Are all human lives of equal importance?

Idealistically, yeah.

Realistically, no.

If you were in a position where you had to choose one person to live over another, you would be able to find ways in which one was more important than the other. It's subjective, but different people are of varying importance to everyone.

I'd say all of us here are more 'privileged' than others in the world - we all have the internet, electricity, food and water. That doesn't indicate our significance or importance though, that's just luck.

I cant really answer this. Not all people are equal. All people have equal rights until they take away another person rights. Everyone has a right to basic respect, not be raped, murdered, stolen from.

If you choose to steal from someone that means we can steal from you, if you choose to rape someone that means you can be raped, and if you murder someone for something like "Oh he was rich and I wanted the inheritance" well you just lost your right to live. However in some cases murder is justifiable. 1.War 2.defense of yourself or another.

I also will add this. People are not more special according to race, religion, non religion, career, so on. If you have a doctor he might be a very intelligent man but it does not mean he has the right to abuse his power as a doctor. It does not mean he is void of all mistakes and he is completely without fault. He is still a man. People have the illusion that these type of things make us special but they don't.

If you are a doctor it does not mean you should treat everyone beneath you like rubbish. If you are a teacher you should not treat your students like rubbish. Simply being a higher position does not make you better. People who think so are the lowest of the low and the are disgusting filth which makes this world awful. However some people have this idea and they will continue being the shitheads that are and we just kind of have to deal with it.

So anyone someone says they are better for something like that we should just spit on them. Since they are nothing but trash and that is the only type of treatment they deserve.

I don't give in to the whole philosophy, hippy stuff that we are all equal, we simply aren't. Some are better, some aren't. If we were all equal, then what is the difference between a drug dealer and a drug user? Both have access to drugs, but one uses it productivly, while the other is a victim of their own decisions.

We aren't all equal, and I find it irritating when people are trying to be "Morally correct" instead of logically correct.

This reminds me of an eighties move called "trading places".

Two rich guys make a bet. One thinks that people are who they are because of their environment, and the other thinks that we are who we are because some people are simply born "better". So they find two people (Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd if I remember correctly) for their experiment. Eddie Murphy is a street bum who fakes losing legs in the military to get sympathy donations, while Dan Aykroyd is a successful stock broker. These rich men use their vast resources to basically "switch" the situations that these men are in.

Eddie Murphy, when given every luxury, money, and a chance to make it as a stock broker, gradually assumes the role and becomes extremely proficient at predicting stock trends, because of his experience in the lower part of economy. Even starting to act like a well to do man.

Dan Aykroyd, in short, ends up drunkenly robbing the firms Christmas dinner in a Santa Suit, only to end up being arrested several times. He eventually assumes the lifestyle of a hobo, and starts to mold his behavior to this life.

While I realize that this is just a movie, I believe that in a lot of cases, people are who they are because of the environment they grew up, and became accustomed to. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, and there are truly bad people out there as well.

We are all equal. People choose to see, treat, and feel differently, though.

It's unfortunate that people believe their birth makes them better than others. And on the flip side, it doesn't make you undeserving of these things because of the time and place where you are born. It happens, some people are afforded more privileges than others. But it isn't for me to decide.

Yes we are all equal. If you take away rank, money, and property we are all just people. We all have urges, and desires, and fears. Some of us conquer those fears and some of us let them control us. In term of deaths we should create the least amount of casualties and make sure as many people as possible reach adult hood. So that they can become productive members of society.

Equal importance? The world could do without a hefty chunk of it's population i.e. the people who don't 'contribute'. Most people have a purpose, and are important.

we are who we choose to be, people are who we choose them to be, we are who people choose us to be.

No. Some people are just parasites who don't even try to do anything themselves, but just benefit from others.

We aren't all equal, but there's no specific thing that would make someone better then someone else. It is all just a matter of opinion.

Yes; we are all equal. It doesn't matter how much you think you "contribute" to society. A life is a life, and everyone contributes the same amount just in different ways. All of our lives are here for a purpose. A baby that died a day after his birth has affected this world in some way whethere we recognise it or not. Those who we deem as "more important" may not be important had it not been for the life of someone else who we may deem as "less important". A life is a life, and everyone (and thing) is here for a reason!

You'll need to clarify the question a little further.

Are we talking about the current global state of affairs? In other words, is the question "what IS the world like?" If so, it's absolutely inarguable that some lives are given greater priority over others. Or is the question "what SHOULD the world be like?" If we're talking about the ideal moral construct, and if I'm not mistaken you appear to be asking whether individuals should be judged based on their utilitarian merit, then that's a different question and my answer is no.

Unless we're talking about Jews, of course.

No, we are not all equal.

Some people "contribute" more to the human race as a whole than others.
HOWEVER, these people are from all social "ranks", religions or ethnicities.
What i am trying to say is: It's not where you were born, how rich you are or what beliefs you have.
I am talking about people that live ideals, that hunt after dreams, that inspire people.

My absolute favorite person in history is Leonardo Da Vinci...but he is only one among countless. Wether you look at Gutenberg(printing press), Martin Luther(reformation), Mother Teresa(live by example), Julius Caesar(warlord, but enabled spread of the merits of roman culture throughout a wide area), Ghandi(achieving his goals without violence), the brothers wright(dream of flying), Platon(his "republic" is a worthy read nowadays more than ever!)...

There's people that make us think, that change the course of history, that influence people...not all of them all of us, but it's enough if they inspire SOME.
They are the paragons of humanity, in their own specific aspects and niches, that carry our evolution as a society forward.

Self-conservation instincs prevent me from saying i'd willingly die if it means such a person would live, but i would gladly sacrifice several "destabilizing" members of society.
People who CHOOSE to live on welfare(because why should they do anything if the state covers for them), criminals taking from others(both physical and mental), extremists of political and religious origin...they are all worth "less" in my eyes, by merit of their ACTIONS, not by who they were born and raised as. If they fail to contemplate who they are and what they do as adult persons, there is no one to blame but them. Doubt and questioning, even of one's owns beliefs, is an integral necessity of maturity, to me. Failing to do so and being blind/oblivious to one's own actions or beliefs is not something that i can find any acceptable excuses for.