"Every individual matters" - Marc Bekoff - Compassionate Conservation - Sentientism Ep:31

Описание: Marc is professor emeritus of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has published 31 books, won many awards for his research on animal behavior, animal emotions, compassionate conservation, & animal protection, has worked closely with Jane Goodall, & is a former Guggenheim Fellow. Marc's latest books are "Canine Confidential: Why Dogs Do What They Do" & "Unleashing Your Dog: A Field Guide to Giving Your Canine Companion the Best Life Possible" (with Jessica Pierce) & he also publishes regularly for Psychology Today. Marc & Jessica have recently written "A Dog's World" about what the world will be like for dogs as & when humans disappear (Princeton University Press, 2021). In 1986 Marc won the Master's age-graded Tour de France. His homepage is https://marcbekoff.com/.

In these Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”

Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings."

The audio is also on our Podcast - subscribe here: https://apple.co/391khQO (& all the other platforms https://anchor.fm/sentientism​).

We discuss:
Growing up in Brooklyn & not being a strong student in high-school
Talking to a companion goldfish & the neighbourhood animals
Imagining perpectives of non-human animals: "Minding animals"
Seeming bizarre to question the sentience of non-human animals
Selling records, undergrad degree, then a career using play behaviour as a window into the animal perspective
Michael Fox's work with canids & becoming his grad student
Nagel's "What is it like to be a bat?"
Donald Griffin's "The question of animal awareness" & "Animal Minds"
Animal protection as a lifelong focus
Getting academics out of the clouds and into helping
Growing up in a culturally Jewish home with Russian Jewish immigrant grandparents, but being an atheist from day one
My parents never called me "nuts" when I said good morning to the goldfish every day
"People ask which school of philosophy I follow - I have no idea"
An identification with other sentient beings
"I just never made that divide between human & non-human"
Refusing to dissect or experiment on animals in school, as an undergrad & at med school
Going "cold tofu" & cutting out animal products. Vegetarian then vegan
The moral value of sentient beings & non-sentient living things
"I don't think plants can feel pain in an aversive way"
"If we find out carrots feel pain, I won't eat carrots"
"We know certain things about sentience in non-human animals & that is enough for people to change their meal plans"
"I never doubted that non-human animals had feelings" (Luna barks in agreement)
Anthropocentric environmentalism that ignores farmed & most wild animals
New Zealand's "War on Wildlife" re: "non-native" species
Granting rights to rivers & rocks
Instrumental importance can still be very important
Compassionate Conservationism: "every individual matters" so work out solutions for all sentient stakeholders
So much welfare legislation excludes most suffering animals
Standard conservation: "We don't need you because there are plenty of others of your species"!
Taking the perspective of the oppressed individual
Being indoctrinated away from naturalism & compassion for sentients
How even otherwise careful thinkers remain trapped by harmful social norms
"Friends think I'm crazy but I am optimistic"
The OneHealth movement - it's a win win for human and non-human animals together
Better ethics re: non-humans will improve our ethics re: other humans
From "I know they suffer but I love my burger" to "It's who you eat, not what you eat"
Sentientist language, moving from object to subject language re: non-humans (Microsoft grammar checking)
Food as a particularly emotive topic. People want to retain choice + control
Even human supremacists should go vegan
Ethical arguments don't drive enough change, but other pressures are building too (climate, zoonosis, anti-microbial resistance, human health)
"What we do to help non-humans helps humans"
Setting an example: Biking 400km on a vegan meal plan
Sentientism means having compassion even for people we disagree with
"I feel for human suffering too"
"There will be a sea change... we're on a trajectory towards our moral compass being inclusive of non-humans and humans.. it's a win win for all"
We've made progress in the last 50y
"We're alive right now so just go do it".

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