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> We rationalize unmitigated cruelty toward animals — caging, commodifying, mutilating, and killing them to suit our whims — on the basis of our purportedly sup

> We rationalize unmitigated cruelty toward animals — caging, commodifying, mutilating, and killing them to suit our whims — on the basis of our purportedly superior intellect. Yet, it is our very intellect that recoils from cruelty. Animals themselves don't really care about the suffering of other animals. Orcas eat the liver out of a still living Great White Shark (https://a-z-animals.com/blog/discover-how-killer-whales-squeeze-out-great-white-livers-like-toothpaste/ https://a-z-animals.com/blog/discover-how-killer-whales-sque...). Hyenas and African Wild dogs will start eating their prey as soon as they have immobilized it while it is still alive. If the prey is pregnant, they will rip out the fetus out the still living mother and eat it first. Lions hunt in prides, and often while some of the lions are at the head, strangling the prey with their bite, the other lions will often start eating the belly, limbs, and genitals of the still alive prey. A housecat will often prolong the suffering of its prey, "playing" with it, causing more and more injuries until it finally kills it. Humans becoming more like animals would likely make us more cruel, not less cruel.

asfasdfaaaaaaa 3y ago
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chargingmarmot 3y ago
I think you're oversimplifying animal behavior. Some thoughts: There's a famous study involving capuchin monkeys that shows they have a sense of fairness. I think many animal species are more sensitive to the suffering of other animals than you're giving them credit for: think of the way mother cats or bears act when they hear their offspring crying. Or the way mother dogs discipline their puppies about nursing. Think of how donkeys are used commercially to guard sheep and the social instincts of the donkey (again it's linked to maternal behavior). I think many birds are intelligent enough to want to pursue and punish potential threats. We don't generally apply the concept of nature vs. nurture to animal behaviors but we really should.

asfasdfaaaaaaa 3y ago

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chargingmarmot 3y ago

I think you're oversimplifying animal behavior. Some thoughts: There's a famous study involving capuchin monkeys that shows they have a sense of fairness. I think many animal species are more sensitive to the suffering of other animals than you're giving them credit for: think of the way mother cats or bears act when they hear their offspring crying. Or the way mother dogs discipline their puppies about nursing. Think of how donkeys are used commercially to guard sheep and the social instincts of the donkey (again it's linked to maternal behavior). I think many birds are intelligent enough to want to pursue and punish potential threats. We don't generally apply the concept of nature vs. nurture to animal behaviors but we really should.