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Originally Posted by 9th Engineer
I was just bringing up the inconsistancy in punishments for killing animals and humans. We treat humans as more important than animals, I'm just saying we should look for the reason we do so.
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In evolutionary terms? The answer is obvious- we treat them as more important 'cause thay are us. The emotional mechanism is called empathy, and empathy is stronger for those who are more similar to us - it's easier to put ourselves in their shoes. Unfortunately, this can also result in the various bigotries, where it becomes difficult to empathise with humans who are different from oneself in various inconsequential ways.