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Originally Posted by Ea
That's interesting examples and some that affect the individual rather than the species. I was thinking of things that would affect directly, physically, and more at species level, but these are all fundamentally sentimental reasons, and would only affect you if you'd learned to empathise with animals or appreciate green - which most of us living in the western, modern culture has learned, but I'd say it's a purely cultural thing, which may change again.
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In some ways that is true. But they can also impact us on a species level if you think of ecological balance. The majority of our oxygen comes from algae & forests. So the suffering of the trees due to global warming, infestation, deforestation, etc. impacts our atmosphere, directly impacting us - same with algae suffering due to oil spills, pollution, etc. Birds are a major controlling factor of insect populations - if the birds suffer they will fail to thrive, the insect population will boom and we will suffer - disease, crop damage, etc.
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Originally Posted by Ea
While I read the article, I was struck by the thought that the tree only got its "meaning" or significance, i.e. that it was so very old, exactly beacuse it was felled, or killed. If it hadn't been, it would have been another old tree with no special significance and you wouldn't feel for it as you do.
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No, I have to disagree with you here. I think the tree was even more valuable alive. Is
Methuselah just another old tree? Is
Eugénie Blanchard just another old woman?
This seems like a question of intrinsic values. Does an object have value in and of itself? Or does it only have value once we acknowledge it and give it to it?
hmm...maybe I'm not such a relativist after all....
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Originally Posted by Ea
I guess I have grown more cynical as I get older. I think that the earth will survive with or without humans, just as it has survived so many other changes.
I think I can sympathise with the feeling of loss of 5000 year old tree - but in the big picture I don't think it's worth worrying about. 5000 years is a long time for a human, but a blink in the eye for the earth, and even less for the universe. We are bound by human-sized thinking.
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Oh I definitely agree - the Earth will be fine either way. The question you bring to mind is whether or not we value our place on it. And whether we place any value on respecting the other living things we share it with.
Troy