings. The pity is that in our greed to dominate the planet we have endangered and destroyed several other life forms. But, I think we are not sensitive enough to that, and I think that is the challenge, that we as human beings have to respect that there are other very important life forms out there. And we cannot take those for granted, we cannot destroy those. We have to protect and nurture those. But as human beings by our sheer dominance of the planet, we do take precedence.

by Neela Marikkar

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Oliviero Toscani: We live in a world that is androcentric. I mean, the man – we put the man at the center of the world. So doing this, we do consider the man more valuable than other life forms. And probably as human being it is normal to do so, but without the other life form we can’t be here anymore, so any detail about the other life form is important for the survival on the earth. So probably we shouldn’t do that. We don’t have to do that because everything is needed, all forms are needed to survive and to live. So we have to have the respect for any kind of other life form as much as we have to have the respect of the human being. But you know that probably we don’t have that big respect for – of human being because as we know, there are a lot of expression where – a lot of example where we don’t have that big respect, not even for the human being. There are some places where, of course, they do love puppies more than they like children. But we have to get away from this kind of mentality. I am really embarrassed sometime to belong to the human race.

by Oliviero Toscani

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Oscar Olivera: By no means, should we consider that. We are part of huminaty. We, all the life-forms are children of this ground, and hence, to say that human beings are more important than other life-forms is an absolutely homocentrical attitude, because we, the human beings, should rather be grateful for all that mother earth has given us generously: the plants, the animals. And there should be a new kind of reletionship between human beings and nature. It can’t be anymore the relationship of seing us as owners of other life-forms, like animals and plants, but of living harmoniously in an absolute balance, in order to be able to protect human life, in order to be able to protect the life of all life-forms and not consider us as all life-forms. We have to be as generous as water, as trees, as animals.

by Oscar Olivera

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Paul Knight: I think this is an issue, whether we consider being more valuable, I think we have a right to be focused beyond just ourselves, beyond just human beings. We need to be thinking about the environment and to be thinking about the interwovenness of our lives. And it’s not a matter of our saying human beings are more valuable but how do we sustain who we are in a world regardless of whether we’re more valuable than the environment or the environment’s more valuable than us. We need to be able to say, okay, for us to remain here beyond today then there needs to be opportunities for us to work in harmony. It’s not about saying one’s more valuable than the other, one won’t exist without the other so we need a degree of inference, if you like, between the two. So making sure that we don’t say we’re more valuable, or we’re any less valuable. We have the opportunity to change what we’re doing and change where we’re going with our societies in that respect. It’s a capacity issue. It’s not a value issue. And that’s what we really need to look at. It’s not about value and human beings being more valuable. It’s about the impact and the interrelatedness of our lives.

by Paul Knight

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Pauline Tangiora: Human beings has also an order in life, and whatever has been created as a life form has its place on this Mother Earth. So, therefore, we all have a value.

by Pauline Tangiora

Sep 9, 2006 11:40:00 AM cite

Pico Iyer: We have not the right I think, but this kind of humanism is inevitable. When someone swerves to avoid hitting a dog in the road and hits another car instead, we feel that he has been irresponsible. When someone spares a mosquito, but in doing so causes the death of her cat from malaria, we think that she has not acted as she should. I think all of us are really nearly have a living hierarchy inside our heads and practice the kind of species that we are. Buddhism enjoins us to think of [sentive] beings and our responsibility for all sentive beings, many of whom are not human. But, even Buddhists -- I consulted one Rimpoche in the Tibetan position recently tell me that sentive beings are described as those creatures that can feel pain when hit or that show emotion when feel – when they hit, which would include a horse or a cat or a dog, but might not include a fly or a mosquito. So, no great philosopher has given us definite answers for this. And yet, humans are the only beings with the capacity where we are off to think in particular conceptual framework. We have been given that blessing, and while we use that blessing to try to take care of those less fortunately endowed, we can’t look away from the importance of preserving those who are given this very, very special blessing and responsibility.

by Pico Iyer