- #1
wasteofo2
- 478
- 2
I remember I used to be sad when I saw an animal die, especially if it were something like a domesticated cat catching a chipmunk and not even eating it. I was always aware of natrual selection, but it was never at the forefront of my mind when thinking about this, I always thought that it was just a senseless killing and had no purpose and a random animal died to benefit nothing. I didn't mind if I saw something like a hawk eating a rabbit or something like that, because I knew the predator needed to eat, but I'd always been opposed to animals dying not to be eaten.
This year, I took biology in school, really got into it, did a lot of reading on evolution, speciation etc, so all the knowledge I acquired this year is at the forefront of my mind.
So anyway, today I saw a domesticated cat carrying an obviously dead (and rather large) dove in it's mouth, and my reaction was "Jeez, that's a big bird for that cat to be carrying." I felt no real sympathy for the bird. Because of my knowledge of the way natural selection works, I've begun to see animals not as individuals, but parts of a population. Pretty immediately after, I realized that it was unlike me not to feel sorry for the dead bird, then reminded myself that it was one slow-witted bird gone from the gene pool, and it would ultimately serve to benefit the population of doves in avoiding getting killed by cats. I've had simmilar reactions to roadkill and other animals that I've seen dead lately.
Has anyone else found that they experienced a simmilar change in outlook when the principles of natural selection were brought to the forefront of your mind?
This year, I took biology in school, really got into it, did a lot of reading on evolution, speciation etc, so all the knowledge I acquired this year is at the forefront of my mind.
So anyway, today I saw a domesticated cat carrying an obviously dead (and rather large) dove in it's mouth, and my reaction was "Jeez, that's a big bird for that cat to be carrying." I felt no real sympathy for the bird. Because of my knowledge of the way natural selection works, I've begun to see animals not as individuals, but parts of a population. Pretty immediately after, I realized that it was unlike me not to feel sorry for the dead bird, then reminded myself that it was one slow-witted bird gone from the gene pool, and it would ultimately serve to benefit the population of doves in avoiding getting killed by cats. I've had simmilar reactions to roadkill and other animals that I've seen dead lately.
Has anyone else found that they experienced a simmilar change in outlook when the principles of natural selection were brought to the forefront of your mind?
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