This is an ethical question and there will be no simple or clear cut answers, as an engineer myself I know that can be frustrating. Personally I project my expe

This is an ethical question and there will be no simple or clear cut answers, as an engineer myself I know that can be frustrating. Personally I project my experience of the world onto other beings - of course that's fraught with issues. I'd give the chance that bacteria experiences complex emotions like suffering and imprisonment in a similar fashion than I do as very low. But a cow, which is a mammal like us and I've seen show complex emotional reactions first hand, I'd rate that chance much higher. So you're right if we take the idea to its extreme its not very useful anymore. But only because an extreme version of the idea seems ridiculous does not preclude the idea from being valuable in moderation. Reducing some likely suffering is better than doing nothing in my book.