I saw a large jumping spider the other day carrying a fly that was about half it's own size. Quite a catch for the spider.
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Replying to @HbdNrx
That made me think about predation and intelligence. Jumping spider have to be "smarter" than flies to catch them. Predators are almost
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Replying to @HbdNrx
always smarter than their prey. Plants have no brains at all, while animals who eat them are much smarter.
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Replying to @HbdNrx
So, the competitive pressures of predation lead to intelligence in the predators. If you are an "effective altruist," this may seem immoral
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Replying to @HbdNrx
The plants are being all productive, soaking up the sun and turning it into plant material, and then animals come along and take advantage.
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Replying to @HbdNrx
Doesn't seem fair to the plant, right? Effective altruists may say, "but plants can't feel," but this applies all the way up the food chain
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Replying to @HbdNrx
Effective altruism seems fundamentally anti-predator, in the interest of minimizing suffering. But without predation, no intelligence.
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Replying to @HbdNrx
Unless they prefer an all-plant (and dumb herbivore) world, perhaps they should rethink their anti-suffering goal. My preferred goal: civ
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Replying to @HbdNrx
See thoughts on predation and intelligence
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Replying to @HbdNrx
Oh, and once we have our minimized suffering world of plants (and herbivores), guess what ecological niche opens up: predators
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In sum, the right thing to do is to eat the effective altruists. @Outsideness
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Replying to @HbdNrx
Eating effective altruists is the utilitarian solution!
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