(June 22, 2015 at 8:26 pm)rexbeccarox Wrote: I get all messed up even when watching fictional TV shows and movies. When I see a horse fall on it's side, I cry every time. Once, I saw a squirrel crawling across the road; half of it had been run over by a car (this was years ago, and I'm getting choked up thinking about it), so I called an animal rescue and stayed with it until they came. Another time, I came across a seagull that had been hit by a car, caught it in a wine box (luckily there was a liquor next door), and drove an hour to meet a seagull rescue lady. I asked her to keep me posted, but she said she was just going to put Stanley (I named him Stanley) down. I cried for two days.
I don't know why, but I'm not the same with people. Sure, I have empathy, and I'm sad when people are suffering; I just don't have the gut-wrenching mortification that happens deep down that I do for animals.
I'm the same way, and I have a theory for this.
I think it's because I see humans as being on the top of the food chain, and animals as being weaker. It's like seeing a child suffer verses an adult suffer. They're both horrible, but seeing it happen to a child seems all the more sad because children are weaker, more defenseless, and more innocent than a fully grown person. I feel like we have a certain instinctive duty to protect those weaker than us, and to me, animals fall into that category.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
-walsh
