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Most people are wrong! By any defensible ethical system, it's wrong to kill sentient beings when you don't have to. This goes double when it's terrible for the
by drngdds 6y ago
Most people are wrong! By any defensible ethical system, it's wrong to kill sentient beings when you don't have to. This goes double when it's terrible for the environment.
- _sbrk 6y agoDefine sentient, and make sure you consider that plants react to pests, even if it is not in an animal way.
- shlant 6y agoit's very interesting to me how many people seem to have all of the sudden become very concerned about the perceived consciousness of plants. My question usually is: "Your interpretation of 'plant consciousness' and consciousness in general aside - do you personally see no difference between a flower and a cow?"
- jojobas 6y agoFlowers are typically not as tasty. Everything about ethics is man-made, whatever people agree is good for people is ethical.
- shlant 6y agoso you would treat a dog in the same way you would a blade of grass?
- buzzy_hacker 6y agoAre you saying that you actually believe it is by definition ethical to do things that society agrees is good for people (regardless of what actually is good for people or for animals)? Or are you saying that what society deems ethical (regardless of what actually is, in fact, ethical) tends to align with actions that are good for people?
- jimmydddd 6y agoCows are more like me. A flowers are less like me. So I'm biased against flowers because they are less like me. But I don't know if it's more ethical to act based on my bias.
- buzzy_hacker 6y agoWe cannot be sure of any being’s sentience without direct experience. Absent that, we are left to our best guesses. This is true of most things. Our best guess is that plants do not experience suffering in the same way that animals do.
- metrokoi 6y agoWhy is it wrong to kill animals (humanely) if you don't have to? A cow will live and die blissfully unaware that it's purpose is to be eaten by humans. Is a death by a captive bolt gun worse than death by coyote or disease? Of course the discussion should be around the conditions that livestock spend their time living in because animals obviously are "happier" when living in natural conditions, but as far as I am aware animals do not have any preference on when or how they die (as long as it is not painful and drawn out).