# Life is a cruel joke for pretty much all living things except for maybe humans. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 31, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951 "2019-07-31T19:46:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/1 "2019-07-31T19:46:37Z")
I’ve been binging a lot of nature shows on Netflix lately. It has dawned on me, life is a cruel joke for pretty much anything that lives except for humans (and their pets). Think about it: If you’re a animal, you’re either going to die in the jaws of another animal, injury, or starvation. Insects also have all kinds of fucked up ways to die. Humans, as far as I can tell, are the only ones that have any real chance of dying peacefully and comfortably (relatively speaking). Kind of a sobering thought when you think about our place in this universe. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/2 "2019-07-31T19:48:25Z")
Who’s laughing? ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/3 "2019-07-31T19:49:33Z")
Life’s a bitch and then you get eaten. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/4 "2019-07-31T19:50:46Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Who’s laughing? > > ~Max The Hyenas? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/5 "2019-07-31T19:52:56Z")
Polar bears seem to do ok. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/6 "2019-07-31T20:01:13Z")
“…except for maybe humans.” I would say _especially_ for humans. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/7 "2019-07-31T20:10:51Z")
I think the meaning of “life is a cruel joke” is _specific_ to humans. FFS, _ **we** _ thought of it. _Not_ those arrogant aardvarks. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/8 "2019-07-31T20:14:08Z")
I would say that almost _no_ humans die peacefully and comfortably outside those who are drugged up. _Especially_ those that die of “old age” (which means a slow unstoppable nightmare failure of everything in your body and mind.) The peaceful and comfortable deaths are the ones that happen so quickly and unexpectedly that you don’t know that it happened. A “peaceful and comfortable” death is when someone sneaks up behind you and shoots you in the head while you aren’t noticing. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/9 "2019-07-31T20:28:21Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > The Hyenas? I read that with Cheech’s voice. But in all seriousness, if it’s a joke the only ones who might “get it” are humans and possibly God, if you believe in that sort of thing. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/10 "2019-07-31T21:00:56Z")
\*\*Life is a cruel joke for pretty much all living things except for maybe humans. \*\* Shh! They will find you now. Because you know. Try to stay distracted by the TV or phone or other media, it is your only hope. It is a good life! It is! ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/11 "2019-07-31T21:34:19Z")
On the plus side, the vast majority of life can’t feel pain. Supposedly only vertebrates can feel physical pain, and supposedly only mammals and birds can feel emotional pain. So most of the life on earth has no pain. All the single celled organisms, invertebrates, etc. I get called a pessimist when I point out all the suffering in life. Some people are just desperate to be naive. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/12 "2019-07-31T21:59:53Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > On the plus side, the vast majority of life can’t feel pain. Supposedly only vertebrates can feel physical pain, and supposedly only mammals and birds can feel emotional pain. > > So most of the life on earth has no pain. All the single celled organisms, invertebrates, etc. Say what? I have never heard this before. How would they know? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/13 "2019-07-31T22:21:01Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > If you’re a animal, you’re either going to die in the jaws of another animal, injury, or starvation. > > Insects also have all kinds of fucked up ways to die. Such a pessimist! You’re not seeing that there are so many incredible ways for new life to happen, and there is so much to eat! Unless, of course, you’re in an unfavorable habitat with insufficient food, in which case something else will have so much to eat! ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/14 "2019-07-31T22:23:28Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Say what? I have never heard this before. How would they know? The “animals can’t feel pain” story is a myth people tell themselves to make themselves feel better about the way they treat animals. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/15 "2019-07-31T22:32:47Z")
“Life is a cruel joke for pretty much all living things except for maybe humans.” And even then only for some. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/16 "2019-07-31T22:33:59Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > The “animals can’t feel pain” story is a myth people tell themselves to make themselves feel better about the way they treat animals. **Sunspace** was responding to a post that mentioned single-celled organisms and invertebrates, which lack any kind of faculties necessary to process pain. There might be subjective, nonphysical pain, but such a phenomenon is without physical evidence and likely non-falsifiable. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/17 "2019-07-31T22:43:53Z")
Fortunately, (as far as we know), humans are the only species with a sophisticated enough sense of humor to understand the concept of a “cruel joke” both in its ironic, and un-ironic sense. To all other creatures, that’s just life. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/18 "2019-07-31T23:27:28Z")
> [@Swampwolf](#): > > Fortunately, (as far as we know), humans are the only species with a sophisticated enough sense of humor to understand the concept of a “cruel joke” both in its ironic, and un-ironic sense. To all other creatures, that’s just life. This reminds me of a debate I had with my ex. I argued that life for feral cats doesn’t suck, because that’s the only life they’ve ever known. Sure, life would suck for a homeless domestic cat, because they know how awesome it is to live in an air conditioned house and have humans feed them and give them daily massages. ---
**Author:** ![Rayks\_Marcial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47c2d/32.png) [@Rayks\_Marcial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayks_Marcial)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/19 "2019-07-31T23:29:39Z")
Think not of capacity to suffer but of capacity to reason. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2019, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951/20 "2019-08-01T09:49:03Z")
Hunters know this. I laugh when people wish they could be a wolf, or a tiger, or a cheetah, etc. Every kill I’ve hung on a gambrel is riddled with ticks, pests, burrowing critters, and I’ve watched them fall off the animal as it cools. To me, it looks like the life of a woodland creature is nothing but terror, hunger, cold, and constant gnawing pain. Don’t get me started on the fools who wish they lived in medieval times, the old west, etc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-is-a-cruel-joke-for-pretty-much-all-living-things-except-for-maybe-humans/837951.md?page=2)