Wednesday, March 11, 2020

The denial of sentience and animal experimentation

There was incentive for humans to deny sentience to other creatures. "No sentience" meant we didn't have to care for them. Their well-being wasn't important, as there was "no-one home" to register suffering and so they could be treated like machines.

This gave birth to animal experimentation. A dark chapter in human history. Animals treated like machines to discover knowledge soaked in blood. Think Mengel, the Dr Death of the Nazi death camps. Same mindset. The denial of the reality of others, leading to atrocity and needless suffering.

Although we no longer deny sentience to our animal friends, we still often treat them with less than the consideration they deserve, as dependent on our actions as they are.

No comments: