Many people believe that if a child is cruel to non-human animals, they shall behave cruelly toward other humans as they grow older, but I am not certain that I believe that. I have already stated that I believe us humans to be the greatest animals in the world, but I see no reason to be cruel to non-humans. However, if I was cruel to an animal, for whatever reason, I would never turn that cruelty toward another human because I believe that all humans (or, more accurately, most humans) are equal to each other, and that it would therefore be morally wrong to be cruel to another human. I would be certain to mentally separate (or disassociate) humans from other animals, so that I do would accidentally display cruelty toward another human; again, I am being only hypothetical, since I am never cruel toward anyone or anything, at all.
What does everyone else say about this? Do you believe that cruelty toward animals inevitably leads toward cruelty toward humans? Why or why not?
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“Those who would trade their freedoms for security will have neither.”-Benjamin Franklin
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
Nothing is "inevitable" when it comes to a human making a decision. There is, however, some evidence of them being connected.
What does everyone else say about this?
As mentioned above, MacDonald Triad. That is, there are studies that show that they are linked.
Then again, there are studies that show there aren't.
In any case, I'd be extremely uncomfortable around people who are cruel to animals, and likely I'd still prefer keep the laws preventing cruelty to animals even if it were proven that there is no correlation.
Do you believe that cruelty toward animals inevitably leads toward cruelty toward humans?
It shouldn't be a matter of belief, but a matter of evidence.
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"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
I wouldn't be so quick to cite the MacDonald triad as a whole, since one element of it is bedwetting and the link between that and sociopathic violence is contentious at best. Pyromania, too, seems like a distinct behavior pattern to me. But set the triad aside, and the fact remains that there is a strong correlation between animal cruelty and human cruelty.
There is one other note of caution here. Full-blown serial killers are extremely rare, whereas animal cruelty is unfortunately fairly common. In short: almost all serial killers torture animals, but most people who torture animals are not serial killers. I mention this not to say that most people who torture animals are decent human beings, but to keep the degree of their cruelty in perspective. We're usually looking at lesser forms of sadism, not murder or even other forms of physical violence. These are the bullies and dominators and manipulators.
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Vive, vale. Siquid novisti rectius istis,
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.
In children, it might be possible that they may not have developed the ability to empathize with other creatures/humans yet but will develop this later on in life. Even so, some of those children might grow up to be sociopaths as adult and still not kill people - even with diminished empathy and remorse.
What does everyone else say about this? Do you believe that cruelty toward animals inevitably leads toward cruelty toward humans? Why or why not?
“When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”-Thomas Jefferson
“A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of its user.”-Theodore Roosevelt
“Patriotism means to stand by one's country; it does not mean to stand by one's president.”-Theodore Roosevelt
There's at the very least a correlation. I don't know about causation.
As mentioned above, MacDonald Triad. That is, there are studies that show that they are linked.
Then again, there are studies that show there aren't.
In any case, I'd be extremely uncomfortable around people who are cruel to animals, and likely I'd still prefer keep the laws preventing cruelty to animals even if it were proven that there is no correlation.
It shouldn't be a matter of belief, but a matter of evidence.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
There is one other note of caution here. Full-blown serial killers are extremely rare, whereas animal cruelty is unfortunately fairly common. In short: almost all serial killers torture animals, but most people who torture animals are not serial killers. I mention this not to say that most people who torture animals are decent human beings, but to keep the degree of their cruelty in perspective. We're usually looking at lesser forms of sadism, not murder or even other forms of physical violence. These are the bullies and dominators and manipulators.
candidus inperti; si nil, his utere mecum.