Quote Originally Posted by Alleo View Post
Emet comments how he does not see us spoken races as good enough to be the stewards of this planet. All of this together paints the picture for me that we are talking about the sacrifice of living people. Not plants, not animals but sentient and sapient beings.

I would also argue that there is a difference in killing something to eat it which is natural for a lot of animals on the planet and going through whole genocide. Also not sure what our own rl problems with the destruction of our planet has to do with the topic?
Whilst it doesn't have too much relevance to many aspects of the discussion, it does apply to one: Sentience and Sapience being where many feel the line is drawn between whether a death is considered murder or not.

Imagine the following situation -
Humans are on the brink of extinction; almost totally wiped out by an unexplained cause, with the death toll that continues to rise drastically daily. In desperation, many of the survivors sacrifice themselves in the hope of saving their remaining friends, family and the species. Men and women sacrifice themselves to secure a future for the next generation. Mothers and fathers sacrifice themselves to enable their children to live as they once did.
As wished, the spread of death eventually stops - but too late. The loss being so great that the population can't be recovered by any other means except one. Unfortunately, this means comes at a cost: the extinction of all of the other Great Apes and countless deaths of various other creatures. But it would not only restore your own family and friends, but all Humans who were lost to those events.

Would you do it?


Whilst a few may say No, I feel many would accept without hesitation - despite much evidence showing such animals to be both sentient and sapient beings. Surely, if we were to follow our own definitions of what constitutes a life worth saving, we would all refuse? Yet we already cause the deaths of these animals, purely for our own convenience/comfort.

In this case, the Ascians are the Humans: arguably superior in many respects (Intelligence, lifespan etc.). The populations of the Source/Shards are the Apes: less able, perhaps, but sentient and sapient nonetheless.
Would it be wrong? Yes. But, in all honesty, would most of us do any different?