Question

derekpaperscissors's avatar

Have you ever considered humans as cattle?

Asked by derekpaperscissors (571points) | asked 3 months ago | 24 responses | “Great Question” (3points) | Flag as…

We breed and raise other species of Earth to use for labor, dairy, science (experimentation, tag trackers, genetics), and meat. But, in the universal scale of things, if other life forms do exist in this universe, what is our justification or lack of justification for these other beings not to treat us like we do to animals as well?

Share your thoughts on the matter.

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Answers

ragingloli's avatar

One could say our sentience.
But a lot of animals in our zoos , mostly other primates, are sentient as well, so that argument falls apart.
If one really thinks about it there is no non-anthropocentric reason why it would be more wrong for other beings enslaving us than it is for us to enslave other sentient animals.

sakura's avatar

At my local night club definately. Girls wearing skimpy outfits parading around the dance floor whilst men watch on from the sidelines exchanging money with their mates on who can get the blonde one saying look at the rack on that one!

XOIIO's avatar

Hell, we are!! The matrix is real!! The machines are just farming us…like cattle!!!!

drdoombot's avatar

Well, we have free will. We are capable of planning ahead, drastically changing our environment to suit our needs and producing works of art. Humans can, at times, defy the laws of nature by being selfless, helping those that can’t help themselves, be charitable and generally do things that have no positive effect on our individual survival. We can think critically, analyze, make conclusions based on previous evidence, think about the meaning of life and change our minds

Any animal that can do these things has certain rights (another creation of ours) and should not be used as a mere resource.

Sarcasm's avatar

Only when watching Stargate Atlantis.

mattbrowne's avatar

Cattle refers to domesticated animals. If the

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoo_hypothesis

is true, I would consider us humans as “wild animals” with the aliens enjoying the safari. Us being cattle mean they milk us or feed on us.

NaturalMineralWater's avatar

Because we aren’t dumb enough to stay behind a fence and wait for slaughter.. unless you consider earth the fence and they just haven’t slaughtered us yet.

The only comparison between humans and cattle for me was boot camp. Both times, I felt like I was some sort of herded animal.

whitenoise's avatar

Well, I worked at a company once, where many referred to HR as to the ‘department of Human Livestock Management’.

If there are other species than our own, “out there”, that view us as cattle, we would need one quality I do not see, yet: “usefulness for them”. Furthermore would they need to be more powerful or conniving than we are. That is what I see as the only justification we have over our cattle.

If these aliens would show some humanity, they should also care for us properly, I feel. But even we humans have still a lot to develop there.

However… thinking of it… we might be the livestock of various types of viruses. I certainly felt that way, last week. :-(

laureth's avatar

@mattbrowne – Most humans are not wild animals (at least, most of the time, <wink>). We had to domesticate ourselves first before domesticating anything else, including plant and animal species. When species are domesticated, they lose a lot of their wild features – and so have we.

@derekpaperscissors – Humans as cattle has been the subject of numerous sci-fi plots. “The Farm” by Piers Anthony (from Anthonology) comes to mind off the top of the head. Also, the TV series V.

Bri_L's avatar

I was the last class to register at University of Wisconsin Madison where they made us run across the stock pavilion like cattle to our waiting tables to get our information even though the place was huge and could take the lines. That was a cool and unique experience.

teh_kvlt_liberal's avatar

I know slayer does
Forced in like cattle you run
Stripped of your life’s worth
Human mice for the Angel of Death
Four hundred thousand more to die!

pdworkin's avatar

Slavery is still a vast worldwide phenomenon. Sexual slavery gets all the press, but slavery in every form, including people having their organs harvested for the financial gain of others, is commonplace. Human beings are indiscriminate plunderers, and they don’t except their own species.

PapaLeo's avatar

@sakura LOL – you think maybe steer do the same thing?

“Hey, check out the udder on that baby!”

evelyns_pet_zebra's avatar

humans are sheep, not because we are the domesticated livestock of other beings, but because of their behavior.

shrubbery's avatar

Read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. His prediction for the future is pretty grim in terms of people as cattle.

evelyns_pet_zebra's avatar

@PapaLeo steers are bulls with their testicles removed. Steers don’t pay attention to udders because, well, with no nuts, what’s the point?

PapaLeo's avatar

@evelyns_pet_zebra Thank you. I thought to myself “what is a male cow?” and “Steer” was the first word that came to mind. I was too lazy to Google it for sure.

PerryDolia's avatar

Remember Twilight Zone? “To Serve Man” It’s a cookbook!

ChazMaz's avatar

As much as we think therefore we are.

Most people are still just a bunch of sheep.

erniefernandez's avatar

Whether or not the creatures mind.

I do not think a cow, if it had judgement to know the difference, would choose to live in “the wild”. It’s a fair deal.

If we keep animals in conditions that are not as good as or better than what they would have on their own, no, it is unjustified. But again, I’d say self-awareness is a real issue.

Simone_De_Beauvoir's avatar

Every time I’m in Times Square

Hatsumiko's avatar

I felt that way in high school.

Noe_Yes's avatar

We don’t make good meat producers. Aliens would be better off taking our cattle for cattle.

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