Researchers have created 'minibrains' or cerebral organoids, which pose ethical challenges concerning potential consciousness and moral status. This dilemma extends to the treatment of animals like lobsters, which are often viewed as devoid of consciousness. Despite advancements in understanding animal suffering, lobsters are frequently excluded from consideration. Switzerland has banned boiling live lobsters on grounds of unnecessary suffering, yet broader moral implications, such as the ethics of consumption, remain largely unexplored. The author argues that while lobsters possess a simple nervous system, they likely experience pain, highlighting the complexity of moral judgments surrounding sentient beings.
One concern is that as minibrains are human neural masses, they could develop consciousness. The epistemic challenge is determining if they achieve that status.
Thanks to thinkers like Descartes, animals are often regarded as biological machines that lack minds. While scientists now see higher animals as capable of feeling and even thinking, lobsters are often seen as biological automatons.
If boiling them is wrong, then killing and eating them would also seem to be wrong. I think that while lobsters are not mentally complex, they do feel pain.
I know that I, as a living thing, feel pain and dislike it. I infer that you also feel pain and probably dislike it.
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