Intelligence, Consciousness and Soul, oh my; Sy Montgomery's "The Soul of an Octopus"

[MTL]

Well, we do kill them willy nilly.

We kill alot of things willy nilly, including each other.  Didn't get to where we're at by being particularly nice.  I doubt that any realization about the neurological substrates possessed by various animals will or even -could- change that.  Human life depends upon a great flowing river of blood.  We're hardly alone in that dependence, and I do think we handle it with a little more dignity than most of our compatriots.  When's the last time anybody here ate a piglet alive, legs first, while it's mother watched?

I would reply to that in the same way I replied to Pool's comments in the thread,

"Should Gender Stereotypes Be Challenged?"  :

Certainly nature always has been, and always will be, Survival Of The Fittest.

But what makes  one creature the "fittest" can evolve over time, too.

Once upon a time, savagery was necessary for survival of our species.
(and, in certain contexts, it still is).

but at this point in time,

Compassion, and a learned reluctance to kill  could be essential to the survival of our species.

For instance, early in our evolution, we learned that by working as a team, we could accomplish things that solitary animals could not.

Our learned reluctance to kill each other on sight, as legitimate prey to "eat or be eaten"
(think of a larger shark that wouldn't hesitate to kill and eat a smaller shark, on sight)
was a vital step towards humanity dominating the planet.

And once we dominated the planet, we did things like ruthlessly slashing down rainforests,
considering the entire rainforest as "legitimate prey" to be consumed on sight.

But now again, we are learning to stop and consider, first:
We've already completely eradicated countless species, both plant and animal,
in our clear-cutting of rainforests,

and only recently have we realized that many poisonous insects, arachnids, snakes and amphibians
have venoms and toxins that can actually be used as exceptional medicines,
whereas before we only regarded them as threats.