TheDeceased
Ex-Bluelighter
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2000
- Messages
- 1,720
The brain, like the tail or wing, is a functional organ. However, it's obviously more complex. Tails help maintain balance and functional wings enable flight. Brains, on the other hand, vary enormously from species to species.
Oysters are, comparatively, very simple organisms. They are basically a filtration system for water. Water flows through them and they remove impurities from it. They have only a handful of basic functions. They can open and close their shells, filter water, and reproduce. That is all.
(Note: Venus Fly Traps can also open and close, filter air, and reproduce.)
Oysters don't have to think, so why would they? That is the way the animal kingdom works: function always results from necessity. The presence of a brain and a central nervous system is not evidence of sentience.
The assumption is that since humans can feel both physical and psychological pain, all animals must be able to do so. After all, the sensation is produced in the brain and all animals have brains. But the problem with that logic is that animal brains aren't capable of experiencing most of things that human brains are capable of.
Again due to necessity, our brains are equipped to deal with a huge variety of situations. Oyster brains, on the other hand, perform three basic functions.
They eat and shit automatically. Their food flows through them. They don't have to go and hunt or gather food. There is no conscious thought required. When they sense movement (danger) they close their shells. Some people think this qualifies as sentience.
We anthropomorphize everything. Animals, inanimate objects, you name it. (See: Mickey Mouse) We're used to giving things human traits. So, people believe that oysters fear predators and that the act of closing their shell is comparable to a person running from a murderer or, say, a rabbit running from a wolf.
But again, the logic is flawed. When facing a predator, a rabbit has an infinite number of choices. It has to make decisions to survive. Oysters, on the other hand, have a single choice. They don't have to think about it. They sense danger and they close. There is no necessity to make decisions. Unlike the rabbit, the oyster doesn't need to understand the threat. It just needs to react.
I think oysters and other filter feeder molluscs, although sharing the broad term ''animals'' with various sentient species, are actually more like plants. They do not suffer and therefore they do not fit into the basic purpose of veganism. That is, since veganism exists to limit the suffering of animals, it should only apply to animals capable of suffering.
Thoughts?
Oysters are, comparatively, very simple organisms. They are basically a filtration system for water. Water flows through them and they remove impurities from it. They have only a handful of basic functions. They can open and close their shells, filter water, and reproduce. That is all.
(Note: Venus Fly Traps can also open and close, filter air, and reproduce.)
Oysters don't have to think, so why would they? That is the way the animal kingdom works: function always results from necessity. The presence of a brain and a central nervous system is not evidence of sentience.
The assumption is that since humans can feel both physical and psychological pain, all animals must be able to do so. After all, the sensation is produced in the brain and all animals have brains. But the problem with that logic is that animal brains aren't capable of experiencing most of things that human brains are capable of.
Again due to necessity, our brains are equipped to deal with a huge variety of situations. Oyster brains, on the other hand, perform three basic functions.
They eat and shit automatically. Their food flows through them. They don't have to go and hunt or gather food. There is no conscious thought required. When they sense movement (danger) they close their shells. Some people think this qualifies as sentience.
We anthropomorphize everything. Animals, inanimate objects, you name it. (See: Mickey Mouse) We're used to giving things human traits. So, people believe that oysters fear predators and that the act of closing their shell is comparable to a person running from a murderer or, say, a rabbit running from a wolf.
But again, the logic is flawed. When facing a predator, a rabbit has an infinite number of choices. It has to make decisions to survive. Oysters, on the other hand, have a single choice. They don't have to think about it. They sense danger and they close. There is no necessity to make decisions. Unlike the rabbit, the oyster doesn't need to understand the threat. It just needs to react.
I think oysters and other filter feeder molluscs, although sharing the broad term ''animals'' with various sentient species, are actually more like plants. They do not suffer and therefore they do not fit into the basic purpose of veganism. That is, since veganism exists to limit the suffering of animals, it should only apply to animals capable of suffering.
Thoughts?
Last edited:
