RE: Test my belief system
September 1, 2015 at 4:43 pm
(This post was last modified: September 1, 2015 at 4:43 pm by henryp.)
(September 1, 2015 at 1:42 pm)robvalue Wrote: It's very difficult. I take the assumption that the more intelligent a creature is, the more capable of suffering it is. So I put more weight on the wellbeing of larger animals. Wherever possible I wouldn't harm any animal, but my merest existence causes harm which is pretty impossible to avoid. I would hope that my efforts to help them outweighs the damage I accidentally do.
But sometimes, decisions have to be made such as giving flea treatment to my dog. If I don't do it, my dog will suffer. If I do it, fleas will probably die. Both of those suck, but I weigh the suffering of my dog higher, and I treat my dog.
It is very hard because no one knows what other life forms really experience, so I can never know if my ranking system is accurate. It makes me sad to even admit to it, but the practicalities of life demand compromises, and the "lesser of two evils".
More followups!
If you can kill something instantly, how does that factor into your suffering strategy?
If a Lion is going to eat a baby gazelle, do you have a problem with that? Try to save the Gazelle? Feel the lion is acting badly?
You kill, what, hundreds? of fleas to make your dog more comfortable? That's an interesting rationality to place the comfort of a big animal over the life of a smaller one.
Have you considered looking into feeling of pain/loss/suffering/etc of various animals to develop your behavior a bit more rationally rather than somewhat guessing?
