VALUES TO BEHAVIOR

If you’d read the section, My Story, you might recall my epiphany that “[sharks] wouldn’t be food if [they] mattered to me”. The essence of this statement is value.

The values attached to different matters often direct our subsequent behaviors. If you value your physical appearance, would you not spend more time and effort in personal grooming? In the same vein, if Man valued sharks to the same degree as they do the Giant Pandas, the sharks’ population would not have declined so rapidly.

Man does speak about the value of sharks, but this value implies to the monetary value fetched by their fins.

Stephen R. Kellert identified several categories of values that people feel towards nature. In the following paragraph, I’ve selected the top 4 commonly cited values (in order of popularity according to findings from the American society), and with it, a response to exemplify why the value is absent.

1. Humanistic (An interest in, or affection for the animal. Common in human-pet relationships.)

“The only shark I’d befriend is if it were a soft toy. “

2. Moralistic (A sense of justice for the treatment of the animal, and an opposition to cruelty or exploitation)

“I’ll have my food without witnessing the slaughter process.”

3. Negativistic (An active avoidance for the animal due to negative feelings associated)

“Oh yes, sharks kill humans! In a snap! Didn’t you watch Jaws?!”

4. Utilitarian (An interest in the practical and material value of the animal)

“So what if shark’s fins are not nutritious… The soup still tastes good!”

This picture provides a neat illustration of the negativistic and utilitarian values: