Gollum was never a "good" guy. From what is seen in-text, he's neutral at best as Smeagol and becomes caught up in an evil much larger than he is. Tolkien wants us to sympathize with Gollum (especially in the scene on Cirith Ungol, when he bends over Frodo like an old, withered hobbit), but he isn't good. Bilbo refrained from killing him because of pity (pity stayed his hand), not because he was good. And poor Professor Tolkien would roll around in his grave they way his beloved English language has been mangled on the thread.
i also think it funny that no one argued with me about the nature of the hobby. maybe because you all know this and dont have right to be criticizing anyways?
I'll take that bait (although it's obviously a troll). I'm sure you'll take this the wrong way, but I'll keep it dispassionate. Keeping a fish is different from keeping a fish well. A fish might survive in overcrowded conditions but this stresses it, causing it physical harm. I'm a biology student and I can refer you to the relevant passages in various text books if you'd like (Campbell especially) and fish care books. What you're asking people to do is to disregard everything they've ever read or learned in their own experience to believe you. Between Axelrod and yourself, I think I trust Axelrod. Most people here advocate enough space for a fish not to be stressed (either by overcrowding or so that its waste won't affect it). That's why so many aquarium fish are so small. Kept properly they can live healthy lives. That is the goal of good fish keeping. Overcrowding and other stress stunts the life of the animal, even if it lives. That life is of poor quality and the animal usually suffers from physical malady. Again, I'll happily refer to you Burgess' Fishlopedia, Campbell's Biology, Levine's Fishkeeper's Guide, or any text you'd like.
Aquaria itself is not an unethical hobby (funny that you should pose the question and imply that it is, when you are doing the same, or worse, than others on this board). Keeping some fish is unethical because they cannot be kept in conditions that make it happy. Keeping anything in stressful conditions is also unethical. Honest mistakes are made, but every aquarist should try and learn when he or she is taught, not to anger immediately. People interested in the hobby take in information like sponges. Many fish have been kept for hundreds of years and the best way to keep that has been studied, by fishkeepers interested in the care of their charges, and by trained scientists.
The people here know what they're talking about. I may not, but when I read your post, the first thing I thought was overcrowding before I read any replies.
Additionally, it's scientific fact that goldfish and guppies don't live at the same temperature (hence the terms tropical and cold water fish) and they don't like the same temperature. They do not eat the same food and they are not kept together. On an aesthtic level, goldfish look awful with tropical fish. They simply do not move the same way, nor do their colors compliment each other. It's also scientific fact that one goldfish excretes more waste than can be handled by 3.5 gallons.
Discussing methods of care are one thing. But as a biology student I bristle at you flying in the face of what I've learned.
i also think it funny that no one argued with me about the nature of the hobby. maybe because you all know this and dont have right to be criticizing anyways?
I'll take that bait (although it's obviously a troll). I'm sure you'll take this the wrong way, but I'll keep it dispassionate. Keeping a fish is different from keeping a fish well. A fish might survive in overcrowded conditions but this stresses it, causing it physical harm. I'm a biology student and I can refer you to the relevant passages in various text books if you'd like (Campbell especially) and fish care books. What you're asking people to do is to disregard everything they've ever read or learned in their own experience to believe you. Between Axelrod and yourself, I think I trust Axelrod. Most people here advocate enough space for a fish not to be stressed (either by overcrowding or so that its waste won't affect it). That's why so many aquarium fish are so small. Kept properly they can live healthy lives. That is the goal of good fish keeping. Overcrowding and other stress stunts the life of the animal, even if it lives. That life is of poor quality and the animal usually suffers from physical malady. Again, I'll happily refer to you Burgess' Fishlopedia, Campbell's Biology, Levine's Fishkeeper's Guide, or any text you'd like.
Aquaria itself is not an unethical hobby (funny that you should pose the question and imply that it is, when you are doing the same, or worse, than others on this board). Keeping some fish is unethical because they cannot be kept in conditions that make it happy. Keeping anything in stressful conditions is also unethical. Honest mistakes are made, but every aquarist should try and learn when he or she is taught, not to anger immediately. People interested in the hobby take in information like sponges. Many fish have been kept for hundreds of years and the best way to keep that has been studied, by fishkeepers interested in the care of their charges, and by trained scientists.
The people here know what they're talking about. I may not, but when I read your post, the first thing I thought was overcrowding before I read any replies.
Additionally, it's scientific fact that goldfish and guppies don't live at the same temperature (hence the terms tropical and cold water fish) and they don't like the same temperature. They do not eat the same food and they are not kept together. On an aesthtic level, goldfish look awful with tropical fish. They simply do not move the same way, nor do their colors compliment each other. It's also scientific fact that one goldfish excretes more waste than can be handled by 3.5 gallons.
Discussing methods of care are one thing. But as a biology student I bristle at you flying in the face of what I've learned.
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