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Not only that, they have the highest ratio of brain-to-body-mass of any invertebrate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopod_intelligence https://en.wikipedi
by ortusdux 23d ago
Not only that, they have the highest ratio of brain-to-body-mass of any invertebrate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopod_intelligence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalopod_intelligence
- hermitcrab 23d agoYes, so maybe think twice before eating one.
- PowerElectronix 23d agoThey're too delicious to consider how smart they are.
- monegator 23d agothey are indeed, which is why it was so difficult to stop eating them... just like popplers!
- testaccount28 23d ago[flagged]
- unethical_ban 23d agoI cannot judge too harshly, since I still eat many kinds of animal. However, I never ate octopus growing up, and I learned of their intelligence before I tried it more than a few times. It was easier to "never start" than to quit. And besides, octopus is not that great and if you insist on eating seafood I find pretty much any other item to have more enjoyable texture.
- slowin 23d agoOctopus is the only animal I've ever stopped eating due to ethical concerns (not that I'm against examining my relationship with other animals). That being said, it's really delicious if you get it fresh. It just so happens that it's very rare (in the US) to get fresh octopus. I liked tako nigiri and grilled octopus, Mediterranean style. The taste and texture difference between fresh and not fresh is huge though. Probably another great reason not to eat them!
- idiotsecant 23d agoThis is almost certainly equally or more valid for pigs. Pigs have the unfortunate property of being much tastier than octopus, though.
- mc32 23d agoSome people enjoy eating live baby octopuses. To me that is an odd delicacy -but then some Americans like shucking Oysters too, so I can't be critical.
- Modified3019 23d agoOn the context of ethics, oysters are probably the safest thing from the animal kingdom to eat. They’re really the closest thing we have to a meat based plant. Many who consider themselves vegan have no issues wasting them.
- PowerElectronix 23d agoI wanna say that despite being extremely intelligent for a mollusk, they are not intelligent at all compared with other animals like dophins, whales, etc, that not only can communicate with each other, but also develop a culture in their groups. Octopus are smart for what they are, but not smart enough to think of them as being superior to pigs or cows intelligence-wise.
- Xorakios 23d agoI don't eat octopus or veal. Delicious or not, there are some lines that perhaps should not be crossed.
- bayganyo 23d agoI find it interesting how people justify (or not) whether to eat another animal.
- micromacrofoot 23d agoI like to see where they are farmed before I decide... and having seen much of that in the US I've landed on "maybe some bugs are ok to eat."
- sinsterizme 23d agoCan you explain?
- GMoromisato 23d agoFirst time talking to humans? We distinguish murder from killing because the latter is sometimes justified (e.g., in war or self-defense). We justify everything we do.
- jerrysneede 23d agoyou mean you don't think it's right to make a creature take an IQ test before deciding to eat them or not? "Yes, right, well, you seem sufficiently stupid enough to ingest."
- Dylan16807 23d agoThere are hazards to doing it on an individual level, but on a species level sure why not? Between a talking plant and a brainless bovine I know which one I'd say is the obvious right answer to eat (assume both species occurred naturally for this thought experiment).
- idiotsecant 23d agoI find it interesting how people vaguepost without managing to make any semblance of contribution to the discussion
- King-Aaron 23d agoPersonally that justification is based heavily on the taste.
- GMoromisato 23d agoMy wife stopped eating octopus after seeing the giant Pacific octopus in the Monterey aquarium. The way it stares at you hints at a real intelligence. Maybe the smaller species aren't that smart, but why take the chance?
- colechristensen 23d agoI'm pretty convinced we could discuss philosophy with octopus friends if they didn't all die immediately after reproducing.
- King-Aaron 23d agoDon't kid yourself Jimmy, if an octopus ever got the chance he'd eat you and everyone you cared about!
- colechristensen 23d agoSo would a primitive human.
- mrheosuper 23d agoThat's why cannibalism was so popular back in the day.
- King-Aaron 23d agoSo would a cow
- suriyaG 23d agoeating any meat is morally questionable. (I say this as a person who does eat a lot of meat). octopus passing a intelligence test does not keep it above the fold, neither does cattle go below the fold because they don't clear the bar (surprise, cattle are equally emotional, smart, curious etc.). sounds wrong when I type it out but that is just the truth. milk is actually more ethically wrong when you think about it (isolating a calf from its mom to steal its food.) doing one or the other does not absolve us. because one is more commonly accepted than the other
- pitched 23d agohttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28926931/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28926931/ > Compared with meat-eaters, vegetarians were more likely to have a higher educational level, whereas vegans had a lower education level I think it’s good to question these things but the people who go full black/white on everything is where that whole movement died. Saying something strong like “eating any meat” will generally not win over hackers. But “we won’t bring cows to Mars” might work better.
- colordrops 23d agoI wonder how many of these "self-reported" vegans were true ethical vegans vs instgram influencer, "I eat chicken once a week" vegans. Also, what's your point? Is there a proven direct correlation between ethics/morals and educational level? And even if there were, does that imply that this less educated group is as a whole completely wrong? And are you implying that ethics and morals were even objective and measureable? I mean, completely no idea what you are getting at here.
- pitched 23d agoThe linked study does show that correlation. But I personally believe it’s more of a second-order effect. Vegetarianism selects for openness and analytical/reflective thinking but the extra step to veganism selects for absolutism/purity and rigid category-based thinking. Reflective thinking and openness are definitely correlated to IQ so I believe the result in the article. The point here is to know your audience. The people on this site are perfectly primed to respond well to a vegetarian/environmental point of view.
- colordrops 23d agoI hope people say the same about all animals, but especially mammals.
- bahmboo 23d agoThe flip side is that they have very short lives. But I can see space aliens saying the same thing about humans.
- blamestross 23d agoOctopi essentially consent. They are avid cannibals. In the octopi universe eating an octopi is clearly ok.
- teravor 23d agois there a case for a long lived animal being a cannibal? I would imagine that prion risk will select for aversion.
- aziaziazi 22d agoSalmons decay after spawning, then die. Their offspring eat the nutrients presents in the water, including their parents leftovers.
- fittingopposite 23d agoFyi octopus is a Greek not Latin word (meaning 8 feet) and its correct plural would be rather octopodes.
- Nursie 23d agoOctopi is equally correct because we're speaking English and frequency of use trumps etymological cromulence. Octopuses works too. I quite like "Octopods" because -podes is unusual in English, though not entirely absent (see Antipodes). (I'm not sure "an Octopi" is correct in any of these cases!)
- jamiejquinn 23d agoDing ding! We've found our best candidate for ambassador to a newly discovered alien species!
- blamestross 16d agoI'd go, fully expecting to be eaten for the good of mankind.
- huseyinkeles 23d agoI heard this many times before, same thing with the pigs as well, which are another very smart species of animal. Based on the same logic, is it ethical to eat a human if they are mentally disabled or not passing some IQ test?
- vasco 23d agoNo, don't think too much because you'll be sad. Better to pretend its just dumb tasty meat.
- deleted 23d ago[deleted]