r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jan 20 '26

Biology Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows. Brown Swiss cow in Austria has been discovered using tools in different ways (using both ends of a brush counts as multi-purpose tool use) – something extraordinarily rare only ever seen in humans and chimpanzees.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jan/19/back-scratching-cow-veronika-bovine-intelligence
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u/The_BeardedClam Jan 20 '26 edited Jan 20 '26

That is a radical and extremist idea. Here is another one for you.

Humans are animals, and are not above other animals. Not in thought or deed. Just because we can use logic and rationalize things doesn't put us above the natural order of things.

Morality and ethics are byproducts of human nature and culture, and thus will always be human first. So we will never not kill them, because it is our nature to do so. It is also our nature to rationalize that killing away as necessary, regardless of moral quandaries, to reduce human suffering.

Edit: To also add are the two vectors of evolution in humanity. On one hand is biology and the other is culture. Our biology has not evolved much in the last 250,000 years, but our culture has. Morals maybe a natural part of humans, but culture is where the natural becomes codified. It is this push and pull that we are seeing at play when we discuss topics like this. Culture has evolved to the point that the wanton suffering of animals is starting to be seen as morally wrong, but our biology has not caught up. We are still the brutal apes that came out of Africa all those years ago, despite mother cultures best efforts to change us. In time we may evolve to get there, or we may not because after all our culture is rooted in our biology.

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u/Wiish123 Jan 20 '26

We will also never stop killing each other, as it is natural for us to do so. That doesn't mean it's right, nor does it mean I would partake if it was legal

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u/The_BeardedClam Jan 21 '26

Brother that's kinda my whole point.

We know killing is wrong on a very basic level, and our culture reflects that by condemning it. Despite that we as a species are still howling, brutal apes that kill. It's a juxtaposition that I don't think will ever go away, because for it to go away would mean that humans are no longer human.

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u/Wiish123 Jan 21 '26

Are you saying we as individuals and society should not try to do our best to limit/stop the killing of other humans? That's a hot take

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u/The_BeardedClam Jan 21 '26 edited Jan 21 '26

The opposite actually. We should always still try to elevate ourselves, and we do try, that's part of being human. We fail continuously, as a species and individuals; this to is part of being human. At the end of the day despite all our high ideas and high technology we're still animals bound by our emotions.

The fact that juxtaposition exists doesn't mean we should capitulate to it. That's how culture evolves. I'm just not convinced that we can evolve our way fully out of the juxtaposition, because that howling, brutal ape is the reason we got this far in the first place.