Re:Scientists Are Rethinking Animal Cognition
by shipman05 on Thursday February 14, 2019 @02:52AM
(#19160334)
It takes a great deal of training to turn the average person into a willing and able killer, and during every war on record there have been significant propaganda efforts (or religious indoctrination) to make sure the enemy is seen as less than human.
Furthermore, the soldiers who serve in the armies of the nations you mention who actually have to do any killing often end up with PTSD and sky-high suicide rates.
Humans may be more naturally hesitant to kill their fellow human beings than you think.
I wouldn't put a spear into a boar, but from a detached and clinical perspective I don't see why its sentience would make a difference. Advanced societies like China, the Europeans and the United States don't generally have any problem fielding an aggressive expeditionary army of people nominally willing to kill sentient humans, so I suspect the blocks are more economic and cultural norms than innate.
It also seems plausible that time and breeding has equipped a large number of people with limited emotions precisely so they can stab things without worrying too much about the philosophical aspects.