Religion and Politics

Scientists Are Totally Rethinking Animal Cognition

The Atlantic’s Ross Andersen writes about how devotees of Jainism are informing the belief that animals are conscious beings that experience emotions analogous to humans. Andersen visits a bird hospital in India that was built by Jains, whose highest commandment forbids violence against animals. Dheeraj Kumar Singh, the youngest vet in the hospital, said of treated birds that he released, “We are here to serve them.” Andersen adds that Jainism and its belief about the complexity of animals calls into question the ethics of modern science’s use of animals as test subjects.

Read at The Atlantic

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