#animalminds — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #animalminds, aggregated by home.social.
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Location of Consciousness in the Brain Discovered?
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So I just read the historical account of the first ever documented animal liberation (aka open rescue). 1977. Two dolphins held captive at the University of Hawaii.
Absolutely floored at the humanity of the rescuers (who had been workers in the lab, scientists themselves)... and the same, comparative amount of feeling on the part of the dolphins.
The doctor (PhD) running the lab kept them confined for 5 years in cement ISOLATION TANKS.
Dolphins, we now know, are among the most intelligent and communicative creatures. They give each other names and are extremely social.
One dolphin was deprived even of any toys.
This was the breaking point for one of the men who worked there (they were also in charge of cleaning the tanks, which made the rescue much easier).
They made a plan with the help of a local boater, who was able to lower the rescued dolphins and release them back into the ocean. The two lab workers accompanied.
One of the dolphins bolted off into her freedom right away.
The other one kept swimming nearby her only two friends from the last 5 years (they had fed her, gave the toys, tried to provide companionship).
She continued to swim nearby in the bay for several weeks without being caught and recaptured (can you imagine?!?!!?).
It shows so much of their sentience, their personhood -- they are great beings no less than us.
All laboratory testing and captivity of animals must stop. In this era of fMRI and several other non-invasive human imaging methods - we don't need that anymore, either (if there was ever an argument for it0.
Friends don't let friends become animal lab researchers. We need to educate enough people so there is no "new generation" of animal research - we are animals. Humans. The research happens on US.
If you agree, or want to help it reach more people, would appreciate if you BOOST this for others to take a look at who aren't currently seeing it. Thank you so much!
#animalrescue #animalliberation #dolphins #personhood #animalresearch #animallab #universityofhawaii #history #animals #animalhistory #animalminds
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Just finally started in on Peter Godfrey-Smith's classic,
OTHER MINDS: The Octopus, the Sea and the Deep Origins of Consciousness.
Excellent stuff. Have you read it? Is he on Mastodon by any chance?
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#otherminds #octopus #octopuses #cephalopods #petergodfreysmith #animalminds #invertebrates #evolution #marinelife #marinebiology #sealife #oceans #underwater #diving #squid #cuttlefish -
CUTE-WASHING
What is "cute-washing"?
"Cute-washing" is a term I came up with to describe the typical way humans project onto animals in an effort to cover up or deny the way we actually treat them.
The tweets from humans having a hard day that ask: "Please send me your pet photos," or the memes gone viral when someone has dressed their cat or dog up in some costume; or the more apparently-benign sharing of videos of animals appearing to be living their own lives, but humans caption the video with a snippet that serves to confirm or validate or center some pre-existing human bias.
In none of these cases are the nonhuman animals themselves centered. It's rare to see (we do see it sometimes, in the videos shared from sanctuaries, for example).
But it's still common to see lingering elements of cute-washing in posts and stories from some shelters and sanctuaries (I'm not calling you out, we are on the same side!). To be fair, part of this is obviously because so many animals are adorable.
Our problem lies with a majority of people who can only see or actively extend that to certain animals (dogs and cats, pets).
Take a look at mainstream movies. We have an annual industry of family-centric films featuring live-action dogs. Hachi is probably my favourite, here (that Richard Gere film). There was a recent Turkish documentary honouring the lives of feral cats.
But for most of the animals we don't extend compassion to? The ones humans exploit or hunt and kill - we turn these into cartoons, Disney and Pixar characters, and the "cute-washing" begins.
Bambi, Winnie, Mickey, Curious George, Bugs, Paddington...
As for the recent award-winning EO (which I have yet to see, so I can't say much) - I'll have to see what type of critical line they draw (or fail to draw). If it's not imbued with a radical self-awareness of the donkey's place and the various human roles which create these conditions, including the conditions of perception that frame the film and its widespread appeal - it might be a lingering, abstract form of cute-washing.
Ultimately, anything less than honouring animals in their full dignity as persons wanting their own lives, with their own interests and desires - anything less than that is not enough, and denigrates our own humanity in the process.
#cutewashing #AnimalLives #AnimalMinds #AnimalLaw #AnimalRights #AnimalJustice #AnimalCognition
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"Today, we have, then, a long-overdue ethical debt to listen to arguments we refused to hear [...]
today we have reasons humans never had before to do something about human wrongs to animals."
-Martha C. Nussbaum,
JUSTICE FOR ANIMALS (2023)#animalminds #animalstudies #animalethics #justiceforanimals #animalwelfare
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At the end of the day, it's not about our diet. It's about the fact that non-human animals are individuals, too, who want to live. The same things that give humans intrinsic dignity also apply to other animals with brains and nervous systems.
I would like to find some other way of referring to them besides "non-human" animals... humans are animals, too, so it's logical. But if we've seen other ideas, please let me know. I want to decentralize the human and not collectivize everyone else.
It's less about "veganism" and who is "vegan" and more about... are we recognizing animals' intrinsic dignity and will to live, and are we willing to take steps to put that into action.
Centering their lives, not our own comforts and desires. Because we're capable of the added reflection, we have this moral duty to use such knowledge and put it into practice. If we don't, we're wasting this faculty.
#animalliberation #animalrights #vegan #veganism #animalethics #animalminds #animalstudies #droitsdesanimaux #moralduty #ethics #ethicaldiet #activism #veganactivism #nonhuman #nonhumans #dignity #brain #nervoussystem #mind #sentient #sentientism
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At the end of the day, it's not about our diet. It's about the fact that non-human animals are individuals, too, who want to live. The same things that give humans intrinsic dignity also apply to other animals with brains and nervous systems.
I would like to find some other way of referring to them besides "non-human" animals... humans are animals, too, so it's logical. But if we've seen other ideas, please let me know. I want to decentralize the human and not collectivize everyone else.
It's less about "veganism" and who is "vegan" and more about... are we recognizing animals' intrinsic dignity and will to live, and are we willing to take steps to put that into action.
Centering their lives, not our own comforts and desires. Because we're capable of the added reflection, we have this moral duty to use such knowledge and put it into practice. If we don't, we're wasting this faculty.
#animalliberation #animalrights #vegan #veganism #animalethics #animalminds #animalstudies #droitsdesanimaux #moralduty #ethics #ethicaldiet #activism #veganactivism #nonhuman #nonhumans #dignity #brain #nervoussystem #mind #sentient #sentientism
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At the end of the day, it's not about our diet. It's about the fact that non-human animals are individuals, too, who want to live. The same things that give humans intrinsic dignity also apply to other animals with brains and nervous systems.
I would like to find some other way of referring to them besides "non-human" animals... humans are animals, too, so it's logical. But if we've seen other ideas, please let me know. I want to decentralize the human and not collectivize everyone else.
It's less about "veganism" and who is "vegan" and more about... are we recognizing animals' intrinsic dignity and will to live, and are we willing to take steps to put that into action.
Centering their lives, not our own comforts and desires. Because we're capable of the added reflection, we have this moral duty to use such knowledge and put it into practice. If we don't, we're wasting this faculty.
#animalliberation #animalrights #vegan #veganism #animalethics #animalminds #animalstudies #droitsdesanimaux #moralduty #ethics #ethicaldiet #activism #veganactivism #nonhuman #nonhumans #dignity #brain #nervoussystem #mind #sentient #sentientism
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At the end of the day, it's not about our diet. It's about the fact that non-human animals are individuals, too, who want to live. The same things that give humans intrinsic dignity also apply to other animals with brains and nervous systems.
I would like to find some other way of referring to them besides "non-human" animals... humans are animals, too, so it's logical. But if we've seen other ideas, please let me know. I want to decentralize the human and not collectivize everyone else.
It's less about "veganism" and who is "vegan" and more about... are we recognizing animals' intrinsic dignity and will to live, and are we willing to take steps to put that into action.
Centering their lives, not our own comforts and desires. Because we're capable of the added reflection, we have this moral duty to use such knowledge and put it into practice. If we don't, we're wasting this faculty.
#animalliberation #animalrights #vegan #veganism #animalethics #animalminds #animalstudies #droitsdesanimaux #moralduty #ethics #ethicaldiet #activism #veganactivism #nonhuman #nonhumans #dignity #brain #nervoussystem #mind #sentient #sentientism
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At the end of the day, it's not about our diet. It's about the fact that non-human animals are individuals, too, who want to live. The same things that give humans intrinsic dignity also apply to other animals with brains and nervous systems.
I would like to find some other way of referring to them besides "non-human" animals... humans are animals, too, so it's logical. But if we've seen other ideas, please let me know. I want to decentralize the human and not collectivize everyone else.
It's less about "veganism" and who is "vegan" and more about... are we recognizing animals' intrinsic dignity and will to live, and are we willing to take steps to put that into action.
Centering their lives, not our own comforts and desires. Because we're capable of the added reflection, we have this moral duty to use such knowledge and put it into practice. If we don't, we're wasting this faculty.
#animalliberation #animalrights #vegan #veganism #animalethics #animalminds #animalstudies #droitsdesanimaux #moralduty #ethics #ethicaldiet #activism #veganactivism #nonhuman #nonhumans #dignity #brain #nervoussystem #mind #sentient #sentientism
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Looking for more book recommendations on recent manuscripts re: #animalethics #animalminds
#animalcogethics
#comparativecognitionetc.
Two I'm evaluating next:
*How to Study Animal Minds, Kristen Andrews
*Justice for Animals, Martha Nussbaum
Can't wait!
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Tiny update: We've got some good names following us on the new Instagram page now: Jeff Sebo, Faraz Harsini, Kim Stallwood, Sentientism, French, US, UK and AUS animal legal defense groups.
If you also have an IG page, we'd love an extra follow to help set it up:
[at] animalcognitionproject
Our next steps are planning some book reviews/ interviews in addition to some of the leadership profiles we're writing.
But lots of other ideas stewing. I just want to focus on getting a small base on these platforms and then we'll just move our focus over
#sentientism #speciesism #antispeciesism #animaladvocacy #animalrights #jeffsebo
#bookreiews
#animalminds
#justiceforanimals
#defendinganimals