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500 MB Nyheder Direkte fra Internet 5
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500 MB nyheder direkte fra internet CD 5.iso
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1994-12-19
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5KB
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59 lines
@ l Qî P E
WHAT IF THEY LIKED THE TASTE OF HUMAN FLESH?
by Michael J West
an astronomer at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
University of Toronto
[Reprinted without permission from: Olivetti's Facts and Arguments, AUG 5, 1991.]
"What if extraterrestrial beings came to Earth and found that they liked the taste of human flesh? Would alien "farmers"
raise herds of human "livestock" to be slaughtered for meat? Might men, women, and children end up baked, broiled, or barbequed
to satisy some hungry extraterrestrial's appetite? Perhaps certain "strains" of human beings would be selectively bred to produce
especially tender meat.
"Suppose extraterrestrials discovered they liked the taste of human milk. Might female humans be imprisoned on alien "dairy
farms" where they would be regularly impregnated so that their breast milk could be gathered for little alien children to drink?
After these women "cows" were no longer productive, might their fate be similar to that of dairy cows here on Earth -- ground up
to make a few kilograms of human hamburger?
"What if it became fashionable on some distant planet to wear coats made from human skin? A "human fur" made from the scalps
of a few dozen Earthlings might keep some fashion conscious extraterrestrial warm in the chilly night air on a far away world.
Might extraterrestrial "trappers" someday lay traps for some unsuspecting humans walking the streets of our cities in order to
satisfy the demand for human pelts?
"What if leading extraterrestrial scientists and doctors began performing experiments on live human subjects to advance their
own medical knowledge? Perhaps they would undertale large medical studies infecting hundreds or thousands of human "guinea pigs"
with their most dreaded diseases in the hope of finding a cure. Many unfortunate humans might spend their entire lives imprisoned
in tiny cages in alien laboratories, enduring years of painful experiments before death finally ended their misery. Others might
be disected while still alive so that alien vivisectors could study their anatomy or experiment with new medical techniques.
"Although such experiments would cause tremendous stress, suffering, and eventually death for their human subjects, perhaps
alien researchers would simply ignore their cries of pain, convinced that human experimentation is essential for medical progress.
Alien lives are obviously worth more than any human life, since as every highly intelligent extraterrestrial knows, those dumb
humans aren't really capable of anything but the most primative feelings and thoughts.
"To an advanced alien civilization it might seem that sacrificing thousands or millions of human lives for medical research
is a small price to pay if it could save the life of even one cute little extraterrestrial child. What if the idea that human
beings posses fundamental rights of life and liberty seemed as absurd to them as the idea of animals having these same rights
seems to many humans?
"What if some humans were forced to perform like trained seals in circuses for the amusement of extraterrestrials, or were
caged in zoos on some faraway planet? Might there be intergalactic "rodeos" which will someday have events such as "human roping"
in which terrified humans are forced to run as fast as they can into an open area only to mercilessly hauled down by some cosmic
"cowboy", often with fatal results?
"What if the Earth were to become a favorite vacation spot for extraterrestrial hunters who would come here for the "sport"
of hunting humans? Is it possible that killing other living creatures simply for fun is a favorite pastime enjoyed by all
advanced civilizations in the universe? Will future human beings live in fear of having their heads blown off by some
extraterrestrial yahoo with a gun? Might walls of alien hunters homes someday be decorated with the heads of humans they had
"bagged" while on a special hunting trip to Earth?
"If we human beings believe that we have the right to be treated humanely by any extraterrestrial beings that we may someday
encounter, even those more intelligent or technologically advanced than us, do we not then also have a moral obligation to
likewise treat other sentient creatures that we encounter with similar compassion and respect? Does this not apply to our
treatment of other species with whom we share our planet? As Albert Einstein, the greatest astrophysicist of this century (and
himself a vegetarian) said: 'Our task must be to free ourselves ... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living
creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.'
"If extraterrestrial ever come to Earth, let's hope that they will have developed a deeper sense of compassion and respect
for all living creatures than Earth's supposedly most intelligent species seems to have developed so far."