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Comment on Deep Intellect: Inside the mind of the octopusparent

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There are many reasons to believe that predator/prey dynamics will never be turned into lovey-dovey halcyon days. Something in nature underelies the drive and instinct to prey on the weak--it's not a human issue. Its also prevalent in cannabalistic primates, and more obviously in every (true) carnivore. The cat playing with the mouse, the great white shark tossing a seal, the aligator and the serpent. There are many deeper relationships that are not simple "mis-understandings"--the food chain doesn't work that way. The architecture of Nature's species--nutrition and health-- is logically at odds with the entire scenario. Would the parasite and the host ever have a "healthy" relationship?

It's true that only autotrophs have the luxury of a guilt-free existence.

But if and when our deeper existential problems have been solved, we can imagine constructing robotic simulacra to give those predators satisfying prey to chase.

A deeper quandary might end up being: once we have done it for ourselves, are we obliged to cure death for other creatures, too?

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