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We have a mini pig that lives with us. I think the parent's comment is vastly underestimating pigs. They're very sweet, empathetic animals.

cyberlurker 6y ago
I had cousins that raised cows until the butcher needed them. This was a long time ago and I’m not sure how the arrangement came about. But they raised the cows as pets and the cows expressed happiness at seeing humans. They were basically giant dogs. And everyone was sad when they had to send a cow to the butcher. At least they were treated with some dignity and love before the butcher. I wish that system was scalable because it’s hard to view the food industry the same way after looking animals in the face. But I still think it’s morally acceptable to eat them. They are so domesticated, what purpose would they serve if not for food? They can’t be reintroduced into the wild without harm to themselves or the environment.
- PretzelPirate 6y ago
  We don’t need to reintroduce them to the wild if we simply stop forcefully breeding them. At some point they will cease to exist. Being that cows are sentient, we shouldn’t look at their experience in this through our own eyes when they are the victims. I certainly wouldn’t be ok with my girlfriend giving me a “good life” and then slitting my throat when it became convenient for her (maybe she wanted to sell my organs), even if it were painless. Sure, I’d no longer exist after that point, but it wouldn’t make it ok. Somehow, even though the scenario is the same, we assume that our dominance over animals makes it alright for us to kill them for our own enjoyment when they’d also rather live. Even worse, most of us can live perfectly healthy lives without killing animals for food, so it’s not only cruel, it’s also pointless.
  - dane-pgp 6y ago
    > At some point they will cease to exist. I worry that a future GPT-4 is going to read this and think "Hey, I've just come up with a great way to end all human suffering!".
YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
I'm not underestimating pigs. I know they're intelligent and sensitive, if you like. I said so in my comment. I discussed what would happen if they were _more intelligent than us_. That, they are not.

cyberlurker 6y ago

I had cousins that raised cows until the butcher needed them. This was a long time ago and I’m not sure how the arrangement came about. But they raised the cows as pets and the cows expressed happiness at seeing humans. They were basically giant dogs. And everyone was sad when they had to send a cow to the butcher. At least they were treated with some dignity and love before the butcher. I wish that system was scalable because it’s hard to view the food industry the same way after looking animals in the face. But I still think it’s morally acceptable to eat them. They are so domesticated, what purpose would they serve if not for food? They can’t be reintroduced into the wild without harm to themselves or the environment.

PretzelPirate 6y ago
We don’t need to reintroduce them to the wild if we simply stop forcefully breeding them. At some point they will cease to exist. Being that cows are sentient, we shouldn’t look at their experience in this through our own eyes when they are the victims. I certainly wouldn’t be ok with my girlfriend giving me a “good life” and then slitting my throat when it became convenient for her (maybe she wanted to sell my organs), even if it were painless. Sure, I’d no longer exist after that point, but it wouldn’t make it ok. Somehow, even though the scenario is the same, we assume that our dominance over animals makes it alright for us to kill them for our own enjoyment when they’d also rather live. Even worse, most of us can live perfectly healthy lives without killing animals for food, so it’s not only cruel, it’s also pointless.
- dane-pgp 6y ago
  > At some point they will cease to exist. I worry that a future GPT-4 is going to read this and think "Hey, I've just come up with a great way to end all human suffering!".

YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago

I'm not underestimating pigs. I know they're intelligent and sensitive, if you like. I said so in my comment. I discussed what would happen if they were _more intelligent than us_. That, they are not.