I don't think most humans would dare to kill, or in this case catch, another living thing that is able to share emotions and think, and not a child. Unless said specie is known for being hostile or already highly violent towards humans.
I don't think most humans would dare to kill, or in this case catch, another living thing that is able to share emotions and think, and not a child. Unless said specie is known for being hostile or already highly violent towards humans.
The last 10,000+ years of slavery and genocide disagrees with you. It's frightfully simple to convince ordinary people to commit unspeakable violence against other intelligent beings. All you have to do is make them believe that the target of their violence is something other, something lesser, something subhuman, and their animal nature will handle the rest.
If we can be taught to see other humans as nothing but resources to exploit and threats to be exterminated, what chance does a completely different species have of being treated as people?
Humans also achieve symbiosis with a variety of animals, forming not just personal relationships but also communal ones. If merfolk of sorts existed, the advantages from befriending them would be enormous.
The last 10,000+ years of slavery and genocide disagrees with you. It's frightfully simple to convince ordinary people to commit unspeakable violence against other intelligent beings. All you have to do is make them believe that the target of their violence is something other, something lesser, something subhuman, and their animal nature will handle the rest.
If we can be taught to see other humans as nothing but resources to exploit and threats to be exterminated, what chance does a completely different species have of being treated as people?
I knew this comment was coming. I'm talking about this day and age, and I said most because I know this world is not perfect.
I knew this comment was coming. I'm talking about this day and age, and I said most because I know this world is not perfect.
In this day and age we just had an angry man murder a clothing shop owner in Southern California just because she had a gay pride flag outside her store. It didn't matter she was a major contributor to their community and just recently was a key player in setting up support for their community after they were hit by a blizzard earlier this year. I have to think you're unfortunately being overly optimistic with the human race.
Steak said:
Humans also achieve symbiosis with a variety of animals, forming not just personal relationships but also communal ones. If merfolk of sorts existed, the advantages from befriending them would be enormous.
Only in like small communities do humans really do that. As for merfolk, we can't forget that in Asia there was that common myth of merfolk flesh granting longevity. Such rumors would easily make them a target for hunting, much like we still do today for things like rhino horns.
I knew this comment was coming. I'm talking about this day and age, and I said most because I know this world is not perfect.
The flesh of mermaids was known to give the eater basically eternal life and health. Knowing this people absolutely would hunt and kill them. There would be a small portion of humans who would sympathize and maybe even want to be with them. That will always be the case.
But when someone is offering money you may harm. If you can live forever, you may very well kill. If your dad talked about the fortune he could make off a single mermaid and you made friends with one and loved your family very much, you may very well kill.
Don't even need to apply a modern lens like the other comment did. The human instinct is the kill the "other". It takes an advanced civilization to try and coexist with an entirely different species/civilization.
Look at how the native Americans were otherized. Animalized. And they still looked exactly like a human being. It's not hard to imagine what a human would do to a mermaid. Especially if they thought they stood to gain from their death. The only trade off would be mermaids offering fish and such and humanity learned to pillage the sea all on its own. Why trade when you can dominate?
In this day and age we just had an angry man murder a clothing shop owner in Southern California just because she had a gay pride flag outside her store. It didn't matter she was a major contributor to their community and just recently was a key player in setting up support for their community after they were hit by a blizzard earlier this year. I have to think you're unfortunately being overly optimistic with the human race.
Only in like small communities do humans really do that. As for merfolk, we can't forget that in Asia there was that common myth of merfolk flesh granting longevity. Such rumors would easily make them a target for hunting, much like we still do today for things like rhino horns.
Once again, most, the exception of one asshole killing a person for being gay or supporting them is just that, an exception. The majority of people wouldn't kill those they hate, but if high enough they will protest. This is not the era of Hitler.
The last 10,000+ years of slavery and genocide disagrees with you. It's frightfully simple to convince ordinary people to commit unspeakable violence against other intelligent beings. All you have to do is make them believe that the target of their violence is something other, something lesser, something subhuman, and their animal nature will handle the rest.
If we can be taught to see other humans as nothing but resources to exploit and threats to be exterminated, what chance does a completely different species have of being treated as people?
The advancement of civilisation sometimes brings forth a positive change, although I must agree, humanity as a whole will most likely not adapt quickly or properly with another human-like species, considering they would most likely conflict with our current ecosystem's habitat. Since we regularly pollute and exploit oceans and rivers (even if a lot of people try to reduce or fix it), I doubt they'd be happy about co-existing with humans, hell, I bet they'd even start a war to get rid of humans to prevent the destruction of their habitat.
But the most important factor of why we'd probably not integrate well is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of the new, fear of what they will do, is the biggest combination of things that set forth in motion hostile interactions.
The majority of people wouldn't kill those they hate
A BUNCH of salary or retail workers would like to disagree with you. People WILL hurt or even kill if they get angry or stressed enough, the only reason it doesn't happen so often is because of our fragile laws.
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