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If it was living than it is deserves the same rights you and I have. But it is completely unlikely that it would be alive. Or even if it was "living" it would be unlikely that you could count it as a living being. As it would require a brain to react to stimuli within one's environment.
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You have just proven my point with your own words.
The cells in your clone would be alive, they would be active and replicating, but there's no central control. No brain means it can't react and has no thought, and therefore doesn't care and isn't aware of what is happening to it.
Oh, but all the little cells have nuclei, so they must be aware and therefore have rights! Yes they do, but no they're not. No brain to react to external stimuli means it's not a living being, according to you, and since the fetus has no brain in the first trimester, it's therefore not a human.
You can't argue that a fetus is special just because it has human DNA since it's just a smaller clump of cells when compared to the brainless clone.
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As the first reaction from the sympathetic nervous system is to remain still and evaluate the threat. Than they either choose to fight or run.
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Herbivores will freeze in position when frightened because the vast majority of predators operate on visual cues. Why do you think rabbits just sit there when you walk by? By remaining still, it's more likely to blend in with the background, especially since most predators are colour blind.
Most insects will stop dead in their tracks when a frog is within view, and the reverse is true: frogs can get easy meals by just staying still themselves.
The deer and rabbit will run away on instinct when a threat makes a move towards it. I've faked out dozens of deer by standing still and then making an abrupt movement and standing perfectly still again. The deer will bound away for a few steps and then stop and remain still again. If it was *actually* making a choice to run away, why wouldn't it do so for more than a few steps?
I do get what you're saying about "choice," though, but it's not as awesome and prevalent as you're making it seem. The choice is "Do I follow instinct A or instinct B?"
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Is a computer from the 1970s no longer a computer because of the ones we currently have running today?
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You are generalizing, and any good lawmaker knows that's not a good thing to do. The computers of today and computers from the '70s are still computers, yes, but chip architecture is completely different in a lot of aspects. Sure, they all operate with transistors on silicon waffers and are run by electricity, but they run in a very different manner.
Perhaps its the differences in our brain functions compared to animals', etc., that provides the basis for sentience.
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Construction also utilizes scientific methods, are they are science as well?
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There's a difference between lab science and applied science.
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So a cell that lyses itself to protect the rest of the fetus, obviously "cares" about the its surroundings does it not?
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That's a built in self-destruct that occurs when an internal fault is detected. The cell could only "care" about its neigbours if it was communicating with all the cells around it and asking them if they minded if it grew all shitty.
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I never said psychology was a pathetic attempt at a science. I never said it was pathetic. And he made a statement, thus I responded.
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Oh? "Psychology is not a science. It is a pathetic attempt at being a science. Looking for a metaphysical existance within the physical."
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Since humans have a brain, why do most humans choose not to kill their neighbors over owning a pet they don't like? They have brains. Oh wait! D'oh! Conditioning tells the humans not to.
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Pray tell, then, why do some people actually go over the fence and kill the neighbour if they've been conditioned not to? Aw shit. There must be some sort of metaphysical reason in their head, and that means using pschology. Mental conditioning is completely abstract, and it's impossible to provide the physical proof that you're demanding for something that's not concrete, since none exists! :O
Horror! We must turn to positivist sciences!