Turns out that Octopi are extremely intelligent. Completely different brain structure. There was something written about an octopus in a aquarium lab that would deliberately leave his tank and basically play pranks on one of the technicians.
Mad
I saw this a few weeks ago. Very cool. I heard about them being super intelligent and the story of the prankster in the lab..
This should cause all of us re-think the way that we view animals.
(I cannot stand on any soap-box, I'm eating chicken soup at the moment)
I'm gonna check this out. Always thought they were fascinating creatures.
No need for any soapbox. As intelligent as they are, octopi eat animals too. Nature is nature.
Watched it a couple of months back, I enjoyed it. Not only are they extremely smart and apparently you can lop off an arm and it will grow back, their skin can "see" that's what gives them their ability to camouflage themselves so well. Pretty sure they are aliens.
:laughingthese 2 combined have me imagining a Far Side style cartoon of some giant alien octopi eating some people like french fries from a fast food container discussing how tasty we are but also potentially intelligent
I bought a "chef's box" from a local seafood place for Christmas and it came with a wonderful selection of fish and shellfish, but also an octopus (dead, cleaned and frozen thankfully) in it. I cooked it, but I didn't enjoy eating it knowing how smart they are. They're really cool.
these 2 combined have me imagining a Far Side style cartoon of some giant alien octopi eating some people like french fries from a fast food container discussing how tasty we are but also potentially intelligent
I think it's not exactly a slippery slope but approaching one if we go down the path of logic and feeling about animals we eat or don't eat based on their intelligence.
The thought of eating a dog, or a cat, or a horse is abhorrent to most of us but the reasoning isn't because of their intelligence. Bessie the cow looks like she'd turn into some tasty cheeseburgers though.
Not trying to make an argument of hypocrisy of any of us about what we eat or don't. Just that these discussions are weird and the limits of animals okay to eat is a moving target depending on [insert cultural reasoning] unless you're a vegetarian or vegan and all animals are off limits.
Dissected an octopus once in the marine biology class I took in college. The professor brought out a deep fryer at the end. Those of us that didn't have a class following stayed and ate them. I didn't feel bad.
I try to subscribe to the "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants" strategy anyway, but sometimes a girl's gotta have a few slices of bacon for breakfast. Pigs are adorable, but they're just too damned tasty not to gobble once in a while.
I totally get you. My mother in law worked for Whole Foods, and while I'm sure we all have feelings about that group, they are decent about considering animal welfare. Her summary to WF's approach to meat production was this: "a good life, and one bad day." Meaning that their lives should be as pleasant as could be, and death should be as pain-free, stress-free, and quick as possible. I thought it a good concept. I try to subscribe to the "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants" strategy anyway, but sometimes a girl's gotta have a few slices of bacon for breakfast. Pigs are adorable, but they're just too damned tasty not to gobble once in a while.
Also, pig meat is the most similar in grain and flavor to human meat, which is a bonus.