If humans weren't at the top? Simians will rule of course.
Better question. if we weren't, who or what would be? Then my follow on question would be. What happened in Human History to remove them as the top of the food chain?
---------- Post added 2013-05-07 at 01:14 AM ----------
Dont we need Pinky and the Brain for that?
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Just nothing about that statement is true. The fact is, we really don't even know how intelligent some animals are, like whales and dolphins for example. Generally speaking, they're judged by the fact that they don't speak human languages, so they must be brain-dead. We aren't smart enough to figure out how to communicate with them, they can't communicate with us, so we slaughter them wholesale for eating our fish. If you want to see a sad documentary about it going on in Japan.
That's ignoring the fact that other primates are actually capable of communicating using sign language, and we still look down on them as a lesser species and feel justified in torturing them. I'm not someone who believes animals are better than humans, but I also don't believe in torturing and killing other living animals and complete disregard for the environment for no reason, which happens all the time.
I can almost agree with germs being at the top of the food chain. If we weren't at the top of the food chain and some other species farmed us like cattle, I imagine that they'd care about our opinion on the matter as much as we care about ants.
However detrivores aren't fit in the food chain like carnivores/herbivores/plants are and therefore aren't on top of the food chain.
If there was something that would actively hunt humans for a source of food, then a lot of people would die as most humans aren't fit for survival of the fittest. We have been "on top of the food chain" for such a long time that a lot of traits in other animals aren't needed for humans (good hearing/sight/speed/whatever).
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Bacteria; arnt they already at the top of the food chain? We (humans) are filled with them, our entire planet is covered by them, they can kill us and they feast upon us at their leisure. We clearly can't exterminate them all; we even need them -- they don't need us.
Just cause they are not big or have giant monster like teeth and claws doesn't mean they are not above us.
Last edited by looorg; 2013-05-07 at 11:21 AM.
Then we'd be eaten? We currently would be eaten by animals if we did not have such good means to defend are selves and live in area's which they have no way of really hunting in. And if that was the case (which it probably was a long long time ago) then we would just learn to defend are selves and become like we are now. The only real way for us not to be top of the food chain in are current situation would probably be some sort of monster
That is impossible, aslong as we are human we will be ontop on the food chain. Species don't get nominated to be ontop, they earn it.
EDIT: well i suppose we're below micro organisms like the last posts said, but this is my answer to the OP's question
I think the Japanese asked this question. The manga and anime industry spat out "Attack on Titan" as the response. It's a beautiful series... And by beautiful I mean gory to the point of disgusting, angsty to the point of cutting yourself, and despair inducing to the point of making obscure video game references. In other words, the best kind of thing.
wikipedia article on said series
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Titan
Naftc, "Hunters are the cheapest class in game and when played right are more deadly than a train plowing through a field of bunnies covered in napalm"
I think the answer to the OP is to be seen in relation to location.
Of course, we are the superior race on Earth. Yet... in rare occasion we lose the top spot. And then we're toast.
There's a plethora of predators out there who know nothing, and don't give a shit about our top spot. They get you, they kill you, they eat you.
"The pen is mightier than the sword.. and considerably easier to write with."
To the people saying germs, bacteria and virus are above humans in the food chain; they really aren't. They are parasitic or symbiotic, they aren't purposely killing us in exchange for food, but just wanders around until they find something they can live off. And seeing as we use them for our purpose as well (even the deadly ones have some purpose), it would be an even 1st place.
If there were big monster things that ate us, I think we'd probably shoot them.
I don't think this matters nearly as much as you think it does.
So lions, tigers, bears, crocodiles, snakes, sharks and you name it don't eat humans? My whole life was a lie!
However, if you mean a creature that is so powerful that we humans even with our tools don't stand a chance against then that seems VERY farfetched. It would need to be bigger than the biggest dinosaurs. Because even though a creature is big, we will win due to our tools and strength in numbers. It's how we drove many more larger animals to extinction in our ancient past.
Or it would need to be a creature that uses tools of its own. But then it would need to be intelligent, so perhaps you could reason with it and come to some sort of treaty.
Or would our own intelligence be inferior so we wouldn't have tools and we'd simply get eaten by an animal that's larger? Then I wouldn't even call us humans.
---------- Post added 2013-05-07 at 12:29 PM ----------
Tell that to a mammoth facing a hundred humans with spears. We win due to our tools and strength in numbers. But that doesn't mean none of us can get eaten. We will just come out on top in most cases. That's why so many species went extinct due to us. Try to look up megafauna, they're all extinct because we were hungry.
I think that depends, if the another race is also intelligent we will try to "make an alliance" with them and, in the end, noone will eat noone, is just the same as animals, imagine of the cows magicaly become as intelligents as humans to the point they can talk, we won't be able to eat cow mean anymore cause they will be considered an intelligent bean and, in the end, they will be considered to have feeling so we will have no right to do what we do...