Reply #6: A couple of reasons [View All]

[Az]

First we are human. That means we are a social species. But not just a social species. We are a highly intelligent social species. We can make connections to other species in ways they cannot. Thus not only do we feel a sense of connectivity to others of our own species but we also feel connected to other species as well.

We naturally internalize the plight of others. This is strongest amongst those of our own species but due to our ability to understand and learn we have extended it to other species. This ability comes from an evolved trait to enable species to learn instead of having to be prewired via instinct for all events. Learning makes us much more adaptable and enables us to survive in more environments. Its quite an evolutionary achievement.

So because we internalize others conditions we empathize with the whales and other species that are in danger. We help a bird with a broken wing. We feed a stray animal. And we push an occaisional whale back into the water.

Another and perhaps more compelling reason is that we may be responsible for their plight. Our dominance of the oceans has changed their environment drastically. We not only pollute the water and churn it with our engines but we also deafen species that rely on sound for communication and navigation. Evidence suggests that whale songs are being disrupted due to the noise we pollute the oceans with. They are being cutoff from one another. They are being isolated.

We have disrupted the natural order of things. Environmentalism is not about preserving nature. Nature is about change. Extinction. Death. The trouble we face is that nature could quite easily take us out as well. We don't want that. We want an environment that is suitable for our needs. And all the living things around us are part of that environment.

Nature doesn't care. Nature adapts to whatever it has. If we disrupt nature so severely that the ecosystem collapses then we endanger ourselves. Nature will continue on. Life will continue on. Its just the life that enjoyed the previous environment that will not continue on. And thats us.

So our environmental interest is in freezing the environment in its current state. In effect we are fighting nature. Nature changes. We don't want it to.