Living in the Environment 18th Edition by Tyler Miller,Scott Spoolman

Exercise 19

Explain why you agree or disagree with each of the following statements: (a) humans are superior to other forms of life; (b) humans are in charge of the earth; (c) the value of other forms of life depends only on whether or not they are useful to humans; (d) based on records of past extinctions and the history of life on the earth over the last 3.5 billion years, biologists hypothesize that all forms of life eventually become extinct, and we should not worry about whether our activities hasten their extinction; (e) all forms of life have an inherent right to exist; (f) all economic growth is good; (g) nature has an almost unlimited storehouse of resources for human use; (h) technology can solve our environmental problems; (i) I do not believe I have any obligation to future generations; and (j) I do not believe I have any obligation to other forms of life.