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This is a good question. HGTG-scenarios aside, what if they become sentient? Do they deserve the same moral weight humans have now?

by Nyubis 14y ago

ajitk 14y ago
Aren't they sentient? They are able to perceive and feel things.
- erifneerg 14y ago
  People often mix the words sentience and sapience to mean the same thing. Mice clearly can perceive and feel things but they do not show the intelligence we call sapience.
TeMPOraL 14y ago
On the topic of AIs, not mice, but very relevant to the questions you mentioned: http://lesswrong.com/lw/x7/cant_unbirth_a_child/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/x7/cant_unbirth_a_child/
reeses 14y ago
This was my immediate reaction. Pain experiments, as described in the article, are a necessary "evil" in many animal experiments. Human trials have the same conditions, with both the pain of treatment and the suffering of being in the "control" group and having false hopes; however, participants have consented to the experiment. We empathize much more strongly with animals that behave in human ways. Couple this with the "cuteness factor," which I use to mean that we are sensitive and protective of things that we find to be cute (babies, kittens, Yoda, puppies, etc.) and we have a very irrational, visceral response to the idea of torturing cute, smart, affectionate, best-dog-I-ever-had, animals. It's not inherently bad but it clouds our judgment on what is right and wrong in terms of our treatment of these animals and the ends that justify this treatment. We (as a species) kill and eat whales, which most of the developed world has agreed to be unacceptable. I don't know if this is moving in a "Rats of NIMH" or "Planet of the Apes" direction, but the philosophical ramifications of sentience are likely to be explored as a result of this type of "improvement". We have a huge body of sci-fi, speculation, religion, and thought-experiments regarding sentient non-human forms, including what defines "life" and "personhood". It will be an interesting test of humanity to see how we deal with any positive results of this type of exploration.

This is a good question. HGTG-scenarios aside, what if they become sentient? Do they deserve the same moral weight humans have now?

by Nyubis 14y ago

This is a good question. HGTG-scenarios aside, what if they become sentient? Do they deserve the same moral weight humans have now?

ajitk 14y ago

Aren't they sentient? They are able to perceive and feel things.

erifneerg 14y ago
People often mix the words sentience and sapience to mean the same thing. Mice clearly can perceive and feel things but they do not show the intelligence we call sapience.

TeMPOraL 14y ago

On the topic of AIs, not mice, but very relevant to the questions you mentioned: http://lesswrong.com/lw/x7/cant_unbirth_a_child/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/x7/cant_unbirth_a_child/

reeses 14y ago

This was my immediate reaction. Pain experiments, as described in the article, are a necessary "evil" in many animal experiments. Human trials have the same conditions, with both the pain of treatment and the suffering of being in the "control" group and having false hopes; however, participants have consented to the experiment. We empathize much more strongly with animals that behave in human ways. Couple this with the "cuteness factor," which I use to mean that we are sensitive and protective of things that we find to be cute (babies, kittens, Yoda, puppies, etc.) and we have a very irrational, visceral response to the idea of torturing cute, smart, affectionate, best-dog-I-ever-had, animals. It's not inherently bad but it clouds our judgment on what is right and wrong in terms of our treatment of these animals and the ends that justify this treatment. We (as a species) kill and eat whales, which most of the developed world has agreed to be unacceptable. I don't know if this is moving in a "Rats of NIMH" or "Planet of the Apes" direction, but the philosophical ramifications of sentience are likely to be explored as a result of this type of "improvement". We have a huge body of sci-fi, speculation, religion, and thought-experiments regarding sentient non-human forms, including what defines "life" and "personhood". It will be an interesting test of humanity to see how we deal with any positive results of this type of exploration.