Project Three – Christopher's Site!

Draft 1:

300 Words:

The idea that we are all conscious is a proven fact. Think about it, you are reading this right now, you come up with your own ideas and thoughts, and you act on those instincts. The idea of consciousness gives anything a very human feel to it. But is it only in humans? In David Foster Wallace’s piece “Consider the Lobster”, he goes into detail on what the red crustaceans have to go through during the infamous Maine Lobster Fest. But, while describing this festival, he somewhat dives into the topic on whether these sea-bugs can feel or think; and, in the end, he leaves us questioning whether our morals are right or not? In addition to Wallace, Ross Anderson’s “What the Crows Know” and Hal Herzog’s “Animals Like Us” gives some general background on the ideas and values behind these topics of consciousness and the morals behind it. All of these authors make us question the same thing: whether us humans decide to ignore certain, almost uncomfortable topics to maintain our ethics and beliefs that we think are right? These pieces of literature, and many others, continue to question our morals on whether or not the things we do in order to maintain these beliefs are …????? (ThESIS)

800 Words:

Morals and beliefs are what make you and me human. So, when it comes to food and animals, why do we care about some, and completely ignore others? Is it so that we can keep our beliefs from straying too far from what they actually are? Or is it because we are told what is good and what is bad. The whole premise behind Wallace’s piece on the MLF, or Maine Lobster Fest, is to make us question what we find to be crossing the line when it comes to living things. Let me explain. Wallace states, “Is it all right to boil a sentient creature alive just for our gustatory pleasure?” (Wallace 503). The notion to being concerned with how things taste, or gustatory pleasure, really depicts how we humans act towards other creatures. Wallace really plunges into this major idea that we humans have a lack of empathy towards animals that are below us, especially the lobster. There are 25,000 pounds of lobster caught for this festival and almost all of them are eaten; but, what would happen if you replaced said lobsters with, let’s say, a kitten? Immediately your eyes open wide and you gasp. “You can’t eat a kitten, it’s a helpless little creature,” is something you might say. So if we have decided that cats are so helpless, why can’t we say that about lobsters? You wouldn’t want a two-foot-long sea insect as a pet? Personally, I think they would be much easier to maintain, unlike a cat. All in all, this creates an argument, similar to Wallace’s, on whether our beliefs on animals and other living creatures have been misinterpreted based on prior beliefs from the past.

Certain acts of either cruel or painful behavior towards other creatures can really leave a permanent scar on an individual. In Herzog’s “Animals Like Us”, he tells us a story about one of his old graduate school friends, Ron Neibor, that suffers one of these traumatic experiences. He was involved in a neurological study involving the destruction of certain parts of a kitten’s brains. The major problem was that Ron developed a connection with these cats, coming in on the weekends to let them out and play with them. As the experiment came to a close, the final thing to do was for the brains to be extracted for examination. And, unfortunately, Ron did that. Herzog says, “His personality changed. A naturally cheerful and warmhearted person, he became tense, withdrawn, and shaky.” (Herzog). The emotions we developed towards specific things, like Ron and these kittens, for example, can change our whole perspective of a certain task or event. These kittens were small, energetic, and adorable; and, Neibor fell right into that trap. His entire personality changed based on one demoralizing event. But, if this kitten horror fest can impact a person so much, how come the same thing doesn’t happen when we boil lobsters alive and steal them from their habitats. When looking at a kitten, you would say it has a mind of its own, jumping and playing around like a wild child; but, when you look at a lobster, you see a giant red critter that you would probably be disgusted by. This really can leave us question how unusually cruel we really are. Sometimes, when us humans develop these emotional connections, it makes it much easier to shift our view of a subject in one way or another. The morals we have can always change towards something we create a bond with and with Ron, these kittens were simply a science experiment he made an emotional bond with. But, humans aren’t the only ones that make these connections.

1000 Words:

change a person, and sometimes a whole culture. In a hospital dedicated to birds somewhere in India, Ross Anderson, author of “What the Crows Know”, observes the medical miracles these bird doctors accomplish. These hospitals were built by people who were part of a religion known as Jainism, a very dated religion that may be different from yours and mine. You could say that the morals and beliefs of this religion are some of the best in the world. These Jainism beliefs, unlike many humans in America and all over the globe, really breakdown a person to their core roots. They feel compassion for all animals, no matter what species and they respect humans and prohibit violence against each other. But, especially in this hospital, animals come first. And since they put animals before humans a lot these animals, more specifically birds, create bonds with these doctors rehabilitating them to their full health. For instance, Anderson states, “Some of them come back and sit on our shoulders.” (Anderson). These bonds aren’t just in household pets, but wild animals. As bizarre as it is, these animals can also create connections, some quite emotional, with us humans. This leads us to question whether or not they feel emotions and if they are conscious. In addition to the “Bird Hospital”, Anderson also talks about another bird; the crow.

You are stopped at a red light on your way home, when you notice a black bird eating a nut on the crosswalk in front of you. In Japan, it was observed that a specific population of crows had discovered a way to open walnuts without any work. They would drop these walnuts in the middle of a busy street crosswalks, let the cars driving by crush them, and then enjoy their meal. In his “What the Crows Know”, Anderson recounts multiple acts of intelligence of different crows. In one instance, a magpie, a distant member of the crow’s family, was the first non-mammal to complete the “mirror test” in which a bright red dot was placed on the bird’s neck. The reason this is so significant is because this displayed an act of intelligence and a conscious. The bird immediately checked its neck for the dot after looking in the mirror. In this case there is a clear and distinct sign of consciousness; however, we still deny the fact that animals are conscious. These beliefs we continuously upkeep to appease the human intelligence are beginning to age. By this, I mean that these ideas we put in our head that we humans are the only animals that can think and act on those thoughts are becoming less accurate every day. Furthermore, these beliefs can also change based on a personal experience, like the one I had.

Wild animals are something out of the ordinary. Around six years ago, my family and I took a trip to Florida and visited Key Largo and I had an experience that changed my view of animals in the wild. We had the opportunity to swim with free-roaming manatees. Although it was daunting at first, these massive marine beasts were incredible. But it wasn’t just a one time experience though. They came back for the next two days, most likely because we were feeding them, but that’s beside the point. The main focus is that these wild animals came back multiple times, without hesitation. But, I feel there is almost a physiological point to this. Think about it, these animals weigh around 400 pounds and in their eyes, we pose no threat. But, let’s switch the manatee to a lobster for example. Although the lobsters might have an intelligence much lower than a manatee, they would never come near humans. Especially near Maine, during the time if the MLF. Our ethics towards these animals can really change based on its appearance or an experience you had with it.

Final Draft:

Christopher Langlitz

Professor Jesse Miller

English 110 H-5

27 November 2019

We are all Conscious

Like Ron Neibor and his kitten experience, these animal to human connections can really change a person, and sometimes a whole culture. In a hospital dedicated to birds somewhere in India, Ross Anderson, author of “What the Crows Know”, observes the medical miracles these bird doctors accomplish. These hospitals were built by people who were part of a religion known as Jainism, a very dated religion that may be different from yours and mine. You could say that the morals and beliefs of this religion are some of the best in the world. These Jainism beliefs, unlike many humans in America and all over the globe, really breakdown a person to their core roots. They feel compassion for all animals, no matter what species and they respect humans and prohibit violence against each other. But, especially in this hospital, animals come first. And since they put animals before humans a lot these animals, more specifically birds, create bonds with these doctors rehabilitating them to their full health. For instance, Anderson states, “Some of them come back and sit on our shoulders.” (Anderson). These bonds aren’t just in household pets, but wild animals. As bizarre as it is, these animals can also create connections, some quite emotional, with us humans. This leads us to question whether or not they feel emotions and if they are conscious. In addition to the “Bird Hospital”, Anderson also talks about another bird; the crow.

Our morals and beliefs can really change over time. Take Ron Neibor, from Hal Herzog’s “Animals Like Us” piece. His personality changed when he beheaded those kittens for scientific knowledge. Or from David Foster Wallace’s piece, “Consider the Lobster”, his constant references to the horrific acts we commit towards lobsters during the Maine Lobster Fest can really tip the scale for someone to completely stop eating lobster. However, some people already have their beliefs set, like the people of the Jainism religion or people who work at these bird hospitals. All of these cases show just how much our beliefs can affect a topic. This topic is the idea of consciousness. Being conscious gives anything life and the aspect of intelligence. So where do we go from here? I ask you to do one simple thing. Reconsider your beliefs and your morals towards any and all animals and then think whether the beliefs and actions held towards that animal are just. Because in my book, all of us are animals, no matter the species, gender, shape, or size, we are all conscious.

Works Cited

Andersen, Story by Ross. “Scientists Are Totally Rethinking Animal Cognition.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 21 Feb. 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/03/what-the-crow-knows/580726/.

“Consider the Lobster.” Google Books, Google, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Consider_the_Lobster/00OFZG6XKfoC?hl=en&gbpv=1.

Ogden Publications, Inc. “Animals Like Us – Features – Utne Reader.” Utne, https://www.utne.com/environment/animals-like-us-human-pet-relationships.