Different in degree or kind: animal minds (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, January 07, 2016, 00:20 (3244 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Your statement is exactly on point. If evolution is a progress in complexity, then 99% were less complex, served their purpose and are gone. Balance is here to stay.
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> dhw: Your argument is all about humans being “here to stay”, not balance. Species are dying off by the dozens even now. There is no balance for them. According to you, 3.8 billion years of innovations, lifestyles and wonders extinct and extant have been preprogrammed just for us, and Nature is and always was “balanced” because here we are. “Balance for everyone” only means “for humans”.-That is not what I have said. Our existence has nothing to do with balance of nature. The balance is required to provide energy for the living. The balance keeps changing as species disappear. All animals have natural predators. In Africa for the lion it is man.->dhw: The Australians are apparently “messing it up”, but perhaps you have forgotten that the Australians are still here, so how can they be messing it up? Ask them about the animals they brought in from other places killing off the natural native species. As a result they are having constant problems to protect endangered animals. Aussies themselves are doing just fine, as we saw when we visited.