Ratbastid, I never said that humans do not have instincts. I agree with you completely on that account. I also did not say that animals can't be cruel because they operate on instincts and humans can because they don't.
Would you agree with me if I said that instinct makes the animal more predisposed to make a certain decision? That it is like a nagging feeling at the back of their minds, telling them "do it! do it!"? That how well they can supress this feeling depends on higher processing functions?
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there IS no such thing as cruelty
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Sure there is. For one of the countless examples, see the kangaroo thread. I seriously doubt the drivers of that vehicle thought their act was "practical, maybe even beautiful". Their thought process went more like "This is gonna be so funny!" and "I know the kangaroo is going to get hurt, but I don't care about the stupid animal!".
Macheath, you are right - we need to understand cruelty in order to understand those responsible for it. I can break down cruelty into three parts:
1)Knowing that you are causing harm
2)Knowing that the harm is not necessary
3)Not caring about 1) and 2)
You can't get entertainment from satisfying your instinct, only a temporary relief of that mental itch, so cruelty is not possible with instinct alone. You have to be able to suppress the instinct, and act:
1)With knowledge
2)With motive (even if its just to satisfy boredom)
3)With apathy
Dragonlich, yea cats do have that reputation, don't they?
I think they lack the knowledge and understanding to meet the above criteria of cruelty.
bermuDa's example is very valid to illustrate my point.
If a kid is pulling the legs off a bug, and doesn't understand that the bug is another living thing that is suffering because of his actions, thats not cruelty. Thats ignorance. Once you tell the kid this, and he keeps doing it, thats cruelty.
2thumbsup, if you are close enough to a bear to be attacked, you are infringing upon its territory and its acting to protect its interests. It doesn't care if you are suffering or not, but it has a very clear motive - to stop you from hurting it or its young.