I’ve never heard anyone claim an association of congenital analgesia and reduced intelligence, it seems to me this entire idea is based in the ableist Idea that someones moral worth is tied to there intelligence rather than there capacity for suffering or pleasure
I don’t think the OP is too far off, in that, e.g., capacity for pain and intelligence can both be caused by a common factor. So e.g., lobotomizing chickens (or breeding them to be essentially lobotomized from birth) would presumably reduce both intelligence and capacity to feel pain.
The OP did the right thing here by being confused/encountering an interesting idea, and presenting that idea in the forum for further consideration.
I think the core idea of your comment—that intelligence is not equal to capacity to suffer, and the OP imprecisely conflates the two—is true and important. I had that same thought while reading the OP. But I suspect your comment would have received less (strong) disapproval if you had stated your point in a less adversarial/politically charged way.
I’m not sure this was intended but the ideas of “congenital analgesia” and “lobotomy” that are presented in this comment chain seem difficult to implement for practical reasons.
Also, analgesia, just the inability to feel physical pain, probably isn’t enough to guarantee welfare. This is because animals probably suffer in other ways (lack of access to well understood needs such as perches or nest boxes, avoiding aggression, movement, intense boredom or frustration).
It is possible that solutions that could work does look like reduced intelligence, and that might motivate the title the of the post. The idea is that someone who is doped up on painkillers will have both dulled senses and reduced executive function.
I’ve never heard anyone claim an association of congenital analgesia and reduced intelligence, it seems to me this entire idea is based in the ableist Idea that someones moral worth is tied to there intelligence rather than there capacity for suffering or pleasure
You are factually correct, but
I don’t think the OP is too far off, in that, e.g., capacity for pain and intelligence can both be caused by a common factor. So e.g., lobotomizing chickens (or breeding them to be essentially lobotomized from birth) would presumably reduce both intelligence and capacity to feel pain.
The OP did the right thing here by being confused/encountering an interesting idea, and presenting that idea in the forum for further consideration.
I agree. It seems unfair to me to say it’s ableist.
I think the core idea of your comment—that intelligence is not equal to capacity to suffer, and the OP imprecisely conflates the two—is true and important. I had that same thought while reading the OP. But I suspect your comment would have received less (strong) disapproval if you had stated your point in a less adversarial/politically charged way.
I’m not sure this was intended but the ideas of “congenital analgesia” and “lobotomy” that are presented in this comment chain seem difficult to implement for practical reasons.
Also, analgesia, just the inability to feel physical pain, probably isn’t enough to guarantee welfare. This is because animals probably suffer in other ways (lack of access to well understood needs such as perches or nest boxes, avoiding aggression, movement, intense boredom or frustration).
It is possible that solutions that could work does look like reduced intelligence, and that might motivate the title the of the post. The idea is that someone who is doped up on painkillers will have both dulled senses and reduced executive function.
Yes, “lobotomy” was just meant to be an illustrative example.