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Societal order? Hmm it's nothing new and surely not invented by human beeings. Tools? Ok with that.
BUT intelligence????? Homo sapiens sapiens will be the first being on earth capable of erasing itself from exactly this world. And IMHO he well manage to do so due to the total lack of intelligence. I'm not sure if I'd like to be the most powerful predator. But I'm quiet sure we are not superior - instead I agree with Ladyzekke humans are dominant. |
To get back on topic, the pox viruses are some of the most advanced known on the planet. In comparison to most viruses, they are huge and contain a lot of genetic material! They steal genes from their hosts. They found some genes in smallpox viruses that originally came from rodents. This suggests that the virus may have "hopped" species directly from vermin rats a long time ago. The way the virus propigates is quite advanced. The host cell produces more virus. Some of these virus have propelling tails. When they contact the cell wall, the cell wall is stretched into a tube leading to the next cell instead of immediately broken. This protects the virus from the immune system. Eventually, the cell breaks and releases the standard, non-tailed viruses for dispersion through the bloodstream and air. Whether a person survives or not can be dependant on where the virus enters the body and how much virus the person gets. If the virus gets into the lymphatic system first, it can shock the immune system and cause a diminished response. In these cases, the pustules are not formed and the disease is almost always fatal. The skin gets a blackened, bruised and blood blistered appearance as it's destroyed. Before the unfortunate victem dies, the skin usually falls off over large areas and there is a lot of hemorraghing. Known as "Black pox". Like I said, horrible.
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It doesn't matter if you want to be a predator or not. The point was that you could be if you wanted to. The ability to do it is the indicator of your species dominance. Eating any animal based product is an indirect predatory act. Without modern agricultural developments, it's impossible for us to subsist strictly on wild plants. We cannot break down cellulose, the key energy source used by grazing animals. Green leafy veggies are mostly passed through our digestive tract. We ARE omnivores and meant to eat more animal proteins in the absence of sugar/fat containing fruits/seeds/tubers. The fact that we cannot digest cellulose, but so readily can convert animal proteins into sugars (and subsequently fatty acids) is an undeniable indicator of our hereditary dietary needs. As far as superiority goes. If your point of view includes the matter of our success as a species in varying environments and in competition with other species, then we are indeed superior. |
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[ 12-05-2002, 11:53 AM: Message edited by: WillowIX ] |
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The thing I dont understand is why there havent been millions of smallpox vacines produced in this now over year old terrorism scare. Its not that hard to do really. |
I don't have to add very much to Seraphs post. But...
Sir K.: you are talking about varying environments. Uhmmm in my opinion we are not varying - we are destroying it, aren't we? And then do we have to compete with other species? I don't think so. It's more that we should try to survive and it doesn't seem to me that we have the right plan to acomplish that. Sometimes I'm a pessimist. I'd be glad if somebody could proove me wrong ;) |
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The thing I dont understand is why there havent been millions of smallpox vacines produced in this now over year old terrorism scare. Its not that hard to do really.</font>[/QUOTE]Ants and bees? I suppose you can compare them to us if you want to. If you do, they possibly have first dibs on the social order. I seem to remember reading a fictional book once about a society of hive minded humans that was pretty creepy. ;) Bacteria? Not so! With the proper tools, we can survive almost any environment. From the complete vacuum of space, to the high pressure of the deep seas. We can augment our senses to see things outside the ability of any creature. Tools can allow us to do anything we want to. No other animal has such a broad range of adaptability. Actually, the smallpox vaccine is quite crude, if effective. It's a weak virus very similar to virulent smallpox that's cultured in calves. Basically, you get a scratch from a cluster of small needles dirtied with cow blister pus. If it wasn't for the existence of this varient of the virus, we'd have problems. If someone manages to mutate the smallpox virus, vaccinations will no longer be effective. |
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And to add to the other discussion: humans DO have natural predators: grizzly bears, lions, crocodiles etc. any of these would not hesitate to attack a human if they were hungry. But people are right that humans do not need to consider any other species competition, of course not, technology cancels out any physical advantages other species have. I agree somewhat that medicine defeats nature's way of "the strong survive" but as people have said it is not always the strong and brainy people that have the best immune systems ;) Also, humans have birth control which means if used properly, there doesn't need to be a "strong survives" because we can all live in equilibrium with our environment. If every couple had no more than 2 children there would be no problems. Why aren't 2 children enough for some couples? I don't know... [ 12-05-2002, 02:21 PM: Message edited by: Vaskez ] |
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