Philosophical Vegan Forum

I was reading this article on tardigrades http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/post/80 ... et-dessert

and realized that the little fellows I really love so much might actually be in my salad. I don't know if Tardigrades are sentient in any way but I love those little guys. I really don't want to accidentally eat one in my salad, or even know if I have yet or not. Is there a good way I can avoid eating these things or save them if by chance a couple might be lodged into one of my carrots or my spinach? How can I detect any and save em from being eaten?

Is this supposed to be your way of discrediting veganism by dishonestly and falsely equating sentient animals to microscopic creatures?

Microscopic animals are very unlikely to be sentient. If you can't see it, it's fine to eat it.

EquALLity wrote:

Is this supposed to be your way of discrediting veganism by dishonestly and falsely equating sentient animals to microscopic creatures?

Responding as a meat eater, and after reading the article, I must say this does seem to just be a "low blow" to try and attack Veganism. Especially as it states in the article how washing or shaking cannot remove them. As I understand, veganism is about actively trying not to inflict harm upon another sentient being. If a vegan rolls over in their sleep and inadvertently squishes a small fly, that doesn't give a meat-eater the right to jump up and say "Ha! You're not Vegan anymore!" The point is they ACTIVELY try not to cause harm.

brimstoneSalad wrote:Microscopic animals are very unlikely to be sentient. If you can't see it, it's fine to eat it.

This actually made me wonder. Years ago, it was discovered that water in New York contained microscopic shrimp. Some people questioned as to whether the water was still "Kosher" as devout Jews are forbidden from eating shellfish. It might make an interesting topic to see what people think as to the sentience of some microscopic organisms. (The Rabbis, btw, said it was fine because if "God" didn't want you to drink it, he would have made them big enough to see.)

PsYcHo wrote: This actually made me wonder. Years ago, it was discovered that water in New York contained microscopic shrimp. Some people questioned as to whether the water was still "Kosher" as devout Jews are forbidden from eating shellfish.

That's funny, I've never heard of that.
It's not very appetizing to think of tiny shrimp swimming around in my water, but even the air we breathe has little things in it.

It makes me wonder what the deontologists who are hardliners about oysters think about this.

PsYcHo wrote:It might make an interesting topic to see what people think as to the sentience of some microscopic organisms.

Pretty much everybody here would agree that they're either probably not sentient, or if sentient only barely so (less than small visible insects), such that it doesn't matter much.
Sam Harris talked a bit about possibly making a research project of investigating the neuroanatomy of various organisms and trying to determine their levels of sentience/ability to be harmed. I would doubt such small organisms have enough nerve cells to organize into a neural network necessary for true learning and sentience.