Thread: Heat
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Old 08-09-17 | 06:43 AM
  #378  
tandempower
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Joined: Jul 2013
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Originally Posted by Machka
Go tell that to a volcano ... or a tornado ... or a hurricane ...


... or the dandelion that squeezes itself up between the cracks of the sidewalk paver.
Ok, I'm going to unpack this because otherwise you're going to keep exploiting this subtle distinction between what I said and what you seem to want to imply. Nature as a whole is more powerful than humans, unquestionably, because humans are part of nature. What I said was that as a species humans are the most powerful because of technologies and the capacity for intelligence and self-control we've developed.

It is faulty logic to think that we are separate from nature and/or in competition with it. We are part and parcel of nature, just like every other species. And just like any species, we have positive and negative effects on other species, the environment, the landscape, etc. In some ways, we behave symbiotically and in other ways parasitically. What's unique about humans is the ability to understand the effects of our actions and take responsibility for choosing actions that have good effects and avoid bad ones.

That makes us the most powerful species of nature, but you are right that nature as a whole is ultimately more powerful and, if we continue to act parasitically, nature will find a way to cleanse herself of the parasitism or she will die in the process, because those are the only two choices for any organism or system to deal with parasitic activity.
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