Is it possible to be free from cognitive bias?

[LARA]

If I oppose religious thinking, I suppose I have won a small victory for my (proposed) sanity, but then I have to really go over myself with a lens of reality.  I am cognitively biased.  Evolution has made us all that way, and social indoctrination has amplified it.  

So after atheism, what's next?  Do we stop there or do we deconstruct the rest of our delusions as well?   There's plenty of crazy out there for the taking.

I got inspired along this pathway of thinking after reading about the new Swiss bioethics law that requires researchers to respect the dignity of plant subjects.  Though I had to laugh, this apparently is not a joke.

Where do we draw the line in our empathy?  Pondering the trippy possibility of plant consciousness and assuming that consciousness is human-like and capable of feeling are two different things.  Understanding the nature of embryonic cells and not being able to destroy then for an experiment are two different things.  Having love and respect for animals and nature and biting with fevered joy into a juicy sliced piece of chargrilled bovine muscle tissue are two different things.

I keep being reminded of a old Tool song while I write.  Maybe you've heard it.  But if not, I stole the lyrics for you.

Disgustipated

"And the angel of the Lord came unto me,
snatching me up from my
place of slumber,
and took me on high,
and higher still until we
moved in the spaces betwixt the air itself.
and he bore me unto a
vast farmland of our own midwest,
and as we descended cries of
impending doom rose from the soil.
one thousand, nay, a million
voices full of fear.
and terror possessed me then.
and I begged,

"Angel of the Lord, what are these tortured screams?"
And the angel said unto me,
"These are the cries of the carrots,
the cries of the carrots.
You see, reverend Maynard, tomorrow is harvest day
and to them it is the holocaust."
And I sprang from my slumber drenched in sweat
like the tears of one millions terrified brothers
and roared,
"Hear me now,
I have seen the light,
they have a consciousness,
they have a life,
they have a soul.
damn you!
let the rabbits wear glasses,
save our brothers...can I get an amen?
can I get a hallelujah? thank you, Jesus.

life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on life feeds on...
this is necessary"

[Will]

I can only explain from my experience. I'm not sure whether it's possible to live truly without any cognitive bias. What is possible, however, is to try. It's been my experience that, in order to be honest with one's self, it's a worthy and ultimately beneficial pursuit.

[Marke]

Nice post Lara, and I agree with Will, no we can not be free from cognitive bias but to try is a good thing. Realizing I was wrong about such a BIG thing makes me look critically at everything I "believe".

[myleviathan]

I took a human rights class a few years ago. There was a human rights theorist, and I have no idea what his name is at this point, but he basically stated that if we allow the ideals of human rights to exist, then the ideals of animal rights must exist as the next logical progression. As we are all animals, and if one species is protected, then it soon follows that all should be protected on some basic level. For example the right to food, the right to freedom from harm, fear, etc... But we've got to get food from somewhere, whether it's plants or animals. So somebody gets eaten down the food chain... Unless we just eat fruit and nuts from trees we don't have to actually kill to harvest.

[Will]

myleviathan, a common note in science fiction is that all sentient life is considered equal. Both humans and vulcans. Not veggies. It makes sense to me.

[myleviathan]

myleviathan, a common note in science fiction is that all sentient life is considered equal. Both humans and vulcans. Not veggies. It makes sense to me.

That's the debate, isn't it. Is it humans, vulcans and klingons? Or is does it include the sehlats (native to Vulcan) and the targs (native to Qo'noS)?  

I just found it an interesting line of logic.

[Will]

I'm quite familiar with sehlats and targs, being a massive nerd myself. The Vulcan Reformation (Enterprise season 4, episodes 7 and 8, which featured the sehlat) was very important in the Star Trek universe. Likewise, the first steps to the Klingons joining the Federation was also important (Star Trek 6, which featured targs as guard dogs on Rura Penthe).

I love my beagle, Jack. He's one of my best and most loyal friends. Still, if my brother and Jack were both in danger and I had to save one, my Sophie's choice would have to be my brother. I'd probably weep openly, but I will have made the right choice.

[myleviathan]

I love my beagle, Jack. He's one of my best and most loyal friends. Still, if my brother and Jack were both in danger and I had to save one, my Sophie's choice would have to be my brother. I'd probably weep openly, but I will have made the right choice.

But should Jack have a certain set of basic rights, is the question. Especially in light of the fact that most of us honor the idea of human rights. In most states he probably does, actually. I know that people do get jailed and/or fined for animal cruelty. Usually animal rights laws are applied to mammals, but still, a basic concept of animal rights to freedom from physical harm/neglect exists all the same. And if we grant both human and animal rights, then is it so rediculous that we, from Lara's first post, respect the dignity of plant subjects?

Or is your Cognitive Bias showing?  Is this just rediculous altogether??

[Will]

Jack has some rights, absolutely. He doesn't have the same rights as a human, though. Perhaps one's rights should be directly proportional to the level of consciousness.

[Marke]

Jack has some rights, absolutely. He doesn't have the same rights as a human, though. Perhaps one's rights should be directly proportional to the level of consciousness.

This is the way I have come to look at it. It bothers me not to eat fish that have a nervous system just slightly more complex than broccoli. At the other end, I would have to be pretty damn hungry to eat a fellow primate or any other animal that has shown higher levels of thought.

Cognitive bias? Probably.