motherblastingfrikkafrakkin horseflies

[Marblehead]

Well , Mr fancy footwork , you didnt answer the questions , do you , think you have more right to live then tHey do.

Do you not believe that compassion will conquer what appear to be conflict?

Are you willing to put yourself in their situation,

Okay. I accept this challenge.

 

Every year, early Spring, at the overhang going into my house and workshop wasps build nests to lay eggs and raise their young. When I first see them we have a short conversation. They don't talk much but they do listen intently. I tell them, if you leave me alone I will leave you alone. But if you sting me for being in the area then all of you will die. I have not sprayed the wasps in a number of years now because they know. (Perhaps they don't know but they have never seen me as a threat so they have no reason to confront me.)

[Stosh]

Okay. I accept this challenge.

 

Every year, early Spring, at the overhang going into my house and workshop wasps build nests to lay eggs and raise their young. When I first see them we have a short conversation. They don't talk much but they do listen intently. I tell them, if you leave me alone I will leave you alone. But if you sting me for being in the area then all of you will die. I have not sprayed the wasps in a number of years now because they know. (Perhaps they don't know but they have never seen me as a threat so they have no reason to confront me.)

You always manage to surprise me Sir.

 

The hummingbird ,to some, seems fickle, and the flower appears constant.

The bird needs to eat all the day to fuel its intensity,

sleeping torpid the dark hours of night

The flower needs to soak the rays of the sun all the day to create its fuel ,

exhaling the airs during dark rest

are they both not constant, fickle?

The flower cups nectar for its messenger now and then ,

to keep the bird moving Is this not fickle?

The bird helps with the sowing of seed , time to time,

so that the genes are spread without the plants ever needing to move

thus keeping them still ,

evidence seen in generations continual ,

is not the hummer constant? and the flower fickle?

Edited June 19, 2014 by Stosh

[Marblehead]

Nice response.

 

I see neither as fickle. They are just living according to their nature.

 

In some parts of the world hummers are a more important pollenator of plants than are flies and bees. And some plants can be pollenated by only hummers.

 

One of the nice things about hummers is that none have ever tried to bite me.

[Stosh]

So then , It's been possible to work out a deal, yet each operating according to its own need.

Hey,, Thats anarchy!

[Marblehead]

That gave me a chuckle. Thanks. And what you said is true in a broad sense of the word.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

What ? nobody defending the horseflies ?

Their rights , their essential purpose in the universe ?

What happened to being OK with everything and being free of desires for things to be any different than they are?

Oh ! what sad times are these..

 

 

 

Horseflies bite me. I slap them. That's the way it is.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

i flick them off... pain for pain, but i try not to inflict more upon them than they to me.


Ants too... little buggers seem fit to bite me, and i pull or flick them off... i think they're just harassing me...

[SaiyaMan]

Here is the result of an insect bite from about 5 years ago. Put me in hospital for three days! The doctors had no idea what bug it was, but thought it could have been a horsefly. Looked cool as hell though lol.

 

 

Try get rid of the infestation soon. Never know what their bites could bring!

[Stosh]

It doesnt look like an insect bite to me , why would the red track up your arm like that?

Looks more like a burn, but Im not a doctor.

Doesnt matter though , either you imagine you have some right to kill rather than be killed ,

or the horse fly would have the same right to eat you rather than starve.

Im joking around here , but the subject Im pointing at is about some of the

imaginary concepts folks carry around but dont look at.

If you smash the fly , because you can , then either there are no such things as 'rights' - essentially 'might makes right'

If you smash the fly 'protecting yourself' , then the idea that compassion makes "all one" is bogus.

Its easy to be nice to the nice , but yall have then have drawn a line around yourself , this is me , I am the important thing to me , and the fly , negatively impacting that , should in your opinion be killed , and there is no justification required.

If someones belief system, falls apart, to be abandoned , at the fleeting bite of a fly ( yes I know they hurt) well then one feels their own belief system is not up to the task IN THAT PERSONS OWN OPINION!

So when Mh cuts to the chase and suggests that some fly bites would do the same to me , he is correct that , the proof of the pudding would be in my reaction... but Im just tossing out 'devils advocacy' on behalf of the fly as an object lesson.

Which he knows already, Im sure.

[Marblehead]

Yes Stosh, I am the center of my universe. The fly has a right to exist just as I do. However, if the fly infringes on my right to be comfortable then I have the right to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

The fly and I are not "one". Sorry.

[Stosh]

Yes Stosh, I am the center of my universe. The fly has a right to exist just as I do. However, if the fly infringes on my right to be comfortable then I have the right to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

The fly and I are not "one". Sorry.

No need for sorriness there dude, Im just saying 'rights' arent a real thing. the fly bites you and you kill it , well thats just what was done , it doesnt make you, or the fly, right or wrong ,or justified, or not. Those things dont actually exist. Just as Im not telling anyone they 'should or shouldnt' kill the fly or be guilty about it. The should and shouldnt stuff depends on imaginary 'rights'.

Yes, people come to communal ideas about the 'rights' that they want to pertain to human interaction, using these imaginary things one can arrive at a conclusion that say ,, exploitation was wrong , if it happens to people, but not wrong , if it applies to cattle, or chimpanzees, etc.

Persons may agree, or disagree about these things, and thats because the ideas are subjectively maintained.

So the guy who needs a servant to dust the floor for bugs , so that he doesnt step on them , isnt cooperating with anything other than his own ideas about karmic reprisal or benificent intent.

The Tao itself , allows one to smash horseflies, and that which would be reprisal , is really just the natural consequence of the behavior.

If one considers life to be a 'good' thing , then one should also be prepared to accept that life requires eating, breathing, space ,procreation and , self protection. Life doesnt continue in the absence of conflicts over the ability to do the things that continued life requires. Agression , or the lack of it , passivity , cannot then be considered inherently 'good' vs its polemic.

[Marblehead]

Yep, we have gotten back to the subjectivity of human life. We decide and take action regarding many more things than do all other animals.

 

I'm sure the dinosaurs were really pissed of when that comet hit Earth. They couldn't do anything about it though. In the future we might be able to act on one that appears to be headed our way.

 

Life on Earth is really an amazing thing. So many things within the solar system had to be just right and happen at just the right time.

 

But sure, my goal is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. If the fly wouldn't bite me or never came into my house I would never have a problem with a fly. I feel that way about all other life on this planet. I don't have a problem with great white sharks because none have ever bitten me.

[Stosh]

Well thats certainly the way I feel about the sharks and flies , there was a survivalist show on the other night and one of the dudes decided not to kill this tropical rattlesnake for food , for the simple reason that he thought it was beautiful.

The other dude was pretty angry over the incident, he thought it should be killed not only for food but on the principle that it presented a threat of some sort (minute though that was) ,,

That snake was very impressive to me , yes it was beautiful,

and I can respect the clarity of the dude who just didnt want to kill it.

I dont like stuff destroyed for no purpose, or even with some reasonable purpose..

I could try to justify the sentiment of taking either course of action, but to be honest I know that there is no such thing as justification.. its not a thing one can hang a hat on.

At the same time ,I recognize that individuals do have motivations needs preferences etc that can be construed as justifications..,, but in the end -a respect for life, living things, the natural world , and even the creations of men is an embrace of those things , and an embracement of ones-self as something larger than this bag of bones.

Have a nice weekend , mine seems will be rainy.

[silent thunder]

for me, it's not horseflies... it's an endless stream of people in their cars with seemingly no regard for anyone else around them...

[Marblehead]

for me, it's not horseflies... it's an endless stream of people in their cars with seemingly no regard for anyone else around them...

Hehehe. But killing people is still against the law.

[silent thunder]

Hehehe. But killing people is still against the law.

though I still contend, if you can prove you've done a service to society, not only should you not be prosecuted, there should be some sort of stipend available...

[Marblehead]

though I still contend, if you can prove you've done a service to society, not only should you not be prosecuted, there should be some sort of stipend available...

Sounds logical. But apparently you have not convinced enough people of the truth of your wisdon. (Well, except for governments; they go out and kill people all the time.)

[silent thunder]

Sounds logical. But apparently you have not convinced enough people of the truth of your wisdon. (Well, except for governments; they go out and kill people all the time.)

You know... that's amazing. I've been sharing that quippy anecdote for 20 years or so and no one has ever pointed out that this policy is already firmly in place, it just applies overseas rather than domestically...

 

You rock MH!

[YawningMind]

I wonder if horseflies have more consciousness than regular flies, by virtue of their size. Do they have bigger brains too? Or just bigger bodies?

 

Mass murder of insects is natural, but I feel like we still should stop and think about it when we do it.

[Marblehead]

I watched a nature program and they said that the tiny mosquito is still the deadliest animal on the planet. Still far ahead of what man can do.

[soaring crane]

Here is the result of an insect bite from about 5 years ago. Put me in hospital for three days! The doctors had no idea what bug it was, but thought it could have been a horsefly. Looked cool as hell though

 

dude!

 

I had a spider bite a few years ago, on my right hand. Image search 'spider bite' to get an idea of what it looked like, I'm not posting pics here

 

The doctors didn't want to believe that that's what it was, but it was.

[Marblehead]

Yeah, some spiders can do humans a real nasty job. The Aussies have some really bad ones.

 

But good for me the butterflies here don't hurt me.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Marblehead