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Chicken lady
5-11-19, 9:06am
We were discussing predators and prey in my class yesterday, and one of my kids asked “is there a word for an animal that just kills things but doesn’t eat them?” I told him many animals will also kill to protect themselves, their young, or their territory. And he said “no, but I mean, like an animal that just likes to kill things?” And I said “oh. Yes, ‘Human’”.

one of these days i’m going to get fired.

Teacher Terry
5-11-19, 11:10am
As soon as I started to read this my immediate thought was the same thing.

Rogar
5-11-19, 11:19am
A good point. I don't think humans have a monopoly on that behavior though.

LDAHL
5-11-19, 11:28am
We do a lot of things other animals don’t, although I have seen cats indulge in recreational killing.

All told, I’d still prefer being human over being a turtle or a tapeworm.

Rogar
5-11-19, 11:38am
In the case of humans, I'm not sure it is a true predator/prey relationship. In my ancient school days On Aggression by Konrad Lorenz was required reading for a senior high class. A bit dated but still a classic. I think in humans it is more related to other primitive issues like territorial, mating, or group influenced aggression, just like the most of the rest of the animal kingdom. We just have better weapons.

ApatheticNoMore
5-11-19, 12:47pm
Cats kill for fun, there's a cat around here, it's cute enough, but I curse it sometimes. I find a bird nest knocked over: @#$# cat, there is a lizard that lives here that is probably not long for this earth (haven't seen it today ...). Cats kill lizards for the thrill of it.

There's always a lot of generalizing about humanity from primarily male behavior (women kill occasionally, just in much much smaller numbers). Hey we're here, we're 50% and a bit more of the population ... we're tired of "mankind" being generalized from what is mostly male behavior. We want a matriarchy!!! (ok kinda kidding there, but could work :)).