Why killer whales should not be kept in captivity
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Re: Why killer whales should not be kept in captivity
#2They are sentient. It is slavery.
Re: Why killer whales should not be kept in captivity
#3They are sentient. It is slavery.
On the one hand, I wish I lived in an era of human history when technology had improved to the point where we could explore or communicate with distant planets and meet other sentient life forms.
On the other hand, our treatment of lifeforms of varying difference to ourselves already on our planet is deeply troubling. The thought of that culture spreading across the galaxy like a disease is horrifying.
I have a pet dog. I think I treat her well. Will my descendants look back on this and compare me to my not-so-distant ancestors who were racist or sexist?
Re: Why killer whales should not be kept in captivity
#4They are sentient. It is slavery.
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Re: Why killer whales should not be kept in captivity
#5Blackfish is definitely a provocative documentary on this topic of killer whale captivity.
Re: Why killer whales should not be kept in captivity
#6They are sentient. It is slavery.
On the one hand, I wish I lived in an era of human history when technology had improved to the point where we could explore or communicate with distant planets and meet other sentient life forms. On the other hand, our treatment of lifeforms of varying difference to ourselves already on our planet is deeply troubling. The thought of that culture spreading across the galaxy like a disease is horrifying. I have a pet d…
I have the same fears about sentient machine intelligence. Will it be a kind god?
Re: Why killer whales should not be kept in captivity
#7How many men are kept in captivity?
Re: Why killer whales should not be kept in captivity
#8They are sentient. It is slavery.
On the one hand, I wish I lived in an era of human history when technology had improved to the point where we could explore or communicate with distant planets and meet other sentient life forms. On the other hand, our treatment of lifeforms of varying difference to ourselves already on our planet is deeply troubling. The thought of that culture spreading across the galaxy like a disease is horrifying. I have a pet d…
Here is an article about a Beluga whale that began to mimic human speech:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/story-one-whale...
Also, In the "Animal Minds" episode, Radiolab recounts a story of divers saving a net-entangled whale, and the whale in turn "thanks" each diver. It's a good show, and the examples included are thought-provoking. If you found this story intriguing, I recommend giving this Radiolab episode a listen. If not, the stories leads to what is intelligence and connection possibilities across species, and the topic of Spindle Neurons is presented which are explored as a connection between high and low order parts of the brain. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spindle_neuron)
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The Goods:
1. The episode: http://www.radiolab.org/story/91701-animal-minds/
2. A related follow-up about whales:
http://www.radiolab.org/story/149761-whale-saying-thank-you/
Re: Why killer whales should not be kept in captivity
#9They are sentient. It is slavery.
On the one hand, I wish I lived in an era of human history when technology had improved to the point where we could explore or communicate with distant planets and meet other sentient life forms. On the other hand, our treatment of lifeforms of varying difference to ourselves already on our planet is deeply troubling. The thought of that culture spreading across the galaxy like a disease is horrifying. I have a pet d…
>The thought of that culture spreading across the galaxy like a disease is horrifying.
Why the assumption that humans are uniquely pestilential in our behavior? For all we know, 'the galaxy' might consider our capacity for tolerance to be the disease.
Re: Why killer whales should not be kept in captivity
#10They are sentient. It is slavery.
At what point does sentience end? Whales? Rats? Birds? Fish? Insects? Plants? Bacteria?
Because something has a higher order nervous system does that mean we have to assign it equal rights? How high an order of system would be required to have equal rights? Why does it really matter how something else feels other than members of our own species?
For the record I generally agree with not keeping killer whales in captivity. I'm just asking the question so we know the position has been well considered.
Perhaps "slavery" is a bit too strong? (And that's without even getting into "you say that like it's a bad thing....").