Win U/P combo
The problem I have is people who claim that because we can think about something, we therefore must think a certain way about it. Invariably, that “certain way” is whatever the person in question thinks is right. I mean, if a pack of sufficiently large and hungry carnivores happen upon a cow in a field, chances are they’ll take down that cow and start dismantling it and eating it while it’s still alive. I personally think we should do better than that if we’re to use cows for food, but I don’t think we’re charged with some inherent obligation to do so.
With no unnecessary cruelty. If they are destined to be food, then keep them as healthy and well-cared-for as possible until they can be humanely killed, cut up and devoured.
If the Lord wishes a sponge to think, it thinks!
CMC fnord!
On the contrary, giving a crap is one of the few things they’re extremely good at.
Daily cow thoughts…
*hm… brown… don’t eat…
… green…(moo!)… eat… chew … burp, chew some more…
…must not get tipped over…
*
Not too big on the Golden Rule and “certain unalienable Rights,” are you?
Okay, I’ve worked on a dairy farm and I have some actual experiences with bovine intelligence. It’s there but it’s real low.
Let’s say you have a herd of cows that you milk twice a day and let outside in between milkings. You don’t want letting the cows in for milking to be a free-for-all; you want them trained to go to the same milking stall every time they come inside.
It can be done. You can train a cow to go to a particular milking stall. But it takes a lot of work. You can teach a cow a trick.
So cows have intelligence. Not a lot. Not as much as a dog or a pig. Or even a horse or a cat. Cows are about as smart as a chicken.
But they’re smarter than turkeys. Nothing is as dumb as a turkey. Corn is smarter than turkeys.
And love thy anemone as thyself.
overstocked on “Jump to Conclusions” mats, are we?
But sunflowers are smarter than corn, they enjoy the sunshine from morning till gloom.
Cow think, “grass, grass, grass, chew chew, chew, fly, fly, swish, swish, grass, grass, chew, fly, swish, damn fly, swish, grass, grass, chew, chew…”
Cows are probably looking at us and wondering the same thing, then they get bored and go back to hunting for that elusive, alien, space shuttle control that they dropped a few thousand years ago so they can finally go back to their homeworld. 
I don’t see how that’s a jump at all. If I am following the exchange correctly, you just expressed the thought that:
[ul]
[li]even though humans (you) have a higher awareness of the consequences of your behaviors[/li]
[li]you don’t think humans (you) should be held to a higher standard of behaving nicely[/li]
[li]toward those who can feel suffering[/li][/ul]
That’s pretty much the thought pattern that allows people to harm others, isn’t it?
I think, at least in this thread, we were working within the context of animals using other animals for food. If I’m to eat a cow, I don’t feel I have any inherent obligation to take that cow any more painlessly than any other omnivorous/carnivorous mammal on this planet. However, I already said that I personally felt we should do so. So, if you were trying to score points, I guess I’ll give them to you so you’ll go away.
Just a joke, and I meant the welcome. The only Dutch I know is… well… none.
Joe
You think they’re dumb. Just beware!
[Singer / Songwriter Dana Lyons performs "Cows With Guns" - YouTube](Singer / Songwriter Dana Lyons performs "Cows With Guns" - YouTube)
No problem.
Here is your first lesson in Dutch:
“Het spijt me” meaning “I am sorrry”.
Have a good one!
There is a corallary to this point, but I only happened on it by a fluke,
Mmmmmmmn, tinned cow think.
Damn I’m hungry.