Here are a few questions about animal intelligence to ponder or to pass along to your favorite omnivore:

Doesn’t it just make sense to be agnostic about nonhuman animals’ capacities for understanding and reasoning? We’re learning more and more about animal intelligence everyday. And a lot of what we’re learning is that they’re much smarter than we previously imagined.

Isn’t it just a little presumptuous to think that we humans are absolutely the most intelligent beings in existence? Isn’t it quite possible that there’s another life-form more intelligent than us?

Just because we coined the term ‘intelligence’ doesn’t mean we’re smart. Just because we decided what intelligence means doesn’t mean the term is objective. Just because the concept of intelligence works to describe some human thought processes, doesn’t mean the term that can be evenly applied to all beings.

And most importantly, why is intelligence used as a measure to determine one’s worth? Is it somehow OK to kill and eat people who are less intelligent than you? Of course not. So lesser intelligence isn’t a valid justification for consuming animals either.

Sections: Vegan Theory
Topics: intelligence, Theory, veg, Vegan