Saw a certain wildlife video (warning: description might be upsetting) and had some thoughts

[LaVieEnRose]

So I came across a video in which a mother stork and her chicks were in a nest up in a tree and then she picks up the smallest, evidently weakest chick and just drops it to the ground, where it would inevitably starve or be picked off by some predator, if not killed outright by the fall. I already knew this behavior wasn't uncommon in birds. It's just one of countless examples of how brutal the world can be, at least the natural world, which we're told to simply accept as a matter of course, but that's a topic for another time and probably nothing novel to the users here. Shows how different people can have different emotional reactions to the same thing. Past a certain point sensitivity is definitely detrimental to your well-being.

The younger chick only existed as a backup for its older siblings should they not thrive. It was discarded as soon as it became clear its existence was unnecessary.

This might sound really silly, but I related to the chick. Forced into existence until to have it unceremoniously and pathetically ended just because it was never cut out for life in the first place, as if by destiny.

In a disturbing sense it seems that its death was necessary for the well-being of the others who were stronger and healthier. It was critical that it not make it to adulthood. I also identified with that because there's no way someone like me should've made it this far. It feels wrong that I did because of modern society.

Really sad.

 

[Forever Sleep]

Yeah, nature can seem very brutal to us.

I suspect the Stork knew that there wasn't enough food to feed both chicks. She probably figured the chances of them both dying were higher if they tried to sustain both.

Seems horrific to us now but it's not that many generations ago that we behaved in a similar way. Think one of the reasons Victorian era families had so many children was because so many were expected to die. Kind of an insurance to have more. Plus, during the Chinese one child birth restriction era, weren't baby girls often found abandoned because a son was more preferable?

Still- I know what you mean. I'd much rather die and pass my few resources on to people who still wish to live.

 

[chocolatebar]

Life, death, suffering and feelings are meaningless and irrelevant for nature's driving forces. Most of the living beings don't even have the capacity to understand that the other beings are individuals just like them, who feel and experience the world in a certain way.

Perhaps we're the only ones who are capable of fully understand (do we really fully understand?) what is happening out there. Animals torture and kill others all the time, they eat others alive and go away, leaving the condemned prey to die slowly in suffering, they play with their poor preys, they parasite, they kill their own family, they rape, mutilate, etc, etc, etc. Without the capacity of understanding that other animal aren't just biological automata, most animals' behavior evolve in a way to maximize its own well-being in the expense of others, in a way that we could consider to be psychopathic, if they were humans. Nature itself would be a psychopath if it was an entity.

Nature is just disgusting. Last night I spent a lot of time thinking about a poor ant who was irreversibly damaged and walked aimlessly in circles with the only lasting leg. It was something too hurtful to watch, and I ended killing it after gathering the strength to do so.

Sometimes I think I was cursed with more awareness and empathy than most people

 

[HumansAreHell]

Sometimes I think I was cursed with more awareness and empathy than most people

Curse is a perfect word for it, I often feel the same.

 

[SadJessu]

I know many aren't religious here, but it reminds me of Romans 8:22 in the Bible:

"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now."

The world, all of everything that exists in nature, is full of such intense suffering that it could only be compared to what would have been some of the most intense pain known to humans during that time. Of course this is said within the hope that one day God will end the immense suffering of all creatures, but when? Nature is a cruel mistress, individuals are irrelevant, all only exist for the propagation of the species. Biologically speaking we are no different, we are only cursed with reason and empathy.

I can definitely relate to the bird, survival of the fittest, I don't think I was ever fit.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

Sometimes I think I was cursed with more awareness and empathy than most people

Yes, like I said I think sensitivity past a certain point is detrimental to your mental well-being. I think that describes a good many suicidal people.

 

[makethepainstop]

Perhaps we are a better class of people, or souls if you will. We see other lives suffering, and we are moved by seeing their pain. I guess we are not mentally ill nuts, as some would claim, but supremely aware of others in distress.

 

[No longer suicidal😁]

Perhaps we are a better class of people, or souls if you will. We see other lives suffering, and we are moved by seeing their pain. I guess we are not mentally ill nuts, as some would claim, but supremely aware of others in distress.

I've always tried to avoid making such remarks, however, the more I look at it the more I believe it's actually the case.

 

[makethepainstop]

I've always tried to avoid making such remarks, however, the more I look at it the more I believe it's actually the case.

But isn't it nice to be caring, rather than unfeeling self centered brutes?

 

[No longer suicidal😁]

But isn't it nice to be caring, rather than unfeeling self centered brutes?

It's. It's a shame that the compassionate and sensitive people get crushed by life and society.

 

[Ookami]

There is kindness in the cruelty shown by the mother. She knew that the runt of the lot would struggle to survive, and wanted to do away with the difficulties life would give to it.