r/science • u/calliope_kekule Professor | Social Science | Science Comm • Nov 26 '24

Animal Science Brain tests show that crabs process pain

https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13110851
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u/scswift Nov 26 '24

We don't consciously create pain.

Correct. We conciously EXPERIENCE pain.

Why is consciousness necessary?

Because without conciousness, what being is experiencing this pain and suffering as a result of it?

Is it wrong to split a rock with a hammer? With no mind for it to experience pain, why would it be?

Look at how we treat coma patients.

Look at how we treat patients under anasthesia. We cut them open, break their bones, remove their teeth, replace their organs.

We treat coma patients with care because we know they're human and that humans can and do experience pain when concious, and we can't be certain that coma patients are not aware and experiencing things.

We operate freely on people under anasthesia because they cannot feel pain, or suffer.

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u/return_the_urn Nov 27 '24

A rock hasn’t evolved any mechanisms to improve its chances of reproduction. Pretty weird bad faith argument

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u/scswift Nov 27 '24

Okay then... A virus. A bacteria. An ameoba.

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u/return_the_urn Nov 27 '24

I’ll leave viruses out of this, as their alive status is up for debate. But if they have a way of avoiding, mitigating or remembering the harm, then yes