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- Aug 18, 2011
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I don't agree. How many insects are there on the planet that can kill us? How many of us own dogs big enough to kill us? Horses can kill us. Cows can kill us. Most predators can kill us. And we know that if we wipe out all the animals we will die anyway cos the ecosystem will collapse. We're already facing loss of pollinators. Imagine if all insects were as smart as us. We'd be fucked in five minutes.
Insects weren't part of the discussions though. But if we count insects, they would certainly be hard to defend against (if they were intent on killing us). But at the same time, we have facilities that are protected from all outside air pollution and insects (lab-like environments and military bunkers). We also have insect killing chemicals. But that's a mutually assured destruction, as you pointed out, so I don't think it's a good idea for either side, and if the insects are indeed that smart, they'd know it too.
As for other mammals capable of killing us, you're thinking about individual cases and not full-scale war, and you're also not considering the entire range of human arsenal--from blades, power tools, firearms, grenades, gases, missiles, nuclear bomb, jet fighters, tanks, etc. Also, we have extensive experience in war/combat strategies, whereas other animals only have experience in small-scale hunts. There's no way other animals can win if we actually turn our deadly weapons on them. But again, we'd screw up the entire ecosystem, so it's a lose-lose situation if they choose to attack us. If they are that smart, they must realize if they wage full-scale war on humans, they'd likely destroy the planet too. Untended or damaged nuclear and oil facilities, use of weapons of mass destruction, uncontrolled forest fires, etc. It'd be destruction for them too.