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Edited by The Cellar Door:
11/29/2014 2:19:12 PM
62
[Social Experiment] Are we (humans) special?
Simple question really, do you believe that the human race is special, or of higher significance than the [b]rest of the universe?[/b]
Now with my last social experiment, it seemed that I did not word it clear enough, and therefor my results were flawed, and my conclusion was not as drastic as presumed from these flawed results, so I want to be as clear as I possibly can be.
If you are wondering why I ordered the poll as I have, splitting the yes' and no's into creationist and non-creationist categories, that is the point of the experiment. So to reiterate and hopefully dispel any possible confusion, THIS IS THE QUESTION I AM ASKING:
[u][b]Do you believe that the human race is special as compared to the rest of the universe, and why? Please answer the poll question, and explain your thinking in the comments.[/b][/u] Many possibly things can be accounted for, such as biology, society, philosophy, etc, so please explain yourselves. If you do not mind also mentioning your stance on faith in your comment, this will also help the experiment. [u]Also, this is not meant to be judgemental to any specific faith, this is simply an experiment that may or may not show a correlation. Logically, correlation =/= causation, however I am attempting to see an average of faith and the belief of humans being special versus non faith.[/u]
[spoiler]Also, I would like to reassure you that this social experiment is not as dependent on wording as my last one, and so we will not suffer the same misunderstanding that occurred previously. If something is unclear, please let me know. [/spoiler]
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Currently? No Eventually? Yes
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4 RepliesSpecial as in retarded? Well yes.
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1 ReplyAgnostic. While the overall universe is great and all, large and mysterious, it kind of represents a religious view of heaven for me in that its impact on me is relatively small. My feet are planted on Earth, and while I absolutely love reading and learning about astronomy, I like to keep my head on where I currently am. That being said, everyone has great potential to accomplish something in their lives and have an effect on those around them. In that way, we are special. Are we anymore special than anything else around us? Not really. There are things in nature that are more spectacular (not necessarily special, just great), but I'm not part of those other things. I'll never see the scale of nebulae in person, it's damn likely that I'll never set foot on another planet or celestial body, so my focus isn't on that. It's on myself those around me, IE humanity. That is my observable 'universe'. It's kind of like how it's difficult to map the universe from any other perspective but from Earth. To us, we are the center of the universe. It's hard to shift your purpose to live from an alien perspective. We can sympathize with different viewpoints (such as, "Hey if we were over here we might be able to see more"), but actually living that perspective is another matter. So, to me, humanity is special in a lot of ways. But that view has obvious bias. We are so small in comparison to everything out there, but everything plays a role. We either accomplish balance or imbalance (depending on how you see it) on one of seemingly infinite celestial bodies. We're just as special as anything else out there.
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I'm not sure how I can be anywhere near as special as this, let alone more special than the whole damn universe (and, by extension, all of humanity).
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2 RepliesI believe that we are special to a degree. And I'm agnostic. As far as we know, earth is the only planet in the universe that supports life. That said, all the animals and plants on this planet are just as special. We are just the smartest life form on this planet. Giving the vast amount of other life forms on this planet it's illogical to think there couldn't be any other life forms in the universe. Life has evolved into millions of different types of life that live on this planet. We are finding other planets just like our own that could support life. Those planets could have another set of millions of different life forms other than our own. Even if there is other life forms out there, we are just as special as they are. We've been observing the universe for over 50 years and haven't found any other signs of life. This shows how small life is compared to the universe.
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1 ReplyWe aren't naturally special, but we make a damn big impact on the world. We have done so much, we have COMPLETELY changed human's way of life since the beginning. No, we're not special, but we're smart.
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1 ReplyMore [i]evolved[/i] than any other animal on Earth at least, but I believe any other animal could reach our level of intelligence, since we most likely began in the same place as them.
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Or are we dancers? No, we aren't special. Maybe special in the sense that against the odds we climbed out of the primordial soup, but I'm sure we aren't the only race/planet to do so. Just given the sheer amount of galaxies and planets out there, its beyond likely we aren't alone. Its almost guaranteed. In fact, there's a good chance life on earth was "seeded" by an asteroid from the depths of space. [spoiler]I alternate atheist/agnostic depending on my mood[/spoiler]
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What about Joe the Cat huh? What about him!
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4 RepliesThe percentage in the first option disgusts me
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We Are just a tiny spec in the universe are little lives don't mean shit. How long does humanity even have? Ohh and I'm a atheist
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1 ReplyWe aren't special I am a Christian and I believe this 100%.
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Compared to the rest of the universe, no. Compared to other species on this planet, yes. If we're the only sentient species on Earth, of course we're special in some way.
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1 ReplyAre you using this for a paper or something? Seems too serious for mindless fun. And how can this be a social experiment if you're not taking into consideration more factors about the participants (age, gender, background, etc.)? Anyways, I chose "No, a/a/n." I think we're just how we are by pure dumb luck. I wish I was a dog so life could be easier. Preferably my own dog, he has a good life. Being a human/person is just too complicated, too many emotions and feelings to deal w/. [spoiler]I'm drinking.[/spoiler]
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2 RepliesRelative to what? And define special?
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1 ReplyI'm surprised at these results so far.
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1 ReplyUnclear if you mean special as in "better" or as in "distinctive, unique." (Hopefully not as in "mentally handicapped," though that might fit) Unique--are there other species with human-like intelligence? Possible, but unlikely. A whole ton of very specific factors had to happen for us to exist, so the chances of this being replicated elsewhere are slimmish. So yeah, we probably are a little special. Better--I don't think there's any innate value in intelligent life just by virtue of its existence. All meaning is created meaning, and how we live life is what gives it its purpose--not because we are somehow central to the cosmos.
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I'm a theist, but I believe that humans are special for reasons outside of that. As far as we know, we represent the highest complexity within the universe.
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Seems to me that this is more a question of pessimism vs optimism.
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If aliens don't exist, then we'd be special. Chances are they do exist, so we're not special.
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If aliens don't exist I would be pissed
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We are only really special if you look at Earth, but we aren't special, everyone just feels better when they think they are a special snowflake.
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2 RepliesWe is specul
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Edited by Yarbey: 11/29/2014 11:17:58 AMBest parasitic organism ever. Also lol self important Christians what terrible people they are.
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Edited by Legend To None: 11/29/2014 10:46:46 AMI believe Humans are special whether there's a religious belief behind it or not. We are advancing greatly in every 100 years and when most only live for 80 years. It is incredible how we pass knowledge to each other in order to improve our lives. We all seem to have a main goal that brings us together. We all do have our own goals but they seem to be a product of one Idea. I don't know what it is, but we have to be going Somwhere in this universe.
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Nope not special, more evolved on earth yes but still not anymore special than any other living thing anywhere
