The Warring States of NPF - Dolphins are People too!

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Dolphins are People too!

Quote:

Ethics expert Professor Tom White, from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, author of In Defence Of Dolphins: The New Moral Frontier, said: "Dolphins are non-human persons. A person needs to be an individual. If individuals count, then the deliberate killing of individuals of this sort is ethically the equivalent of deliberately killing a human being.

"The captivity of beings of this sort, particularly in conditions that would not allow for a decent life, is ethically unacceptable; commercial whaling is ethically unacceptable.

"We're saying the science has shown that individuality, consciousness, self-awareness, is no longer a unique human property. That poses all kinds of challenges."

This is something I always believed is that Dolphins and many of the Whales are in and of themselves intelligent. I also count Elephants as they show the same level of self-awareness and even are aware of when they come across one of their dead, but that is off topic.

It is good to see people finally say something in the news and that it gets some coverage. I hope it gets further coverage going forward.

Dolphins probably are sentient, the other apes probably are too. I mean if we can have basic conversations with them than its kind of hard to say they are instinct driven.

But whether or not captivity is wrong is a harder question. Sentient as they might be they aren't human, they have different values and concerns. Humans were designed to travel and expand so we hate captivity, but other animals are perfectly content staying within the same hundred feet for their entire lives.

the big issue with this, of course, being that dolphins are murderous, rapist assholes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerozord (Post 1185431)

other animals are perfectly content staying within the same hundred feet for their entire lives.

Dolphins, whales, elephants, and apes not being among them.

Oh man, Aero your post sounds so much like someone traveled forward in time from the 19th centuryto defend slavery; "The negro is an uncivilized beast, it does not require the same things we do." etc.

Just sayin'.

I am just saying you shouldn't apply human values to non-human beings. Thats why so many robot apocalypse movies are incredibly stupid.

My solution, atleast with apes, is simple. Ask them. We know they can be taught to understand sign language and can effectively speak with them. They are sapient. Particularly ones that were originally from the wild. If they are cool with it fine, if not let them back into the wild.

Dolphins, trickier. While probably better able to understand their situation I have no idea how to communicate with them with our current technology

Quote:

Originally Posted by stefan (Post 1185434)

the big issue with this, of course, being that dolphins are murderous, rapist assholes.

So basically, they're people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerozord (Post 1185440)

That was such an Aero thing to do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Osterbaum (Post 1185436)

someone ... from the 19th century to defend slavery; "The negro is an uncivilized beast, it does not require the same things we do." etc.

Just sayin'.

"The Adamic race is to have dominion over every form of life previously created. This includes not only the four-legged beasts, but the two-legged as well. The negro is merely an articulate member of this beast creation." -From Verboten, a book by Identity Minister Thomas O'Brien. I can't find an exact date, but it's from the second half of the twentieth century.

It's on Scribd, which is surprising. It's engagingly horrifying.

just to check, no one is saying that all sapient life thinks the same right?