# What is the name for the desire to believe humans are more important than we really are

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 24, 2014, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488 "2014-03-24T23:44:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Jiggerj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dec6dc/32.png) [@Jiggerj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jiggerj)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/101 "2014-04-09T05:34:52Z")

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> [@Human\_Action](#):
>
> Really. The planet is 5.97219×10 to the 24th power kg of rock orbiting through space. It cannot be made better or worse off by the amount of forest cover in the Amazon basin.
> 
> Did you mean “ecosystem” or “biosphere”, perhaps?
> 
> Well, that’s just factually incorrect.

You totally blew off the point to waste our time with those two irrelevant statements. Wow.

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**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/102 "2014-04-09T12:48:13Z")

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> [@Jiggerj](#):
>
> You totally blew off the point to waste our time with those two irrelevant statements. Wow.

I can’t meaningfully address your point if I don’t know what it is, now can I? If your point is that humans make the planet worse off, then you’re mistaken. If it’s that humans can adversely affect the biosphere, then that’s something that can be discussed. Don’t blame me for your sloppy phrasing.

And as for the virus thing, again, that’s just factually wrong and meaningless.

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**Author:** ![Jiggerj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dec6dc/32.png) [@Jiggerj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jiggerj)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/103 "2014-04-10T05:17:31Z")

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> [@Human\_Action](#):
>
> I can’t meaningfully address your point if I don’t know what it is, now can I? If your point is that humans make the planet worse off, then you’re mistaken. If it’s that humans can adversely affect the biosphere, then that’s something that can be discussed. Don’t blame me for your sloppy phrasing.
> 
> And as for the virus thing, again, that’s just factually wrong and meaningless.

You know what happens to people that argue solely for the sake of arguing? This…

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**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-for-the-desire-to-believe-humans-are-more-important-than-we-really-are/684488/104 "2014-04-10T12:52:06Z")

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> [@Jiggerj](#):
>
> You know what happens to people that argue solely for the sake of arguing? This…

You’re totally off-base here, but for some reason I don’t feel deprived of a meaningful debate, given your previous responses. Fare thee well.

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