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Cake day: June 30th, 2023

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  • But muscle grows back depending on how much energy it consumes. The only difference is we’re fully aware that that happens. If we cut down a tree to its roots its no different to eating a cow to its hooves. Plants are aware because they also need to consume organic matter to live and evolve to do so. If you burry a human corpse under a tree they leech the nutrients that make up the human body to grow stronger and pass on its genes. Parasitic or symbiotic plants and fungi consume live organisms to survive. Is that not an indication of a willingness to survive and therefore a form of consciousness?


  • I look at plants biological/chemical response to tissue damage as no different to our neurological response to it. Fundamentally all organisms avoid tissue damage to pass on their genetics to the next generation. Thats a fundamental aspect of all life. The only reason we look at plant/fungi pain differently is because we dont respond to tissue damage the same way as they do. Personally i dont see plants moving energy to areas of tissue damage or releasing chemicals as a distress response any different than vertebraes own responses to tissue damage through what we consider “pain”. Its all based on a level of similarity we give certain organism to oursleves.

    Here’s my example. if a society that is a type 5 civilization on Kardashev’s scale started to eat humans it would be along the same scale as us eating plants. Eating beings with a gap so huge in intelligence isnt any different than not eating dogs because we find them cute. Its all arbitrary with no real logic. Limiting suffering based on intelligence or a nervous system is as arbitrary as limiting it based on cuteness or brain size. We just choose to give certain organisms more empathy because we consider them closer to ourselves but isnt that selfish? Youre only worthy if we consider you close to humanity

    Edit: that being said id be more than happy to hear your thoughts on the flaws of my argument