Question about the wraith

[MarshAngel]

But you were implying that most people don't because of their intelligence, which isn't the case.

If you change your verb use you'll realize what I actually said and meant. Obviously most people DON"T. What I am saying is, in this current era and society, IF they were widely available most people "WOULDN'T". And yeah, I actually do believe it's because of their intelligence and their physical resemblance to human beings.

[Chev Ron]

Ahh but most people wouldn't eat a chimp because they are more self-aware and similar to us.

But if live chimp was the only food that could sustain us, people would eat them regardless of how self-aware and similar to us they were.

[vonbismarck]

us humans have high respect for sentient life. we cannot destroy a civilization that is sentient.

I would be careful what you say, unless you have forgotten all the genocide that has happened in the history of this world, many times one civilization has tried to wipe one or more out.

no i do not consider it mean or vile that ppl around the world eat things alive cause humans are the only specis that is selfaware

I hope this doesn't come off as condescending or anything like that, but if the animals we eat were either shown to be selfaware or suddenly became so, would it be wrong to eat them then? What if you were able to communicateand understand your food?

Would the Wraith be less evil if they could not communicate with use and looked completely different, say like qiant squids?

[nox2hed]

Unless there's a real Dr. Dolittle who actually talks to the animals, doesn’t the fact the wraith and humans communicate easily with each other imply that the ‘Intelligence’ equivalence is on a far different scale than us and the ‘lesser’ life forms on this planet.

Personally, I think animals can posses a good deal of emotion. My dog will show extreme anxiety if he feels I’m upset with him, he even shows he knows if I’m feeling anxiety. It’s also obvious when he’s ‘happy as a dog’

As to the original question ‘are the wraith really bad?’ Indeed! that’s what they’re there for.
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“Please Madam! That’s a torpedo launch initiator . . . and it’s Worf, not wuff”

[MarshAngel]

But if live chimp was the only food that could sustain us, people would eat them regardless of how self-aware and similar to us they were.

You're probably right about that. It'd probably be wrong by current standards but we'd do it. How evil we are would be determined by how we treat those chimps while they're alive and whether we make any effort to find an alternative.

[Apogeal Alpha 01]

I remember the Wraith in condemned saying to the Magistrate that the fear, or was it resentment/anger, was delicious or something. He enjoyed the terror and anger that knowing one was being eaten alive.

If enjoying the terror of a defenseless being before eating it isn't evil, I don't know what is!

[Colonel_Sheppard]

I think of Evil as an act that can lead to bad consequences to you, or people around you. The wraith have yet to see any really bad consequences. They have had accidents that have cost them a few of their peoples lives, but they haven't had that problem yet. Except for the hive ships they lost, but they seem to disregard life of themselves and humans. They have resprted to cannibalism.

However, I think Evil leads to false pride. They have been acting arrogant thinking we are incapable of defeating them, tricking them, or getting the better of them. Yet we have.

I think to hunt something down like they did to Dex is rather cruel. They could have eaten another human. We are sentient, in the fact we have built a strong civilization.
Spoilers, involves a future episode (incase I don't do the spoiler tag right):
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Spoiler:

We learn in a later episode that Wraith are at first, like humans till they are about 15. They build a dependancy on humans after they start eatin em.

So, evil is a good way to look at em.

[Ouroboros]

I'd just like to pop back in here and say that what one Wraith does or thinks can't be taken as evidence to damn the entire species as evil anymore than looking at Stalin, Hitler or Ghengis Khan could be used to damn the entire human race as evil.

If we go down that road we'll end up looking more evil than them, a lot more evil.

[nox2hed]

I'd just like to pop back in here and say that what one Wraith does or thinks can't be taken as evidence to damn the entire species as evil anymore than looking at Stalin, Hitler or Ghengis Khan could be used to damn the entire human race as evil.

If we go down that road we'll end up looking more evil than them, a lot more evil.

At the risk of running off the edge of topic, do feel compelled to respond.

Stalin, Hitler, etc., did not condemn the entire human race, their kind did (and still do) however illuminate a serious defect in human nature (and I still cannot comprehend this) which apparently exists that ‘enables’ entire groups of otherwise rational human beings to follow and even expound upon the most insidious paths of evil imaginable.

Still say the Wraith are evil because if they weren’t the show would be pretty damn boring.

[vonbismarck]

I know this thread is old but I just wanted to add that I just saw the ep. where one sees a wraith eat regular food. He does say that some enjoy the taste of regular food but that it would not sustain them. So if I were to believe him, the only way for the wraith to survive would be to feast on humans.

[Ouroboros]

At the risk of running off the edge of topic, do feel compelled to respond.

Stalin, Hitler, etc., did not condemn the entire human race, their kind did (and still do) however illuminate a serious defect in human nature (and I still cannot comprehend this) which apparently exists that ?enables? entire groups of otherwise rational human beings to follow and even expound upon the most insidious paths of evil imaginable.

That's pretty much what I wa getting at. Every species should naturally be expected to have its Hiters and its Mother Theresas. You can't look at either extrme and say things like "humans are evil because this one particular human did X" it's a fallcy.

The same would be true of the Wraith.

Still say the Wraith are evil because if they weren?t the show would be pretty damn boring.

Oh I don't know about that. I think the show would actually be a lot more interesting if they wrote the Wraith species like the real "people" (if that term can apply) that they're supposed to be instead of like the 1 dimensional monster in little Timmy's closet.

[Sabre]

which apparently exists that ?enables? entire groups of otherwise rational human beings to follow and even expound upon the most insidious paths of evil imaginable.

Evil is evil, and evil seizes the weakness of people. People, rather than follow, try to preserve their lives.

What I mean by this? that it's quite difficult to be a hero. I'd love to have here two photos a friend of mine has in a village in La Rioja in order to make my point. In one photo, we can see a man rising his left arm and closing his fist (as communists did). Months later, when Franco did control that part of my country, you can see a photo of the same man rising his right arm, as the nazis and fascists like Franco did. Bottomline, I don't think that man was a real follower of Franco nor the communist, that man just was trying to keep his ass safe in order not to be executed. Is that right? well, no, we should fight for freedom everywhere, shouldn't we? but cowardice is not as evil as the guys who actually make that terror real (Franco,Stalin,Hitler).


Sabre

[nox2hed]

Evil is evil, and evil seizes the weakness of people. People, rather than follow, try to preserve their lives.
Sabre

This is now definitely freefalling off topic for which I apologize and will hopefully somehow endup back on trac.

What I was referring to was not those who ‘go with the flow’ to survive but rather real world events where people who live in peaceful and even friendly co-existence, will (with such astounding ease) embrace some fanatic doctrine of hatred and commit unbelievably savage and heinous acts. (also disturbed that many seem to think of the Nazi era as if it were some freak aberration of human history when in actuality that type of evil hatred abounds a plenty to this very day)

Oh I don't know about that.

That was just meant as a fun poke, not any real inference that the show would be boring.

As this has taken on some surreal life of it’s own…. yes, Captain, but the question still remains…
(and I believe meant with a certain element of levity)…

"Hello, I was wondering, from a philosophical point of a view, are the wraith really bad?"