What I find interesting about articles like this is that our gut response is not really about numbers, preservation, etc. Even in the case that the numbers check out and it is not harmful to kill...
What I find interesting about articles like this is that our gut response is not really about numbers, preservation, etc. Even in the case that the numbers check out and it is not harmful to kill and eat those bears, we kinda think it is. Not because we fear an environmental impact, but largely because, well, bears are super cute. They're fuzzy mammals like our dogs. We're supposed to love them and protect them. And that's a big reason why they get more attention than, say, snakes and alligators.
Other cultures simply have a different scale for "cuteness" vs "edibility", so to speak.
That is an interesting point. Our ethics toward animals are especially driven by emotion, cultural norms, and social conformity, not reason. Pigs are reportedly cognitively on par with human...
That is an interesting point.
Our ethics toward animals are especially driven by emotion, cultural norms, and social conformity, not reason. Pigs are reportedly cognitively on par with human toddlers, but the former gets the factory farm treatment.
The opening to Eating Animals lays this out really well - it's been a while since I've read it, but basically the idea that the US "throws away" 1-2 million dogs per year through euthanasia, and...
The opening to Eating Animals lays this out really well - it's been a while since I've read it, but basically the idea that the US "throws away" 1-2 million dogs per year through euthanasia, and any suggestion to eat any of that meat would be treated as insanity. Eating dog is a racist punchline only. And yet, 60-70 million pigs who live in worse conditions than those dogs did and have been repeatedly scientifically shown to be higher intelligence than dogs are eaten each year.
What I find interesting about articles like this is that our gut response is not really about numbers, preservation, etc. Even in the case that the numbers check out and it is not harmful to kill and eat those bears, we kinda think it is. Not because we fear an environmental impact, but largely because, well, bears are super cute. They're fuzzy mammals like our dogs. We're supposed to love them and protect them. And that's a big reason why they get more attention than, say, snakes and alligators.
Other cultures simply have a different scale for "cuteness" vs "edibility", so to speak.
That is an interesting point.
Our ethics toward animals are especially driven by emotion, cultural norms, and social conformity, not reason. Pigs are reportedly cognitively on par with human toddlers, but the former gets the factory farm treatment.
The role of cuteness in conservation efforts is well-known, but I fail to remember the exact search terms to find the references.
The phrase is ‘animal conservation bias’ I believe.
There's also the Bambi effect and charismatic megafauna.
Yes, that's the one I heard on the SYSK podcast.
The opening to Eating Animals lays this out really well - it's been a while since I've read it, but basically the idea that the US "throws away" 1-2 million dogs per year through euthanasia, and any suggestion to eat any of that meat would be treated as insanity. Eating dog is a racist punchline only. And yet, 60-70 million pigs who live in worse conditions than those dogs did and have been repeatedly scientifically shown to be higher intelligence than dogs are eaten each year.
Reminder that beans taste pretty good and have plenty of protein