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Asked by Axolotl to Claire, Franco, Koi, Linda, Mark on 15 Jun 2016. This question was also asked by Georgia.
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Franco Falcone answered on 15 Jun 2016:
@Axolotol
Usually parasites are smaller (much smaller in most cases) than their hosts. So although we are not parasitising on other animals, if you consider the environment as a complex giant organism, yes, I guess you could make the point that we are parasites. But perhaps the term ‘top predator’ is a better description? And what about interaction between humans? The controversial Latin expression “homo homini lupus” (“Man is wolf to man”) springs to mind; some people say it’s an insult to the nature of wolves, other say it doesn’t take into account the cooperative, social nature of humans.
Certainly, there are many reasons to worry about the future, but humanity is resilient (I hope). And if you are interested in exploring possible futures, there are plenty of good science fiction novels where things have gone the wrong way.
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Claire Bourke answered on 15 Jun 2016:
That’s a really interesting question and I think that, yes, in some respects we are! If parasites are defined as living things that uses up the resources of another living thing without benefiting it, then humans would fit that definition even if we don’t usually think of the earth as a ‘host’ in a traditional sense. Perhaps if we tried to live in a more symbiotic relationship with the earth (symbiotic means that two living things benefit one another) rather than a parasitic one, then we may limit the damage that we cause. I agree with Franco that humans are very adaptable and it would be great to think that we could adapt to symbiosis over parasitism!
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Arporn Wangwiwatsin answered on 15 Jun 2016:
Hi Axolotl,
I think strictly speaking parasites live at the expense of other living things, and the earth to me doesn’t quite count as a living things (although it does made up of a lottttttt of living things). But regarding the damage we are causing to the earth, now that we are aware of it, I feel that some positive changes will take effects, starting at our very own actions 🙂 -
Mark Booth answered on 16 Jun 2016:
Hi Axolotl
Yes and no. If you were to broaden out the definition as Claire and Franco have done below then yes. But mankind has defined parasitism in such a way to exclude humans or anything else at the top of the food chain.
The term parasite is of course used as a pejorative quite often when describing people who take from others without giving anything back.
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