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Torture is wrong. Especially prolonged torture in the form of forced servitude. How can you claim any degree of moral backing for this practice when its science

Torture is wrong. Especially prolonged torture in the form of forced servitude. How can you claim any degree of moral backing for this practice when its science lacks merits and it is merely a toy of torture?

rdl 13y ago
It's more that it teaches individuals existing science, creating more interest in science and thus potentially future scientists who will push the bounds of human knowledge, vs. this itself advancing the limits of human knowledge. I agree with you about torture, but mitigate that with the lower life form status of cockroaches. I wouldn't support the same thing done to rats, octopus, etc., all things being equal (although I'm ok with less intrusive or more beneficial things done to higher life forms; in the limit, final medical testing on monkeys and humans).
- DanBC 13y ago
  It's expensive and the science value is low. For $100 you could make most of the stuff on http://scitoys.com/ http://scitoys.com/ While I tend to the more animal rightsy end of the spectrum I tend to agree that putting this on a cockroach isn't too troubling from the point of view of the bug. But does it lead to beetles in vending machines[1] or live turtles in tiny pouches[2]? I don't think we're creating a generation of kids who'll go on to re-create ZippoCat, but it's worth some thought. [1] http://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/aug/11/jonathanwatts http://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/aug/11/jonathanwatts [2] http://www.geekosystem.com/chinese-turtles-fish-keychains/ http://www.geekosystem.com/chinese-turtles-fish-keychains/ [2] http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/keyrings.asp http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/keyrings.asp
  - rdl 13y ago
    I agree the keychains are probably fairly far over the line. The cockroach backpack is not something I'd consider appropriate for young children, but for teenagers/etc., it seems like a pretty reasonable thing. If it exposed an API and did two way communication/logging it would be a lot more interesting. Maybe in both cases (keychain and current-backpack), it's primarily the uselessness of it which is most objectionable.

rdl 13y ago

It's more that it teaches individuals existing science, creating more interest in science and thus potentially future scientists who will push the bounds of human knowledge, vs. this itself advancing the limits of human knowledge. I agree with you about torture, but mitigate that with the lower life form status of cockroaches. I wouldn't support the same thing done to rats, octopus, etc., all things being equal (although I'm ok with less intrusive or more beneficial things done to higher life forms; in the limit, final medical testing on monkeys and humans).

DanBC 13y ago
It's expensive and the science value is low. For $100 you could make most of the stuff on http://scitoys.com/ http://scitoys.com/ While I tend to the more animal rightsy end of the spectrum I tend to agree that putting this on a cockroach isn't too troubling from the point of view of the bug. But does it lead to beetles in vending machines[1] or live turtles in tiny pouches[2]? I don't think we're creating a generation of kids who'll go on to re-create ZippoCat, but it's worth some thought. [1] http://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/aug/11/jonathanwatts http://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/aug/11/jonathanwatts [2] http://www.geekosystem.com/chinese-turtles-fish-keychains/ http://www.geekosystem.com/chinese-turtles-fish-keychains/ [2] http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/keyrings.asp http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/keyrings.asp
- rdl 13y ago
  I agree the keychains are probably fairly far over the line. The cockroach backpack is not something I'd consider appropriate for young children, but for teenagers/etc., it seems like a pretty reasonable thing. If it exposed an API and did two way communication/logging it would be a lot more interesting. Maybe in both cases (keychain and current-backpack), it's primarily the uselessness of it which is most objectionable.