4 ms·

This won't be seriously entertained by most people until their standard of living is better than the octopus. Hungry people don't have the time or energy to wor

This won't be seriously entertained by most people until their standard of living is better than the octopus. Hungry people don't have the time or energy to worry about how smart their meal is. Only religion ever seems to make a dent in dietary habits in the 3rd world.

chc 11y ago
Japan is not the third world.
ralmidani 11y ago
How does hunger necessitate eating live animals? And isn't octopus relatively expensive, anyways?
- Aelinsaar 11y ago
  I'm not talking specifically about eating them while alive, which is a relatively rare practice anyway. Their torment as by-catch and just in general seems more ubiquitous to me. Eating them alive is gruesome, but frankly a lot closer to what an octopus can expect in nature. Being put in solitary in a tiny box though? Being held in a tank in terrible conditions, and then brutally dispatched? That's all too common.
pera 11y ago
Isn't eating live animals a luxurious thing in some regions of Asia?
- jjtheblunt 11y ago
  If so, that's seriously fucked up subcultural brainwashing.
- Aelinsaar 11y ago
  I'm not really worried about rare luxuries. You're talking about a ubiquitous foodstuff the world over, and we treat it like it's no smarter than a clam. It's variously treated as bycatch to suffer and die in nets, trapped as 'pets' or exhibits (and I think long-term confinement has to be hell for intelligent beings), and eaten the good old fashioned way, by sticking them in a pot. Focusing on a particular way of killing them that strikes humans as gruesome doesn't interest me as much as the global treatment of them.
- mentalpiracy 11y ago
  This is a practice with sushi and certain fish, I don't know if it occurs with octopus though. I say this merely to confirm a fact, I am qualifying no judgement here.
- hkmurakami 11y ago
  I actually I don't think eating a live octopus is done (at least a fully grown one) since the suction force of its cups(?) continues quite some time after it's death and can be quite dangerous if it sticks to your throat. Eating live shrimp is a thing though.

chc 11y ago

Japan is not the third world.

ralmidani 11y ago

How does hunger necessitate eating live animals? And isn't octopus relatively expensive, anyways?

Aelinsaar 11y ago
I'm not talking specifically about eating them while alive, which is a relatively rare practice anyway. Their torment as by-catch and just in general seems more ubiquitous to me. Eating them alive is gruesome, but frankly a lot closer to what an octopus can expect in nature. Being put in solitary in a tiny box though? Being held in a tank in terrible conditions, and then brutally dispatched? That's all too common.

pera 11y ago

Isn't eating live animals a luxurious thing in some regions of Asia?

jjtheblunt 11y ago
If so, that's seriously fucked up subcultural brainwashing.
Aelinsaar 11y ago
I'm not really worried about rare luxuries. You're talking about a ubiquitous foodstuff the world over, and we treat it like it's no smarter than a clam. It's variously treated as bycatch to suffer and die in nets, trapped as 'pets' or exhibits (and I think long-term confinement has to be hell for intelligent beings), and eaten the good old fashioned way, by sticking them in a pot. Focusing on a particular way of killing them that strikes humans as gruesome doesn't interest me as much as the global treatment of them.
mentalpiracy 11y ago
This is a practice with sushi and certain fish, I don't know if it occurs with octopus though. I say this merely to confirm a fact, I am qualifying no judgement here.
hkmurakami 11y ago
I actually I don't think eating a live octopus is done (at least a fully grown one) since the suction force of its cups(?) continues quite some time after it's death and can be quite dangerous if it sticks to your throat. Eating live shrimp is a thing though.