The Boiling Frog Theory on Population Systems thinkers have given us a useful metaphor for a certain kind of human behavior in the phenomenon of the boiled frog. The phenomenon is this. If you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will of course frantically try to clamber out. But if you place it gently in a pot of tepid water and turn the heat on low, it will float there quite placidly. As the water gradually heats up, the frog will sink into a tranquil stupor, exactly like one of us in a hot bath, and before long, with a smile on its face, it will unresistingly allow itself to be boiled to death. We all know stories of frogs being tossed into boiling water - for example, a young couple being plunged into catastrophic debt by an …show more content…
Ethnologists, students of animal behavior, and a few philosophers who have considered the matter know that there is a form of ethics practiced in the community of life on this planet - apart from us, that is. This is a very practical (you might say Darwinian) sort of ethics, since it serves to safeguard and promote biological diversity within the community. According to this ethics, followed by every sort of creature within the community of life, sharks as well as sheep, killer bees as well as butterflies, you may compete to the full extent of your capabilities, but you may not hunt down your competitors or destroy their food or deny them access to food. In other words, you may compete but you may not wage war. This ethics is violated at every point by practitioners of totalitarian agriculture. We hunt down our competitors, we destroy their food, and we deny them access to food. That indeed is the whole purpose and point of totalitarian agriculture. Totalitarian agriculture is based on the premise that all the food in the world belongs to us, and there is no limit whatever to what we may take for ourselves and deny to all others. Totalitarian agriculture was not adopted in our culture out of sheer meanness. It was adopted because, by its very nature, it's more productive than any other style (and there are many other styles). Totalitarian agriculture represents productivity to the max, as Americans like to say. It represents
“..the System includes the Situation, but it is more enduring, more widespread, involving extensive networks of people, their expectations, norms, policies, and, perhaps, laws. Over time, Systems come to have a historical foundation and sometimes also a political and economic power structure that governs and directs the behavior of many people within its sphere of influence. Systems are the engines that run situations that create behavioral contexts that influence the human action of those under their control. At some point, the System may become an autonomous entity, independent of those who initially started it or even those in apparent authority within its power structure. Each System
Many people are fine with eating hunted animals, but are not okay with people hunting animals. There have been many debates on which situations of hunting are ethical or not. In the story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, it talks about a man named General Zaroff who thinks it is okay to hunt animals and humans. He keeps his humans as prisoners but still takes care of them until they are ready to be hunted. Despite the fact that he feeds and shelters his humans, General Zaroff is uncivilized because he thinks that it is fair to kill other humans for his own
One of the main focuses of society that advocates totalitarianism is uniformity. A society such as this works towards uniformity by oppressing its population’s individuality and promotes a standardized environment. In this environment citizens are restricted in every way of life to ensure that no one has more
Introduction: A summary of Omnivore's Dilemma and Pollan's critique of America's industrial food production and distribution system. Today's world agricultural system is controlled by a few large corporations that exploit the poor, the small farmers and peasants, and even use slave labor. They also control the seeds, prices, fertilizers, and even the genome of plants and animals, and this system should become more democratic and decentralized, with more power for producers and consumers, but it would be a mistake to regress back to a feudal or prescientific past.
A species should never eliminate their competitors; it is okay to kill in self defense, but not for the sake of killing. A species must not systematically destroy a competitor's food source to make more room for themselves. A species may not deny another species access to food, unless that food is needed for survival. Ishmael reduces these three laws into one law that states ¨you may compete but you may not wage war¨ (131). Humans have to follow the same laws of nature that every other animal must
With today’s fast moving pace there are many challenges we face that demands more non-linear system thinking instead of cause and effect linear thinking. In The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge stated, “system thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes,” rather than reacting to a specific part or event. System thinking involves shifting from the linear to non-linear thinking and/or the rational to the intuitive or thin-slicing type decisions. System thinking is
TYPHOID MARY IN THE FROGPOND: CAN WE USE NATIVE FROGS TO DISSEMINATE A LUNGWORM BIOCONTROL FOR INVASIVE CAN TOADS?
In society, there are groups that interact with each other. They may be families, churches, government agencies, or anything in between. Those groups can be defined as systems, and in the systems perspective that is what they are referred to (Hutchison, 2017). In the 1960s, Ludwig von Bertalanffy developed the general systems theory in relation to biology, but it was widely publicized and used for various subjects (Hutchison, 2017). Hutchison (2017) summarized Bertalanffy’s theory by saying, “any element is best understood by considering its interactions with its constituent parts as well as its interactions with larger systems of which it is a part.” (p.
Totalitarianism is a system of government in which the state acts to extends its absolute authority and power into all aspects of its citizen’s lives and have that population be completely under the control of a totally pervasive ruling ideology of a single leader. The essence of totalitarianism can be found in its very name; it is a form of rule in which the government attempts to maintain 'total' control over society, and further seeks to meld that state’s beliefs within that societies core roots, an example of this occurrence can be liquidised through Stalin and his methods in Russia during the 1920’s and 30’s. Carl Friedrich’s, a late political scientist and historian of the 20th century formed the basis of a totalitarian
The answers Pollan offers to the seemingly straightforward question posed by this book have profound political, economic, psychological, and even moral implications for all of us. Beautifully written and thrillingly argued, The Omnivore’s Dilemma promises to change the
A totalitarian government thrives on selfishness and strive for goals that are always for the benefit of one person or a small group of people that are in power. The most common example of this in world history is Nazi Germany during World War II. This flaw in political history make up a time that most people try to forget. The control that Hitler had over Nazi Germany brought about countless social, economical, and political issues to Europe. His society was founded on a racist hatred towards the
Our knowledge of ecology also teaches us that by killing animals we may be tampering with the delicate ecosystem and inviting our own destruction. Human beings are probably the most intelligent creatures on earth. That is why they have a great responsibility of keeping intact the life of the earth. Indiscriminate killing for sport is an uncivilized and anti-intellectual activity, because we should share this world with the other animals and live in harmony with them. Harmonious existence is the key to civilization and survival.
To put this on equal terms, think one day you and your family are taking a leisurely stroll down the park. While walking down the spark another person randomly tries to kill you. But, no one but your mom is wounded with a poisoned wound without an antidote. Frighten you would not be able to know or think straight with the sight of someone dear to you dying right in front of your eyes. Now if you would please take that picture and put it in terms of an animal being hunted by another species far more advanced, without a way to protect themselves. Is it really morally right to kill another living thing for sport? Especially when the animal involved is on the endangered species list, to be fair, it is on the endangered species list for a reason because it is on the verge of becoming extinct. So let me ask you again why should anybody think it's more to hunt and kill animals that are endangered or simply in our backyards. it is morally wrong to continue trophy hunting as a Leisure activity when endangered animals are
This is ironic because we are moral beings and can think about our actions, yet we kill and mistreat animals as they are lesser beings and can’t think about their actions. However, before we can answer the question of whether or not animals have the right to kill each other, we must ask whether or not they even have rights. It can be argued that, as greater beings, we should take responsibility for the wellbeing of those species that are less developed than us, rather than using our power to manipulate and exploit them. According to Rawls’s contractualism, animals are not rational agents and humans are. This implies that, as humans are the ones who have created the concept of rights, they should only apply to humans.
Peter Senge and Andres Edwards expressed the importance of system thinking in that it is necessary for “understanding the dynamic complexity of a situation”, anticipating “the unintended consequences of proposed actions” and implementing “lasting solutions” (Higgins, K 2014).