How insane would it be to find out that a living creature with a nervous system cannot know its own suffering?
Hubris
Mostly ignorance and selfishness. The majority avoid connecting the dots whenever the truth is inconvenient. They need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the future.
“God created all for us to enjoy. Why would he instill within it the sense of self with which to suffer?” Is a paraphrased response I’ve received when posing this question to a few friends.
Ah yes, that good and just world they keep insisting exists
Idk same reason he gave us suffering?
My reponse has always been “If that’s the case, why make it appear as though it’s suffering to us?” And they usually respond with some level of “it’s a test”. Personally I think it’s just a wild set of mental loopholes they engage with to justify not feeling any guilt or reverance for the creatures they are consuming but I genuinely don’t know.
The way lobster is thrown into boiling water seems the depth of depravity to me. There has to be a more humane way to do it if people must have lobster. It really makes me sick, its just an absolutely evil thing to do to another living thing like that, even setting aside the food arguments
It is very easy to kill crustaceans before boiling them, yes.
That site has got to have the most annoying mobile ads I’ve ever seen. When you stop scrolling, the ad comes in from every side to become a border around the viewport. It actively makes me hate the product.
It’s just all ad now…
Oh damn sorry, it’s not bad on my phone (not bad meaning no worse than any other website viewed on mobile).
Snipping right between the eyes with some kitchen shears cuts their brain in half, killing them instantly
My wife always has this guilty look if I’m in the room when she steams crabs. I’m probably going to advocate for this method going forward for all of our sakes, but damn if this isn’t still a cruel way to treat another organism you’re about to consume.
Inject the crab with heroin so it dies happy, stab it in the brain, then steam it!
If I were to hazard a guess, I’m going to imagine that this won’t completely solve the feeling bad/guilty about it aspects. Another option to consider: can always just have something else
It’s very much human to have those feelings and healthy in the short term to have those feelings, but we should generally try to listen to them or they eat away us. Or in the really cheesy way of putting it “listen to your heart”
Seafood is part of her culture originally being from a port city, which is fine for me. I personally don’t eat crab just for “ethical” reasons, but also because overall it’s a lot of work for little payoff. Like you said, I just find something else to eat.
Maybe worth reminding her of that option too. A lot of people do things for culture because they feel like they are required or supposed to, even if they might feel better not taking part in certain practices
If I keep giving silent eulogies in the kitchen, she’s bound to come around.
That’s to get the pretty red shell. Worked at Red Lobster and we’d flip 'em over and split from the brain down. We’d only boil them alive if a customer requested it. Only saw that once.
This, but also they taste nasty. Why would I want to eat a bottom-feeding sea bug?
I’d caution readers to be aware of our tendency to anthropomorphize animals. Whatever crustaceans feel, it’s not remotely close to what we experience as pain. Even “higher” animals like fish lack the part of the brain where pain hits us.
A fish can be swimming around trailing its guts, still eating and mating, chasing rivals. I’ve seen it in my aquariums. A mammal with a broken bone exhibits clear symptoms of depression, won’t eat, fight or fuck. I’ve had a lot of broken bones myself. Know how you know it’s broken? You can’t move it.
And consider, even an amoeba will react to negative stimulus. That’s baked into evolution.
Having said all that, I have a great deal of empathy for even something silly as a locust. Killed a lot of animals over the years that were hurting and mortally wounded, can’t bring myself to ignore suffering.
(Now someone will shout that I don’t think animals can feel pain. Go on. Get it over with.)
This is the kind of poisonous thinking that makes articles like this seem like a revelation to people.
Namely the idea that in order for animals to “suffer” it’s only valid if it’s similar to the way humans suffer.
You have a poisonous mindset, I’m sorry to tell you.
Namely the idea that in order for animals to “suffer” it’s only valid if it’s similar to the way humans suffer.
They didn’t say that at all.
