"Baiji" freshwayer dolphin declared "functionally extinct"

[Zabali_Clawbane]

@Scylla

Well then, my apologies, your royal highness and divine arbiter of what is humorous and appropriate. Thank God I have you to stop by and edify me.

Well, aren’t you the bitchy female?

Yep, I can be at times, but it isn’t typically my mode of expression. Just like you can be rather a caricature of a macho male in the stories you post about your life, that’s how you choose to present yourself here. I don’t believe you didn’t know your “whoosh” was in poor taste, either. I think that’s why you’re choosing to be aggressively defensive in your “apology”.

[Scylla]

@Zabali_Clawbane

I don’t believe you didn’t know your “whoosh” was in poor taste, either. I think that’s why you’re choosing to be aggressively defensive in your “apology”.

No. I just find the bitchiness, male-bashing, and the presumtion of the mantel of moral authority and high arbitress of taste that you’ve assumed as offensive.

I’m offended that you would presume to lecture me about what is appropriate or in good taste, as if you knew, and I’m offended that you’ve brought gender into it.

[Zabali_Clawbane]

@Scylla

No. I just find the bitchiness, male-bashing, and the presumtion of the mantel of moral authority and high arbitress of taste that you’ve assumed as offensive.

I’m offended that you would presume to lecture me about what is appropriate or in good taste, as if you knew, and I’m offended that you’ve brought gender into it.

Um, I admitted I’m actually somewhat misanthropic, and work not to give in to being fully distrustful of others.

@Wikipedia

Misanthropy is a [del]hatred[/del] or distrust of the human race, or a disposition to dislike and mistrust other people. <snip>
Misanthropy does not necessarily imply an inhumane, antisocial, or sociopathic attitude towards humanity.
<snip>
While misanthropes express a general dislike for humanity on the whole, they generally have normal relationships with specific individuals.

Strikethrough and bolding mine.
Not misandriest. You bring gender into it in the way you present yourself here. You present yourself as a manly man. You are quibbling because I addressed the persona you presented and continue to present here.

I am just as good as you. Now, turn that statement around. You are just as good as me. Now, that you see that we are equal, then can you see that just as you have the right to take issue with what you see as an offense given to you, I have the same right? What you put forth as a joke was in poor taste, and you should have been more tactful given the content of this thread.

[Caridwen]

I figured you were kidding.

The extinction of the baiji dolphin is unfortunate for the baiji dolphins and it’s unfortunate for humans if, in fact, its extinction has any negative effect on us, but so far nobody’s presented any evidence that’s the case. Extinction is not something humans invented; 99%+ of all the species that have ever existed are already extinct.

I don’t think there’s any way to know the impact it will have yet. Maybe none since the numbers have been dwindling for some time. There have been instances where the loss of one species has had a huge impact in an area. I’d venture to guess that’s not the only species in that area that are in decline if it’s due to huge fishing trawlers.

According to this article current seafood species are projected to collapse by 2048.

All Current Seafood Species Projected To Collapse By 2048

It would be unfortunate but I might be a little less sympathetic if the dolphins were a food source that people depended on. To kill a species that’s been around for 20 million years for no reason is sad especially since there are so many other species that are close to being functionally extinct.

I think there are going to be world-wide repercussions 50 years from now due to lack of fish and fresh water. But that’s another topic.

[Scylla]

@Zabali_Clawbane

You bring gender into it in the way you present yourself here. You present yourself as a manly man. You are quibbling because I addressed the persona you presented and continue to present here.

And you apparently have some problem with males or maleness.

I am just as good as you. Now, turn that statement around. You are just as good as me. Now, that you see that we are equal, then can you see that just as you have the right to take issue with what you see as an offense given to you, I have the same right?

This is a common misconception. If I play a tennis match against Andre Agassi, we are “equal” in terms that the same rules apply to us both. This however would not mean that I was “just as good” as Andre Agassi, and I would not presume to give him pointers on his serve after he aced me.

What you put forth as a joke was in poor taste, and you should have been more tactful given the content of this thread.

Can you cite me the protocol that defines this? No?

[bbs2k]

I guess it takes other people a lot longer to figure something out than it does on the Dope.

I don’t want to get into it, but I side with Bricker’s original argument. It’s depressing, but it is an eventuality. For everything, not just dolphins.

[Caridwen]

This argument, or the one in GQ? They’re about two different things.

If you mean this-

@Bricker

I don’t mean to be mean, here, but…

…are you similarly upset to read of the extinction of the loss of the dicynodonts at the end of the Permian period? How about the loss of every single species of Ptilodus at the end of the Paleocene?

The world is as it is now in large part because millions upon millions of species of animals became extinct, ceding their evolutionary niches to others who, in turn, also became extinct as still others crowded on to the scene. The poor Mesonyx no longer hunt the Eocene plains; we should not cry for them, because they were replaced with other species that could better handle the environment as it existed at the time.

Why, then, does the modern extinction of a species seem like such a blow? What is different about it?

I’d have to disagree-

1. The Dicynodonts, Mesonyx, etc. existed and were extinct long before we we existed. They’re existence and extinction didn’t have an impact on our current environment. That’s what we’re talking about.

2. Loss of current marine species do impact us and our environment. Loss of biodiversity means we’re not able to produce enough food, there’s an inability to filter pollutants and the ecosystem is less stable.

3. Human health is impacted. The ocean needs plant & animal species to recycle sewage and waste into nutrients, and produce oxygen. With an unhealthy ocean and loss of species you have disease outbreaks and algae blooms.

4. Species lost by external factors isn’t considered the natural process of evolution. Some scientists say that we are seeing species extinctions at 1,000 times the normal rate due to external factors (overfishing, disappearance of predator species, pollution, etc). The problem is we don’t know if any of the species we’re loosing are keystone species.

5. My opinion, the two things aren’t remotely similar. It’s not like we’re all crying because Flipper died. With every species lost we potentially hurt ourselves.
   The sad thing is, it doesn’t have to happen.