And I expect that for cows, pigs, and certainly chickens.
Certainly chickens? Do you think birds are generally less intelligent/self-aware than mammals?
Some birds, especially corvids and parrots, are among the most intelligent animal species; a number of bird species have been observed manufacturing and using tools, and many social species exhibit cultural transmission of knowledge across generations. Wikipedia
Also see the following links that indicate how similar/intelligent some other species might be:
So far, mammals are born, they live, they experience emotions positive and negative, and they die. How much sense does it make to adopt a moral system which thinks we are wrong for just doing what nature has very many animals do for millions of years?
Morality is not a prescriptive natural law. There is no imperative here. Personally I want to minimize suffering as much as I can. That means that I am going to kill an (subjectively) inferior being to survive. But I am living in a western country, having enough money to effort a healthy diet without inflicting additional suffering for the pleasure of eating meat. Surely if you assign higher utility to eating meat than negative utility to killing other beings, that’s completely rational. But you seem to be committing the naturalistic fallacy here.
Hm. I am currently not clear enough in my head to think it through, but something inside my head thinks that as transhumanists/singularitarians (I somehow dislike those nouns) we have to deal with a quantification of negative utility in inferior species in a way that makes it difficult to dismiss neurological facts with regard to “moral worth” of any entity. I have not thought it through, tough.
Hm. I am currently not clear enough in my head to think it through, but something inside my head thinks that as transhumanists/singularitarians (I somehow dislike those nouns) we have to deal with a quantification of negative utility in inferior species in a way that makes it difficult to dismiss neurological facts with regard to “moral worth” of any entity. I have not thought it through, tough.
Certainly chickens? Do you think birds are generally less intelligent/self-aware than mammals?
Also see the following links that indicate how similar/intelligent some other species might be:
Bigger Not Necessarily Better, When It Comes to Brains
Clever New Caledonian crows use one tool to acquire another
Meet the Genius Bird: Crafty Crows Use Tools to Solve a Three-Step Problem
Metacognitive Apes
Chimpanzees Prefer Fair Play To Reaping An Unjust Reward
Scientists say dolphins should be treated as non-human persons
Evidence suggesting that humans and other primates process numbers using common cognitive skills with a shared evolutionary origin.
Good Dog, Smart Dog
Common fish species has ‘human’ ability to learn
Octopus carries around coconut shells as suits of armour
Altruistic chimpanzees clearly help each other out
Amazing rats
Ravens console each other after fights
Missile-throwing chimp plots attacks on tourists
How chimpanzees deal with death and dying
Hyenas cooperate better than chimps, study finds
Morality is not a prescriptive natural law. There is no imperative here. Personally I want to minimize suffering as much as I can. That means that I am going to kill an (subjectively) inferior being to survive. But I am living in a western country, having enough money to effort a healthy diet without inflicting additional suffering for the pleasure of eating meat. Surely if you assign higher utility to eating meat than negative utility to killing other beings, that’s completely rational. But you seem to be committing the naturalistic fallacy here.
Hm. I am currently not clear enough in my head to think it through, but something inside my head thinks that as transhumanists/singularitarians (I somehow dislike those nouns) we have to deal with a quantification of negative utility in inferior species in a way that makes it difficult to dismiss neurological facts with regard to “moral worth” of any entity. I have not thought it through, tough.
Hm. I am currently not clear enough in my head to think it through, but something inside my head thinks that as transhumanists/singularitarians (I somehow dislike those nouns) we have to deal with a quantification of negative utility in inferior species in a way that makes it difficult to dismiss neurological facts with regard to “moral worth” of any entity. I have not thought it through, tough.