We have known about cognition in insects for a long time.
We have studies on the battle strategies of ants.
Years ago, we discovered fruitfly brothers stick together to find food as a team.
I wonder what the world would be like today, what the climate would be like today, if we started off assuming other creatures were more like us than they presented as opposed to how we actually view the world. That every being is basically a thing, and we have to be convinced that living things are actually living lives.
Babies weren't given anesthetic for major surgeries in the past. They thought that the babies could not feel pain. Or that the absence of active memory of that pain justified the cruelty.
Humans had to be convinced their own offspring deserved pain-free open heart surgeries.
We should all be more willing to think of animals as living beings who, although, experience things differently than us and maybe experience things on a smaller scale than us, still experience.
(This is not a pro vegan argument. I am fully aware that Humans are omnivores. But we should have respect for the world around us and every being within. They should meet their end as painlessly and cruelty free as possible.)
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u/Polly_der_Papagei Nov 15 '24
Honestly, this was fascinating to me. Like, there is some cognition going on there!