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Re: [APD] Goldfish bowls, etc.



>>On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 15:28:19 +0100, Jerry Baker <jerry at bakerweb_biz>
wrote:
>>
>> I have yet to see a reasonably convincing logical argument that humans
>> are any different in any meaningful way than any other mammal. All the
>> arguments I have heard to date rest in some way on religious, and
>> usually Biblical, interpretations of the world - which are not logical,
>> but emotional. But, even those arguments rest on a lot of
>> presuppositions and conjecture.
>
>Easy.
>Humans have the intelligence to:
>a) Have the implications of their actions communicated to them.
>b) Make fully informed decisions on such things.
>c) Communicate that they are fully informed on whatever thing is under
>discussion, and make a choice on that basis.
>
>Regardless of whether animals are intelligent enough to understand, or to
>decide, they lack the communication skills to have it communicated to them
>or to indicate acceptance.
>When you dye fish, they are unable to make an informed choice. In fact they
>are unable to make any choice.
>
>This obviously does not include children, which explains why I, like most
>of the rest of the world, do not support non-medically required
>circumcision (which, by the way, is very rare - despite an awful lot of bad
>diagnosis). The US's 'obsession' with circumcision is quite alien to us
>here in the UK, and I think most of Europe... In Britain, you cannot get
>circumcision done on the NHS unless medically indicated - the doctors will
>simply refuse (since it has dangers, albeit rare, and has NO medical
>benefits).
>
>AND, even supposing that dolphins etc. were secretly intelligent enough to
>understand all this, by failing to indicate their understanding and
>acceptance, they have not chosen to respond, so you must assume they have
>not chosen...
>
>-- 
>Andrew McLeod
>thefish at theabyssalplain_freeserve.co.uk


Animals other than people do not have language. Please don't say that the
symbolic communication that chimpanzees use is language.

  Marko Bucyk


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