Sad Panda

Human interest stories on the BBC are always the best. Like panda porn, for instance. A video of Qing Qing and Ha Lei in a rare panda mating ritual, as well as the coital act itself, is intended to arouse other pandas into more readily performing sexual acts. The reasons aren't new, we have a declining panda population and we thus freak out about it. As the article states, the global panda population has dwindled to about 2,000, with 250 in captivity. It's also extremely difficult to get pandas to mate since they're only sexually interested about 2-3 days out of the year. While I'm all for freaking pandas and conservation interests, I have to take a step back and look at the larger questions.

First of all, why do we not consider evolution and natural selection? In all logic it could very well be time for the panda to take a bow and exit stage left. Ah, but we meddled! There's the key. We destroyed the bamboo forests, we trapped them, cut them, traded them, and made cute blankets out of the pandas. Now we feel we owe them a few favors. Instead of acting in moderation, which humans are horrible at, we instead are cramming at the last minute of the panda, as if we were going to the dentist in a week and wanted to catch up on six-months' worth of brushing. We harbor this guilt toward our ill-treatment of the panda (we not only slaughter them mercilessly, but we also can't get it straight if they're a bear or a raccoon) and it seems that guilt alone fuels conservation efforts. The panda, after all, is the flagship emblem of the World Wildlife Fund and in general the mascot for endangered species.


But why do we care so much? Why the guilt? I'm sitting in my cozy office chair reading the news and think "Yeah, so?" Like I said earlier, species evolve or disappear. If humans didn't meddle it would be entirely up to the panda to find a way or go away. Along comes concept #2: FORCED EMPATHY. This is one that hit me the other day while musing over my vegan-ism. I live in a shoebox apartment that was constructed extremely poorly. When the weather changes a colony of carpenter ants moves into my bathroom from the laundry room next door. I got fed up one day and started a mass-genocide campaign against the ants. I tried any possible way to kill them and pondered the general efficiency of my efforts, even saying to myself "So much for being a good Buddhist." And that's when it hit me. On a broad, macro-level of compassion, why do I slaughter insects yet try to justify being vegan? I've stated before on here that my choices in being a vegan come from two reasons: the meat industry is appalling, and living in an affluent society fills me with the desire to spread the wealth to other critters. I've even gotten to the point that cutting up flesh for my pregnant wife makes me feel ill. I've never had a problem with it before and I obviously don't have a problem with killing ants. My conclusion is forced empathy. I am mentally commanding myself to evoke emotions toward others. And it makes me think, when is that not the case? How much of our empathy comes from being raised in a Judeo-Christian society? Is it religious doctrine that makes us donate our things, help feed the poor, walk an old woman across the street, and strap explosives to abortion clinics? It's a horrible reality, but the more I think about it the more I'm inclined to believe that empathy is a construct and not a natural inclination. Then there's times when driving a country road that I'll come around a bend to find a deer spilled all over the concrete, the life drained from its eyes, and feel absolutely horrible. That runs in the same vein as the pandas. I see what humans do to the surrounding world, how we ignorantly cease life to serve our short-sighted whims, and in those situations I feel regret. Or remorse. Or guilt. Or sorrow. Is it, perhaps, that empathy is something that resides deep inside, something that, when honest, comes out in reaction to our treatment of the surrounding world? Is it something that, when it comes time to eat or secure safety, is naturally suppressed by survival instincts? If nothing else it is worth examining your interactions with the surrounding world and questioning what is genuine and what is playing make-believe? Why do you pretend to listen to someone instead of stopping them mid-sentence and letting them know you're not interested in conversation? Is empathy a constant intellectual comparison of gains or is it a genuine consideration of others?

Please, share your opinions.