re: ethics discussion
@FreyaManibrandr I forgot the (cont.)!
Anyways, at present there aren't any minds we can communicate well with. Folks have been able to communicate with a few animals and their minds are different enough that they can't understand the concepts we might be able to teach, and become better able to understand and communicate more from learning. Or so my understanding goes, anyways.
It seems inevitable, however, that humans will diverge into seperate species or races, (cont.)
re: ethics discussion
@relee You'll be surprised how capable of mortality salience animals can be. If you've ever been to the slaughterhouse and see how the pigs react to hearing what happens to their own and knowing what's next, you'll know what I mean.
re: ethics discussion
@FreyaManibrandr Thanks for sticking with me so far!
When I asked about definitions of harm, the idea was to think about it from the perspective of someone who would know what harm is and that they're being harmed. Many animals respond to something we'd consider pain, but don't understand the harm apart from their diminished capabilities. When death comes for them, they might understand it's possible, having seen others die, but not know how it works. Some animals do.
re: ethics discussion
@FreyaManibrandr The point where it becomes important if something is alive is more when it has a will to resist, understanding to know there's something TO resist, and the capability to stop someone, or get someone else to stop them.
A gorilla might be territorial, but it doesn't own property, or know what that is. It won't take you to court. But it also thinks and feels in ways we might relate to, but are still alien to our own minds. (cont.)
re: ethics discussion
@relee Sapience is an interesting subject, because one could wonder if if what we see is it, or if it's only the kind of sapience that is being communicated in a way that we could understand.
re: ethics discussion
@FreyaManibrandr Stars may or may not be alive in a sense, but they don't really do much besides physical reactions of their constituent particles, as far as I know.
Many animals on Earth are in some way 'intelligent' but have minds distinctly different from humans, and nothing but humans gets human rights from humans regardless of capability or intelligence, though they may get better treatment. (cont.)
re: ethics discussion
@relee They do a long more than you realize, the lives they lived paved the way in order to make carbon-based life forms possible.
Also animals, as we are finding out, are much closer in aptitude and intelligence to humans than we first thought. It is very possible that the observed disparity is due to the same software running on different hardware.
re: ethics discussion
@FreyaManibrandr The individual cells that make up your body aren't even all connected. Blood is a liquid, but part of your body, and each blood cell contains your whole genetic code. Each cell also contains a Mitochondria, with its own genetic code.
And all of them are made up of arrangements of the same particles as every bit of non-living matter. In a sense, you could say the universe is alive because parts of it (like us) are alive. (cont.)
Fedi Meta
Once you're over the honeymoon with the fediverse, I'd like to remind y'all to stay vigilant. We still have a problem with anti-blackness and communal narcissism in here, and we shouldn't become complacent just because we are among queer folks.
This space is still pretty hwite, and there's a lot of work to do to decolonize.
I recently fled long-term domestic abuse and I've been struggling a lot to adapt to my situation. As a result, I have no money to buy food and medications and I'm about £200 overdue on various bills. Please help if you can, please boost if you can!
Donations:
https://ko-fi.com/dzuk_
Commissions:
https://dzuk.zone/commissions
Fedi culture meta
I've been posting a lot about Mastodon in the last days. Fact is, we're creating it together. Old users AND new.
My goal is to make the new users aware that we old users are often here because we HAD to switch away from the overload and hate of corporate social media, seeking the relative quietness and seclusion of the Fediverse. Many of us fear that if the climate here changes for the worse, we'll have to leave again.
It's about being inclusive. To old AND new users.
@astra Tag me so I can listen when I wake up <3
I've seen a few people speculate that if Twitter doesn't survive the Great Muskening, it could be bad news for a lot of litmags (particularly the online-only ones). As well as the mags themselves finding new online spaces, I think all of us writers should try and support them wherever we can.
I'm currently running a request-to-join fediverse relay at https://relay.awoo.today - if you're a furry instance admin, please consider adding it, as it will greatly help smaller instances!
If you would like to add your instance to the relay, let me know, and I'll add your instance domain to the allowlist. Then, add your software's corresponding URL.
I will keep maintaining this relay for the foreseeable. Reach out to me with your instance, and I will add it to the allowlist so you can connect!
Artist and Composer. Trans plural voidpunk anarchist and antifa nonbinary gremlin. My voice is for the oppressed, and I shall fight for freedom with no quarter, so that those around me won't have to.
Plural members:
> Velvet Silmeria (Fae/They/She/Ey/He)
Räsvelg AY-N4 Tiyaga (Kit/Bit/She/They)
Lenneth Crimson (She/Xey/They/It)
Ashlynn Valefor (Xey/They/It/She)
Ricardo Sophia du Sol (Ey/He/They)
Saturnine Stargazer (She/They/It)
Innominat (They/Them)
Yuri Sunbreaker (It/She)