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Cows Can Use Tools. Are We Underestimating How Smart They Are?
(sentientmedia.org)
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this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2026
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That's cool. One day people will have sufficient empathy for consciousness that we'll stop eating them.
There is a growing body of science that plants may have more consciousness than we originally thought (like this tool use by cows).
Assuming this becomes established fact, it would be hard to find something to eat that wasn't conscious.
Not the person you originally replied to, but eating plants directly would at least be a sort of harm reduction in that case. It takes a lot more plants to raise non-human animals than to just use plants directly. This is also a big part of why the environmental impact is so high for meat, dairy, etc.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211912416300013
We really have to stretch the definition of consciousness to get there.
But sure. Let's get to that point and worry about it then. Rather than wait around for more research and kill things we know are conscious.
What we know for certain is that plants don't have centralized decision making place or a nervous system. Their reactions are autonomous on the level of specific tissues.
They don't feel any pain, either. They can react to damage, but it's just a mechanical automation.
Plants are not conscious.