One event leads to another. Some little things that you do have such a huge effect on the future, and most of the time you don't realize it. Maybe you stepped on an ant, for example. Now maybe that ant was going to create a huge colony of ants, and maybe those ants would have been some animal's food, and then if that animal died of starvation, maybe other animals would die, and then maybe a species would die out, causing other species to die, and changing human lives. Then those people would have to find food, and they could die. If one person died, and they were planning on having kids, then most likely stepping on the ant caused a whole bunch of people to not exist. \n\nYou can see how one event not only causes events, but also leads to bigger and more important events. \n\nI don't know if choosing not to shoot somebody is causing them to exist, because then you can say that you took part in the chain of events that led to an alive person's life.
137304
Wow.\nNow I am paranoid.\nThis is going to sound totally random, but I picked a dandelion today and I'm wondering what effect that might have had.  You never know.\n(The gardeners at my college would just have pulled it though, at least I enjoyed looking at it while I was in class...)\nLOL.  Interesting question.
560309
Typical Social Biology problem. I guess the answer would be kids first (always). Between parents and wife probably not as relevant from a social biology point of view and might depend on how much you evaluate the chance of a successful rescue of each (there is no point trying to rescue someone in detriment of someone else if that person has little or no chance of living).
134753
It depends on what you think is important to you. Some may die for money, some may die for women, some may even die for the sake of science. It all depens on what you percieve is the most important thing in your life, and it is not to be decided by other arbitrary people.
1159
Arguably the answer to that question is: "to prevent similar incidents from happening again".\n\nHowever, similar incidents did happen, and will happen as long as the scope of the event is limited to a single specific case which has an article and a special name for it: "The Holocaust"\n\nNo matter how painful and unforgettable the events of the Holocaust may be, it is -one- of the genocides that happened in this century, if not in the known human history. However one always has to keep a sense of proportion. Proportionately, the genocide of the jewish population in Europe somehow becomes the only genocide that warrants mass publication, exposure. Ultimately the Holocaust itself becomes the specific case of the crimes against jews, and anti semitism, rather than the crimes against humanity and fascism.\n\nMeanwhile the Armenian genocide, Genocide in Rwanda, the genocide against Gypsies and such other events receive very few and limited exposure.\n\nWhat the new generations learn from the Holocaust as it is presented today is limited to the simple moral: antisemitism is bad. But the genocide of the Jews was not made possible through antisemitism but through fascism, through disregard for human life. \n\nFor that reason even only 10 years ago the genocide in Rwanda went relatively unnoticed.\n\nGuess the Tutsi's weren't human enough.
587735
I couldn't answer in details as I don't know the specifics of the situation... but just generally as I see it, almost everything on earth goes through some kind of cycle.\n\nBut you're right it's one thing that is BLOODY ridiculous!\n\nThough everyone is entitled to his own cause, whether for religion or politics, we must think of the common good for everyone.  And if ever, we would cling to the words of the Bible that we're created in the image and likeness of God, we must NOT be hurting others, much as we wouldn't like to be hurt.  More so that people should not be killing people, because we are all the same in this world all having the rights for life, for love, for everything we're entitled.\n\nAnd even if we don't believe in God nor in any religion, may we just ask ourselves, "Do we really like what is happening, such as these wars for eons...?" -- and if the answer is NO, and I think it's just COMMON SENSE that we should stop doing such.\n\nBut even if unknowingly, we have been molded by the "structural system" in our society, that we must be like what we believe is right for us... when when see the killings and damages to life and properties, is not enough to say that IT'S ENOUGH!  \n\nIn simple Philosophy we are not ordinary animals... we have FREE WILL and MIND to think what to choose what to do or not to do.
30457
A lot of it is "division of responsibility".  If something happens and one person witnesses it, that person realizes that he or she is the only person that has responsibility for subsequent events.  When you start adding people to this scenario, each person mentally reduces their own responsibility for events, so with 10 people, most people will only feel 10% responsibility.\n\nIt is (sadly) not really irrational for what happens in mobs - often it is the removal of responsibility that allows people to act on their selfish impulses.
51822
The characteristic state or condition of a living organism.\nis the defenition.\n\nI would say it's a series of events, with different emotions and experiances, try to have kids, survive, and die. everyone dies, think of all the living things that have died on this planet sents life began on it. try and hade a good happy life, or a sad evil life. choose your own religion, or not. \n\nMany things can happen to your body after death, rot, mummify, be petrified. I believe that if there is a soul that it is only energy and it is released into the surrounding elements. You make your own hell or heaven here and now. You might be brought back to life through future genetic research, but you would be totally different because of your surroundings.
374558
The first three deal with death, while the last one could be seen as near-death since the woman could have died, but fortunately she was able to save her life.\n\nI'm sure the people alive will feel some sort of sorrow, which could be a common theme. The parents of the child, if they wanted the child would be sad, even if the baby was left in the dumpster by a young, confused, poor teenager who couldn't get an abortion or go to her parents. The teen most likely had friends or other who cared about him/her, and they will hate themselves for not helping out when they had the chance. The man who killed another in self difference will most likely be scarred since he was not a killer, but he became one. Depending on the woman's situation, she could be overjoyed that she is alive, or she could be sad because she wanted to have a child.
585716
If I were to change one event in my life, I would choose this one instance in time to stand up for myself, despite all the pressure and fear. \n\nI would not be the same person I am today. I would have learned my lesson earlier instead of later. Even if I failed at the choices I made, it would have made all the difference to stand behind my decisions. \n\nI don't think I would look different.  \n\nI don't understand the last question. "only do it to one person"? You mean like avoid a person in my previous life? Well, I wouldn't do that. I'd choose to meet and engage in all the people and relationships I've met and engaged in so far. Of course, if I made the change, there would be people I wouldn't meet. But I wouldn't "only do it to one person ".
352434
Point taken and understood,but a life is a life.Wouldn't you want someone to think of you when you are gone?Once again, it goes back to human emotion.Even some animals show emotion.
44214
The theory delves into concepts of predestination, predetermination, and free-will. It proposes that human beings, animals, and others are really not in control of their own lives. Rather, what we do, when we do it, and how we go about doing it are determined by a complex set of interactions provided by the environment, people around us, etc. It is not hard to imagine some machine or random algorithm controlling these interactions, much like AI in a video game (FEAR, call of duty II...).
2557
Tough call, even if the question was about all humans not just all living things.\nZen monks would place rings on their staffs in order than they could jangle and allow small lifeforms to get out of their way so as not to be stepped on.\nTheir are no rings small enough to warn microbes and I am not sure that we should avoid killing some bacteria what might spoil our food or make our children sick.  (Do you wash your hands?)\nAnd what about those things which are not exactly alive?  Like viruses?\nWe do not kill every bug which enters our homes.  Some people are fanatical about this and others live with spiders and ants crawling all over the place.  Most of us would kill lifeforms we believe to be a threat to us or our families.  Some might even capture and release some species (including mice and larger lifeforms).\nSome things to consider include:  Are you affected by commercials which try to make you believe that you need to give someone money to buy a product which will kill some lifeforms to make you healthier or happier?  What happens to the lifeforms that become resistant?  Do you really want polio and smallpox living among humans?  How about 'skeeter and the west Nile virus?  or Maleria?\nLife is not simple.  Not for bugs.  Not for humans.\nAt least humans can think about what they are doing before they make a choice.
437848
There was a meteor shower the last few days, but those happen about once a month or so, with varying intensities, so nothing new there really.  I think there's no reason to think there's a correlation between your animal's behaviour and cosmic events (since there has never been shown to have a correlation before, except during solar eclipses).  Check their food or any stressful factors instead before trying to blame the universe.
207299
Life is actually a wonderful experience that requires planning and a little room for spontaneity. When we plan we know with surety that things will happen a certain way and that increases our security in ourselves and the world around us.In life, the could haves and should haves can become a reality if we develop the desire to achieve them and then just do it!Then we can sit there and know how we go got here instead of wondering and at the same time recognize that it was meant to happen simply because it allowed us to fulfill our roles and callings in life.The where it is going part is a portion of a larger picture, that is everyone playing their part and contributing to personal and collective growth and development.
207741
Granted "survival of the fittest" is a poor way to characterize natural selection. For one reason it's a bit circular in logic. It is also important to point out that what natural selection maximizes (optimizes really) is numbers of babies, not survival of the individual. Genes that lead to traits in individuals that cause them to have more offspring than individuals without those genes are more common in the next generation (=evolution). The logic of this, as you can see, is unassailable. So while being able to survive means you can live to have more children, it's really about having the children, not survival per se.\n\nAs to your other point (about individuals dying), as I said the individual doesn't matter for evolution, only how many offspring are produced (including their quality and when they are produced). So there is no inherent benefit to living longer unless it allows you to produce more offspring. In fact evolutionary theory has explained why we age and it is something of an inevitable fact of life unfortunately. Different organisms have different average longevities that have evolved based on that particular species' schedule of reproduction and mortality, but all organisms (sexual organisms) will inevitably age and die. The explanation for the evolution of ageing is a very elegant one and not hard to understand, but I won't go into it here. If you search the web using the terms "evolution senescence" you should find it if you are interested.
639937
It happenned to me too.  I got in a motorcycle wreck in '69, when I woke up two days later, it shocked the doctors, not to mention my family.  I saw no light, no angels, no afterlife.  The light bulb scenerio is about right, myself, I think about it more as a blooming flower.  The stem lives on (your children, and other family members) but the older ones die out and fall away.  Even in animals, (and we humans are animals too) they lose thier parents, their siblings, their newborns, and they seem to forget about it in no time.  We humans make a big deal of it, as if our individual life is meaningful.
35375
This may be answerable through an appeal to philosophy.  Assume that all Matter is composed of intelligent organisms.  Each organism experiences inputs and makes decisions in the process of interacting with the Universe around it.  There are three "forces" behind this phenomena:\n\nThe latter force (meaning the second of two presentations):  Each organism must experience inputs one at a time; one of them must occurr after the other as the organism experiences a Choice.\n\nThe later force:  The organism may chose the first of the inputs it experiences; then the other input is delayed by the choice.  The organism may chose the last of the inputs it experiences; then the processing of the other input is delayed by the choice.\n\nThe ladder force:  This is the bit maker force: the organism must forever execute these choices one at a time as it experiences the Universe.\n\nIn physical formula, the process of choice is abstracted away and only timeless probabilities remain; so in a physical sense, time does not exist.  Time is a moral and ethical phenomena, not a physical phenomena.