Japan and China Meat Crusine Poll

[WingedWolfPsion]

I think part of it, too, is that dolphins can recognize themselves in a mirror. They are self-aware, they have language, and they're highly intelligent--their level of intelligence is not yet well-understood. I do not think humans should be eating species that may be as bright as we are. That goes for the Great Apes as well. (Their upper threshold of intelligence overlaps our lower threshold of intelligence--normal intelligence, mind you, not developmentally delayed people).

Eating sapient species seems a lot like cannibalism, to me. The last IQ test on dolphins I was able to find scored the dolphin being tested at 89. 80 is the lower human threshold for normal intelligence level. I think our descendents will judge us for how we deal with this issue. It's not an issue that can be readily ignored. A dolphin is not a human--they won't be building space shuttles (or anything else, since they have no hands). The fact that they may be 'someone we can talk to', however...

This line will have to be drawn, and when it is, it will have to be drawn hard. If we were to explore another planet containing life, how would we make a determination of whether or not we had found another species considered sapient, like us? We need to deal with this issue here and now, before we get to that point. (Closer than you think--'super-Earth' worlds have been found already). Other species may not use their intelligence the exact same way we do, but they still have it. I think as our awareness of this fact grows, it might be a good idea to stop EATING creatures that may be 'someone' rather than 'something'. That's something that isn't about culture, unless you think cannibalism should be culturally respected too.

Cats and dogs, cute and furry and loving as they may be, fail the mirror test miserably. They're not self-aware, they're not that smart, and so they're no different from any livestock species, apart from our own cultural differences.