inherently we are no more superior than any ape or lobster or bacterium, but tell the wrong christian that and he’ll kick your ass
I mean, I’m a superior human being to most when it comes to taking actuarial exams. But I’m certainly not inherently superior in terms of my value as a human being.
humans are a social and hierarchical species. Perhaps we are intelligent enough to see through our evolutionary given traits, but it’s far from easy
if a US president and some homeless dude stepped in to your office right now, would you treat them any different? Be honest
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Oh sure yeah I’m going to have all kinds of pre-conceived notions about both of them and it’s certainly a struggle in an effort to be a good person to ensure we treat both with dignity, etc etc etc.
Easiest when it’s just some stuffy royal person versus some normal person on the street and say they should both be treated with respect/dignity/etc. But similar is true for a homeless person, etc.
I’m not sure what purpose you’re achieving by saying you’re not inherently superior to say a kid starving in Africa.
By all measures of superiority, you are superior. Sure, you have the same genetic makeup, perhaps, but that doesn’t change the fact that you lead completely different lives. And by any measure, your life is superior: you’re richer, your parents are probably better, you’re more knowledgable, you’re probably luckier, you’re better looking, you smell better, you’re healthier, you have more friends, you’re happier, you’ll live longer, etc. . Maybe it helps you sleep better at night to think that you’re not superior?
Was I the only one who thought this thread was about the retired ocean liner?
Well it mattered a lot when the US was new and there were royals who got special privileges based on being royal.
Being one way or another also shouldn’t preclude you from voting as a US citizen since we’re all inherently equal, too.
All being inherently equal doesn’t mean we all get to live in equal houses and that kind of economic equality though. We’re “equally endowed with certain unalienable rights”.
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if a person’s time is more valuable than another’s, is that person more valuable?
The person’s time might be more valuable to someone willing to hire him/her to do something, but they’ve both got the same 60 minutes in an hour.
we are all equal “under the law” (to quote the movie Lincoln)
but that doesn’t mean we are all equal in other respects (also from the movie)
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I don’t think we should be equal in all respects, and I don’t think that’s an American ideal. For example we all don’t own the same number of pairs of corduroy pants.
It depends on the president.
And the homeless dude.
Honestly.
i’ll treat the one that smells better better
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does that mean that person is more valuable to that someone?
I wouldn’t discriminate based on smell. Would probably offer to buy either of them a hamberder.
Sure yeah, if I have some electrical problem an electrician’s time might become very valuable to me.
Maybe by inherently equal I’m saying more like in the eyes of the state and law we’re equal.
“inherently”, then yes
you are a better man than i
The one that doesn’t smell good probably has COVID.
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