[brendyn]

To any commenters, please link me to any great resources (documentaries/videos/books) that you feel best demonstrates the advanced intelligence and awareness of other species. I know people that think "fish only have 7 seconds of memory" and wish to share this knowledge.

I restrict myself to eating vegetarian + things like oysters, abalone. But I'm guilty and have been eating fish. The bigger the fish, the more guilty and apprehensive I feel about the fish having some degree of qualia. Probably its fine eating Sardines with their tiny brains? As you may have surmised, it's a philosophical topic I'm very uncertain about.

People are often perplexed, saying that since everything dies anyway, it doesn't matter. But it's not about death, it's about how it lived it's life in a slaughterhouse or whatever. of course, life out in the wild is brutal too, so many animals that end up on the dinner table probably lived better lives than they would have in the wild. But, as my empathy and compassion grows to encompass other animals, even if the meat on the table is "ethical" by my own judgement, I find myself awkwardly thinking to myself "uhh, maybe ill just eat the damn tofu instead".