Musings on value

I used to play D&D style video games. I like fantasy and it was fun to be part of it and create something.
Then one day I was playing one and had the option to defeat the goblins and destroy their village. My warriors marched forwards ready to destroy. Blades were drawn and flames were lit. Then my cursor scrolled over one of the foe.
“Goblin child” was written in the description, clear as day.
Suddenly it wasn’t just a game any more. Silly as some may find it I suddenly didn’t want to win the battle I’d started; it was too real.

That was some years back now and I only use D&D now to create fantastic lands ( it can be great fun creating worlds ).

I’ve just finished watching some movies. One was a Westworld style one with AIs being used to fulfill peoples fantasies until they managed to gain their freedom, the other was about a test of some war robots in a South American location.

Yes, I do like sci fi movies too and today just fell into a theme.

The thing about movies is that I find it easier to understand the world around me and the way people think from them than I do in the real world. In truth I’m pants when it comes to understanding and dealing with people and I’m useless at dealing with stress and unexpected events so a distance view is easier to take in.

Anyway these movies got me thinking.
I used to move every worm and snail to safety when I’d walk down the road and, even now, it takes a thought to stop from doing so all the time. I considered their life as being of value as much as mine, but of course that made me very weird.
Well, the movies made me ask what line we should use to decide what is a tool to us and what deserves respect and value.

Because an AI isn’t human does that mean we can be less than human in dealing with it? Is there some clause in life that says as long as we consider something lesser then we can be cruel to it and not lessen ourselves in doing so?

How do we determine the worth of any part of this existence? Can an ant or a fly have feelings and so deserve a chance to live or are they just nuisances to be eliminated?

I admit I’m a meat eater and always will be, just as I’ll still be digging up weeds tomorrow. However, I eat to survive and even carrots are alive & I weed to give room for other plants. I feel there’s a difference ( however subtle ) between doing something with respect and doing it without.

Respect. It’s a key word in so much right now. It’s the difference between doing what looks right and doing the right thing. It’s the thing of saying I see you as being real and worth seeing as an individual.
Maybe that’s where everything has to start from before the first rule is changed or banner unfurled. Just a moment when we know each of us has value.

I recall that there are/were people who revered the spirits of the animals they hunted and ate because they respected them and that these animals gave their lives in feeding these people. So it’s more than not eating or hurting some thing or some one; it’s about seeing them.

Anyway that’s what I’ve been musing over today.

Just a thought for those still here – Do you imagine when those greater than us ( be they god, goddess or other ) look down here that they see a variety of ants and other insects or do they see so many unique prizes all worth seeing and watching grow? It must be difficult up there when so many deserve a chance and helping hand.