Genetic Engineering: Giving Animals Consciousness

So today might be a short talk about what would be the case if adoptions would ever go into effect. This would lie mostly towards if conventional household pets were chosen to be the recipients of a procedure to learn consciousness. Food What sort of family would a dog or cat or parrot be given to? Selection through government and scientific procedure would determine the ideal family. And chances are, the ideal  family would be those who have two parents and/or children all at a decent age who are well-cared for and responsible. So what considerations would this family have to have? First and foremost, diet considerations are part of any normal pet owning family. No chocolates, grapes, alcohol, and the usual suspects of food toxic to nonhuman animals. Additionally, the question comes up as to whether the family would incorporate the new member as an equal, or as a pet. And this is where you can of course, see serious confusion both for ourselves and these hypothetical families...

This comes from personal accounts, but one thing obviously the most emotionally devastating things to happen is to have a pet die. Whether from old age, or horrific accident, or other sad route, the end of such a beautiful chapter in our lives can shut us down. True story: I was reading Old Yeller in elementary school, hoping for a happy story featuring a dog, lost from the outside and brought into a family. Spoilers lay ahead. Three quarters of the way into the book, my own dog passed away from old age. My younger self was already emotionally fragile, and I myself was devastated. Then I read the end to Old Yeller... Moving On Currently, we have no way to extend life with genetics. If you didn't know already, aging is caused by the process our chromosomes divide to multiply to replenish our body. That being said, this takes a cost as life goes on. Telomeres at the end of our chromosomes become depleted and are the indicative factor of aging. The obvious solutio...

The deed is done. A supposed animal now has consciousness deep within the confines of a lab is now somewhat or fully able to reason, think, and communicate. While actually forming the words with a distended mouth may be a harder event to think about, the final ruling is official. Of course, now the wide effects have to be considered. Can these animals be considered pets anymore? Can they be sold? Would they be able to lead lives of their own, apart from humans. This makes me think that this is where I really want to branch out with the theoretical here. Now into social order, now into law, now into integration. I.e. the stuff I really don't know much about but would like to think about. Not necessarily all in this blog; I'll try to lightly touch on each, but the bigger projects would definitely come later. Courts There's still, turmoil, uncertainty, and excitement everywhere. And bear in mind, a lot of documents will have to be changed as an effect. Should Congress rec...

Some people say they have spiritual connections with animals. Spending so much time with animals surely grants a person a sense of familiarity (understatement of the year). In essence, we feel like we can read our pet cat, hamster, snake like a book. And they in turn know us. But where does that empathy come from? Does it stretch from our ability to empathize with them? Or their ability to empathize with us? Or both. I would strongly lean towards the former: We empathize. with animals. Which explains why we can see so many commercials about cruelty and donation to ASPCA. As a tangent, I made it a personal mission to avoid donating to organizations that do this: If you don't donate, chances are you'll turn off the TV or change the channel. If you do, chances are you're already donating, and therefore probably don't need a reminder. But in either case, let's play with using the word 'who' over 'what' when I say which animal to use for eventual 'gi...