as the subject/title/[whatever that field is called] says, this is almost entirely irrelevant, and might come across as an irritating, too-literal diversion but I'm curious:
when you say you're against animal experimentation, does that include even behavioral experiments that do not harm or physically alter the animals? For instance—and I don't know if this is a real experiment—observing how a tank of fish reacts to different artwork or scenes being placed on the outside of the glass. Or an experiment trying to determine if individual mice display distinct food preferences. Or if elephants can learn to use a sort of drum.
I just... can see someone being okay with that but maybe even not with medical testing.
(anyway I'm extremely glad I am not in a position to be asked to weigh in on such experimental ethics, because I feel like I'd make the wrong decision somehow regardless. I think I can sort of see a framework within which certain people may rationalize this, but I'm also not informed enough about neuroscience to have my own thoughts on the consequences.
Typically physics experiments don't involve experimenting on living things, though whatever telescope they are trying to put on a sacred mountain in Hawaii suggests externalities that need better consideration. And there's the whole Oppenheimer type stuff... :| (i.e. nuclear weapons testing) Or the guy who accidentally got hit with a particle accelerator beam... sometimes experimenter safety needs to be accounted for!)
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a nearly completely irrelevant tangent
Date: 2021-08-23 04:14 am (UTC)when you say you're against animal experimentation, does that include even behavioral experiments that do not harm or physically alter the animals? For instance—and I don't know if this is a real experiment—observing how a tank of fish reacts to different artwork or scenes being placed on the outside of the glass. Or an experiment trying to determine if individual mice display distinct food preferences. Or if elephants can learn to use a sort of drum.
I just... can see someone being okay with that but maybe even not with medical testing.
(
anyway I'm extremely glad I am not in a position to be asked to weigh in on such experimental ethics, because I feel like I'd make the wrong decision somehow regardless. I think I can sort of see a framework within which certain people may rationalize this, but I'm also not informed enough about neuroscience to have my own thoughts on the consequences.Typically physics experiments don't involve experimenting on living things, though whatever telescope they are trying to put on a sacred mountain in Hawaii suggests externalities that need better consideration. And there's the whole Oppenheimer type stuff... :| (i.e. nuclear weapons testing) Or the guy who accidentally got hit with a particle accelerator beam... sometimes experimenter safety needs to be accounted for!)