They don’t have a brain really and kinda just float there. Do they even feel pain?

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[–] 3 points 3 years ago (11 children)

After having kept jellyfish as pets (Atlantic bay nettles), I wouldn't really consider them to be vegetarian nor vegan. While similar to plants, seemed to have a greater sense of environmental awareness than my plants. Mine could sense light, have "off days", and interact with their environment. It's probably true that there's not much going on there due to the small amount of nerves that control everything, but even when mine would accidentally get caught on tank cleaning tools or get bumped around they'd react in a protective way and to me it's just similar enough to animalistic behavior that I'd not feel comfortable consuming them if I were vegan.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    Don’t most plants sense light and interact with their environment?

    Tardigrades have been observed reacting defensively to danger, even offensively. I know they’re not plants, but do they feel pain? What about brine shrimp?

    Jellyfish are super weird because they really blur the lines between plant/animal. It’s a really interesting question to ask honestly.

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    [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    I found a couple of articles on this:

    No.”

    it’s complicated.”

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    They have no brain but aren't they like almost entirely nervous system? That's all you need to feel pain; the brain just makes it more complicated than "ouch, move away from that."

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago
    [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    would u even get anything out of eating it tho?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    No Brain? For Jellyfish, No Problem

    “I think sometimes people use its lack of a brain to treat a jellyfish in ways we wouldn’t treat another animal,” Helm says. “There are robots in South Korea that drag around the bay and suck in jellyfish and shred them alive. I’m a biologist and sometimes sacrifice animals, but I try to be humane about it. We don’t know what they are feeling, but they certainly have aversion to things that cause them harm; try to snip a tentacle and they will swim away very vigorously. Sure, they don’t have brains, but I don’t think that is an excuse to put them through a blender.”

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    They're animals, so no.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    A lot of Jelly fish are immortal? Just leave a few cells and wait for it to come back to life. Death-free food for the win

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago* (1 child)

    I mean, milk could also easily be death-free, but it's not vegan. It's also not suffering-free. So this suggestion kind of misses the point.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    You think milking cows causes suffering?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

    I mean, what cow wouldn't want to have sperm shoved up it's apparently not privates to be continuously impregnated. Sounds like a party

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    It doesn't have to be that way

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    But it mostly is. And calves likely get shot afterwards (or worse) both for population control and, well, you can't have them drinking all the milk now, can you? Same as eggs could be cruelty free, if we ignore the literal shredding of male chicks thats happening on a massive scale.

    If you want to mass produce these things, which are both produced by females exclusively as part of their reproduction cycle, you basically have no other choice but to get rid of most males or even most children in the case of milk.

    And even if you somehow solve this, I still would argue that its morally wrong to even have these breeds of e.g. chickens who lay this many eggs. Their bodies were never ment to do this and they suffer from sever health problems because of this.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (15 children)

    At this time it is impossible to know if they feel pain. They're a living creature.

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    [–] 0 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    Jellyfish eat animals and animal byproducts, so no, they are not vegan.

    Jokes aside, often vegans follow dietary restrictions for reasons other than an ethical or moral belief against causing pain. Many vegans don't even eat honey, so I imagine jellyfish is pretty safely in non-vegan territory.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Are carnivores plants vegan? Genuinely curious, never looked into it.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

    Plants aren't sentient, so yes.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I believe that it is not, since scientifically it is an animal. However, some vegetarians (not vegans) will eat fish or certain animal products.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    It depends on the definition of Veganism.

    There’s is a popular school of thought that the diet‘s sole purpose to reduce suffering. If a living thing has no central nervous system (or brain), it has no thoughts and cannot experience pain or harm. It’s not much different than a fruit or vegetable. I know vegans that make exceptions for oysters - for example.

    Others schools of thought are about avoiding animal products altogether, it doesn’t matter if it suffers or not - there’s no way to know. Therefore, it’s immoral to eat them if you can knowingly choose an alternative.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    There’s is a popular school of thought that the diet‘s sole purpose to reduce suffering. If a living thing has no central nervous system (or brain), it has no thoughts and cannot experience pain or harm.

    What about instant death? Like a farmer putting down a well-treated cow with a bullet to the head. In this scenario, the cow never suffered. In all likelihood it probably never even had much mental distress, let alone fear of death. Would that meat be ethical/vegan friendly?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    Suffering is a broad definition. One would argue that prematurely ending sentient life without their consent would fit that definition.

    Often, it’s not suffering on an individual level - but the suffering of a species. Cows live in bondage and we benefit from their labor and chose to end their lives for our benefit.

    Sometimes Vegans extend this philosophy to pets and service animals - even if they’re treated exceptionally well.

    The point is that Veganism is less monolithic than folks tend to believe. A person’s diet can be deeply personal and it’s up to them to draw lines.

    I’m a meat eater. I don’t have an issue eating cows. I don’t have an issue eating rabbits, which I know people also keep as pets. I don’t have an issue eating lobster - whereas they’re boiled alive. But I know I couldn’t eat a cat or dog. Realistically, I have trouble with veal. So ya know, where I draw the line might not be the same for other people. My diet is informed by my culture, health, experiences and personal feelings - as is everyone’s.

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