How do you measure emotions?
Like, how do I know that you have emotions? If I punch you, how do I know you’ll feel pain? I’m not gonna feel what you feel, I can only observe your response. Stimulus, response.
Same thing with plants. Same thing with dogs.
As to your last point, it wasn’t that long ago that Very Smart People argued dogs don’t feel pain. Of course they obviously did, and of course most every normal person recognized they did…but that wasn’t what we “knew”, as a society. Hell, it wasn’t until like, 50 years ago that we recognized human babies felt pain prior to being able to vocalize an “ow that hurts”.
Perhaps it makes people feel better to know that dogs feel pain and lettuce doesn’t. But that’s almost certainly not a true statement.
Edit: also, how much of your body controls your brain? Like, have you ever considered bending your elbow in the wrong direction? No? Why not? Why is it the wrong direction? It just is, right? That’s how the body works?
CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 day ago
If this was real life, I’d suggest a trip to a pet store so you can prove it. Either you’re a psychopath, or this is bullshit, and in your everyday interactions you make an obvious guess about who feels what.
Yes, I actually have tried bending/pushing my elbows back as far as I can make them go. That’s got to be a pretty normal kid thing to do. Not sure what medical textbook you’ve been reading out of, but it is a pretty one way street. Like, there’s medical mysteries that suggest some exceptions, but they are few.
impairedimperator@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
I meant did you try bending your elbows further than that?
They technically could go further. Or is your mind/willingness limited by your body?
Have you ever tried moving your toes? Not as a whole, but individually. Like your fingers. The nerves are there, the brain connections are there, the muscles are there…can your mind grow enough to make them function?
You are correct. I do make a guess as to who feels what. I just don’t feel the need to limit my guesses to some arbitrary definition of life that does feel pain and life that does not feel pain. All life feels pain. Plants included.
CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 16 hours ago
So then, logically, if there’s a plant and a dog strapped to two train tracks, and you have to pull a switch…
impairedimperator@lemmy.zip 16 hours ago
I would not pull the switch, that’s my solution to all permutations of the trolley problem.