Is your point that only humans have culture? There is evidence of culture and learned behaviors in animals as simple as birds.

My point is that the hierarchy is ordered by increasingly sophisticated internal conscious experience. This is the least arbitrary thing ever when it comes to concern around suffering.

My argument was more that there is no association between a theoretical "hierarchy of care" and actual, real brain sophistication. If there were, people would for example eat cats before they ate pigs.

Cats don't have much meat, I imagine larger mammals are farmed because they're large. But inhibition to eating pigs would be larger than that for eating cats, I'd agree on that.

Sorry edit: I disagree strongly that there is no association, it's an 80-20 thing. 80% can be explained by real brain sophistication, with 20% explained by cultural baggage.

I didn't realize that was your argument. I'd agree with that.

"As simple as"--are you placing birds in a hierarchy?

Sure, a hierarchy of complexity. You don't think such a thing would exist?

Why are you trying to seek out a hypocrisy angle in my arguments? I feel like that's a somewhat boring way to go about this.