Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Are Humans Killer Angels?
In the most recent class we briefly discussed the meaning of "Killer Angels." One of the questions that was asked was - are humans Killer Angels? I interpret this as are humans peaceful creatures roaming around the earth that have the ability to be violent or murderous. Or vice versa - are humans reckless, violent, and murderous creatures who have the ability to be peaceful like an angel. [when I continue referring to angels in this passage I'm talking about a stereotypical one, not the devil]. I believe that we are neither Killers nor Angels. I feel that we have equal ability to be violent as well as peaceful. This partially resembles my last argument on is war human nature. You cannot label humans anything else but humans. There are no adjectives that can generalize all humans. Some are naturally peaceful, some are barbaric and violent. Humans have the capability of being more of an attribute than another. Not only do I think that everyone can be labeled as a Killer Angel, no individual even has the capability of being one.
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7 comments:
I think your assertions are strong and you back it up with concise arguments. I like how you tied in the concept of Killer Angel with "is war human nature". I agree that all humans cannot be defined as having the same traits. Although I believe this is because of the culture that specific human grows up in is a different argument. I think that ultimately, man DOES have the ability to be a Killer Angel. Even Mr. Crotty, a very nice person who seems to be pacifistic, said he would even contemplate killing someone under certain circumstances. This to me defines someone as a Killer Angel and all humans have the ability to be both.
i wish we had discussed that idea of the "killer angels" more in class; it really interested me.
i completely agree with you about labeling humans; we are what we are, and thus far we haven't encountered anything else as psychotic and beautiful (we are both, i think) as ourselves.
i have to agree with Will and disagree with you on your final point, though; i believe humans DO have the capability of being killer angels. i'm pretty sure i'd be willing to kill someone under some circumstances--and i'm female, thanks very much, which just goes to show....
I agree with you, I believe that humans are not born either killers nor angles. If anything i believe that humans are placed at a fork in a road and each road corresponds to either the aspects of being an angel or a killer. Like Mr. Crotty said though there are situations that could change the path that we are on. Just my own thought on it.
Phil, I agree with you that humans have the capability to be just about anything, in this case, violent and/or peaceful. Also I agree with you on the complexity of humans and human nature, therefore making it difficult to make a blanket statement such as "war is inherent in human beings." Which is why on the past blogs I was often torn on the subject.
I actually liked your argument that humans are just humans. However, I agree with Shaara as well. To me, men are killer angels. They are the good and the bad in the world. While i was reading your post, I thought about a zebra. Is it black (killer in terms of humans) or white (angel). The answer is both. Yet you would call a zebra grey. It has distinct aspects of both, just as humans do. While stand by that opinion, your post really challenged me.
I still wonder what makes us a killer angel. Perhaps the idea that we despise war yet when conflicted with extreme situations we do whatever necessary to come out alive.
Poke some holes in that CHEEEEESE and call it swiss. I disagree completely with the end of your blog. While humans are absolutely unique, and unable to be defined by a single adjective, I think the two word oximoron, "killer angles" sums up a human precisely. We have the capability to be barbaric, and the capability to be pacifistic, what we choose to be at certain times is what defines us as our own individual self.
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