The orangutan trap

Re:The orangutan trap by imteamcoltra on Sunday June 21, 2015 @03:17PM (#9754580)

I was just thinking today that if we are allowed to cage animals who have the mental development of a 6 year old, why can't we justify caging people who have the mental capacity of a 6 year old.

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Re:The orangutan trap by ars on Sunday June 21, 2015 @07:47PM (#9755492)

No animals have the mental development of a 6 year old. Even 2 year olds can talk and more importantly ask tons of questions, no animals can do that.

> why can't we justify caging people who have the mental capacity of a 6 year old.

They do that all the time in psychiatric hospitals. They are just a bit nicer about it these days.

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Re:The orangutan trap by Kenji on Sunday June 21, 2015 @03:47PM (#9754702)

Oh it's all speciesism. A human has more inherent worth in the common human morals. It makes zero sense from a logical point of view, probably an evolutionary remnant.

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Re:The orangutan trap by mehwoot on Sunday June 21, 2015 @11:34PM (#9756012)

It makes zero sense from a logical point of view

No, it makes a lot of sense. Treating all species the same would make very little sense. Do bacteria have the same rights as lice which have the same rights as mice which have the same rights as dogs which have the same rights as whales?

In reality, it is a scale. How much we care about an animal varies depending on how big it is, how intelligent it is, what it is capable of and how it interacts with our lives. To pretend every species is the same is just wilfully naive.

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Re:The orangutan trap by reagency on Sunday June 21, 2015 @05:26PM (#9755042)

One day I might have a mentally disabled child. I will have an orangutan as a genetic heir or friend. That logically explains the common sense ethics.

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Re:The orangutan trap by danieltillett on Sunday June 21, 2015 @10:27PM (#9755840)

Speciesism is ridiculous concept. Humans are inherently worth more than other animals. This does not mean that we should go out of way to maltreat animals, but when the choice is a human life verses an animal’s life then the human's should always come first.

In regards orangutans we can certainly do a better job of ensuring both can exist.

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Re:The orangutan trap by rawTruthHurts on Monday June 22, 2015 @10:58AM (#9758757)

> inherently worth more

According to what scale?

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Re:The orangutan trap by danieltillett on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @12:31AM (#9762626)

Ask yourself how many animals you would kill to save you own child. If the answer is a number without limit then there is no morality in letting someone else child die to save some animal.

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Re:The orangutan trap by rawTruthHurts on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @05:06AM (#9763452)

Oh... so it's a scale set by you... :(

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Re:The orangutan trap by danieltillett on Tuesday June 23, 2015 @05:40AM (#9763550)

No it a scale set by everyone who has thought about this issue for more than five minutes. Are you really telling me that you would let your own child die so some animal can live? If so you either have no children nor should you.

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