Questions posed in this account are hardly new. Does and earthworm feel pain? Does an ant feel happy? The answer to the first is that the earthworm, like many other organisms, responds to potentially damaging stimuli. Avoidance, where possible, has survival value. In humans, we label this a 'pain response'. Having said that, it's difficult to quantify pain sensation, even in our own species. The response to the question 'does an ant feel happy?', is easier to deal with. Happiness is very much a human emotion, so it would be difficult to identify something directly analogous in a simple, social insect 'Sentience' (a much considered feature) really requires organisms to have self-awareness and that's very difficult to demonstrate in most non-human organisms (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/25/do-worms-feel-pain-are-ants-happy-science-of-invertebrate-feelings). I have no problem with attempts to reduce gratuitous pain and suffering in all animals. The basic distinction between vertebrates (protected) and invertebrates (non-protected) is distinctly arbitrary. Cephalopods, like the octopus and the squid, have relatively big brains. Although we can't say for certain they feel emotions, it seems appropriate to err on the side of caution by giving them equal protections to those applied to fish and amphibians. Just including Octopus vulgaris, makes no sense (it's just special pleading by scientists working with this species). I'm much less convinced, however, that large decapods (crabs and lobsters) actually have sensations equating to human pain. Perhaps they are just big invertebrates, where the avoidance responses are very obvious?
No comments:
Post a Comment